Hey folks it’s Thursday!! And I know I’m a little late but it is the school holiday season here in Singapore and for most of the countries around Asia.
Some of us will be out there travelling and for some of us we take days off work to spend time with our kids. So I thought it’ll be a good opportunity to share a slightly longer meal prep recipe, which is a little unusual cause most of my meals can be done in 15-20 mins.
Say hello to a Mediterranean dish called the Low Calorie Moroccan Meatballs with Eggs in Tomato Sauce!
This recipe here took me quite a lot of time to prepare and if you’re planning to make this you may want to set aside about 2 hours of your time. BUT it is so worth it cause it’s so delicious you’ll hardly know you’re eating healthy! It’s so full of flavours and spices and it’s so versatile too. Why? Cause if you learn to make these meatballs, you can have them at any occasion as an amazing protein source – you don’t have to even use the tomato based sauce that I’ve made.
Since it’s holiday season why not gather your kids together and make them – nothing beats having the kids involved. I’m sure they’ll love the rolling of the meatballs!
Alrighty! Grab your recipe book, pen this down, get the ingredients, and get preppin’. Don’t forget to tell me how it is either on the comments section below, on YouTube, or on Instagram at @asianmealprep. Would love to see your creations!
3-Meal Prep: School Holiday Special – Low Calorie Moroccan Meatballs
Makes – 3 meals
Time needed – About 2 hours (Prep time: 15 minutes, Holding time: 1-hour, Cooking time: 45 minutes)
Cost – ~S$5.50 per serve
Here’s what you need:
- 500g premium lean minced beef
- 11/2 large red onion, finely chopped
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 small handful parsley, chopped
- 1 small handful Chinese coriander, chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Himalayan Rock Sea Salt to taste
For the tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 large red onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1-2 cili padi, sliced *optional
- 600g canned chopped tomatoes (about 1 full and 1 half 400g can)
- 1 red capsicum, chopped
- 1 yellow capsicum, chopped
- Large handful of spinach leaves
- 2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 3 eggs
To serve
- A slice of wholemeal wrap or Lebanese bread *optional
Here’s how you do it:
- Combine all the ingredients for the meatball together and let it sit for at least 30 minutes (the longer the better) to let the flavours develop.
- Form small meatballs mixture. Depending on how big you roll them up, you should get at least 18 balls (6 per meal).
- Once you have the meatballs ready, heat a non-stick pan with oil and fry the meatballs. About 3-4 minutes is enough. Set aside. (Depending on how big your pan is, you may need to do this in two batches).
- Now take a saucepan and heat the oil.
- Cook the onions, garlic and cili padi until fragrant for about 1 minute.
- Add the canned chopped tomatoes, capsicums, paprika, cumin and water and bring it to boil.
- Once it’s boiling, add the meatballs, lower the heat to low and cook the sauce and meatballs for 30 minutes to let the meatballs and sauce soak in. Stir occassionally especially towards the end when the sauce thickens.
- Once 30 minutes is up, add the spinach and stir it in for about one minute.
- Crack the eggs and gently pour into the sauce. Cook it for about 7 minutes (or until the eggs white are set and the yolks are still running) if you’re having/serving this immediately or slightly longer to let the yolks set in a little more if you’re making this for meal prep. You don’t want the egg yolks to crack when you’re building your meals later on.
- Once you’re happy with the eggs, remove from heat and build your meals, adding equivalent amounts to each container.
- Serve with slice of wholemeal wrap or Lebanese bread or have it by itself!
- Enjoy!
How much this costs:
*Keep in mind that this numbers are a rough guide. It depends on where you buy it and when. You can definitely save more money if you purchase in wet markets etc. At the end of the day it’s possible to eat healthy without breaking the bank. Also, ~ denotes the items that should already be in your pantry for a long time or it’s a very small amount.
- 500g premium lean minced beef $7.30
- 11/2 large red onion, finely chopped $0.30
- 1 tsp sweet paprika $0.20
- 1 tsp cumin $0.20
- 1 small handful parsley, chopped $0.20
- 1 small handful Chinese coriander, chopped $0.20
- 1 tbsp olive oil $0.20
- Himalayan Rock Sea Salt to taste ~
For the tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil $0.20
- 1/2 large red onion, finely chopped $0.30
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped $0.20
- 1-2 cili padi, sliced *optional ~
- 600g canned chopped tomatoes (about 1 full and 1 half 400g can) $2.25
- 1 red capsicum, chopped $1.20
- 1 yellow capsicum, chopped $1.20
- Large handful of spinach leaves $4
- 2 tsp sweet paprika $0.20
- 1 tsp cumin $0.20
- 1/2 cup water ~
- Salt and black pepper to taste ~
- 3 eggs $0.60
Total price = ~S$16.55
Price per serve = ~ S$5.50
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information below is based on the ingredients I’ve used above. It may not be an accurate representation of your meal.
Without bread: Calories 397 Protein 45.2g Carbs 16.2g Sugar 11.7g Fibre 4.5g Fats 17.1g Saturated Fats 4.2g
