The weather is getting colder, which means it’s time to put our favorite salad recipes away and start prepping some delicious hot meals for lunch! Right now my absolute favorite is this buffalo chicken meatball bowl, simply because it’s just so darn easy to throw together.
Sick of salads? Make a meatball bowl!
I had some requests over on Instagram recently to make some non-salad lunch ideas, and here’s the first of money! It’s got the same elements of a salad (vegetables, protein, dressing), but it’s something warm and soothing to enjoy during the colder months ahead.
If you’re not a fan of spicy, you could try different variations of this. Add different sauces (try barbecue, teriyaki, or even salsa), and add whichever roasted vegetables and dressing that you crave.
Roast any vegetables you like
For this particular buffalo chicken meatball bowl recipe, I was craving Brussels sprouts and broccoli to go with it. The butternut squash was an added touch, simply because I had some leftover in my fridge.
If you would rather different vegetables for this bowl, choose 2-3 vegetables you would like to roast instead. Then you can follow my roasted vegetables recipe. It says Brussels sprouts, but follow the same formula for any other vegetable, and they should roast just fine. You could even add some carrot fries if you want!
Buy the meatballs pre-cooked
While you could make your own chicken meatballs, save time and buy a box of frozen chicken meatballs instead. For this recipe, I used Bell & Evans Chicken Meatballs.
Wait to put the dressing on
For the best-tasting meatball bowl, I wait to put the ranch dressing on until after the bowl is fully heated up. I put the dressing in a small silicone dressing container, allowing you to squeeze as much or as little dressing that you want at the moment. Plus, they are so easy to clean!
Here’s what they look like, and a link to buy them on Amazon.
Need more easy meal ideas?
I have a free cookbook for you! It includes 25 easy dinner recipes and one bonus dessert.
Here’s the recipe to save for later!
Buffalo Chicken Meatball Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 box Frozen chicken meatballs about 13-15 meatballs
- 2 cups Broccoli florets
- 2 cups Butternut squash diced
- 2-3 cups Brussels sprouts halved
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Hot sauce I use Frank's Red Hot
- Ranch dressing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
- Mix the Brussels sprouts in a bowl with 1 tbsp of olive oil, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Pour the Brussels sprouts onto a baking sheet.
- Repeat step #2 with broccoli, then again with butternut squash. Separate each vegetable group on the pan when roasting. You'll need to grab a second pan for this.
- Leave room on the second pan for the frozen meatballs. Place them on the baking sheet.
- Roast for 30 minutes. Make sure this works for the frozen meatballs on the packaging instructions. If they need less time, remove those from the oven earlier.
- Separate into four containers for the week. When heated up (usually takes 2-3 minutes), serve the bowl with ranch dressing.
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