Meal Prepping as a College student is a necessity but as someone who craves full flavor meals, I can’t eat the same boring meal week to week. Enter this Chinese orange sauce and turkey meatballs! This mealprep is low in calories so it pairs perfectly with some steamed white rice and extra veggies. This recipe is simple to make, fits easily into diets, and is delicious to eat!
As efficient as they are, mealprep can sometimes be so boring. This recipe does away with the boring-ness by using meatballs (so fun!) and a delicious Chinese orange sauce. I love serving it with white jasmine rice and extra steamed veggies. This is a lunch that your coworkers will ask you about because the orange sauce smells so deliciously fragant.
Grocery store frozen meatballs are my lazy girl mealprep hack. I know they are not as juicy as homemade but serving them in sauce takes care of that! Right now I am using the Walmart brand turkey meatballs because they are plain enough in flavor that they adapt well to a variety of sauces. I have also enjoyed Ikea meatballs but their flavor is more distinct.
Look, sometimes being on a long term diet just sucks. It is really easy to get stuck in a repetitive cycle when it comes to eating AKA my worst nightmare. This dish is a respite from all of that because it really easily fits into my goals of weightloss but honestly it is so flavorful I feel like I got my takeout craving! It keeps me going and that is what I need when the pressure becomes too much.
Chinese Orange Sauce with Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
- 25 turkey meatballs
- 1 medium red bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1 medium white onion peeled and diced large
- 1-2 sprays oil
- 2 tbs white sugar
- 3 tbs honey
- 1 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 pinch garlic powder
- 1 pinch powdered ginger OR 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp orange zest
- 1 large orange, juiced ~1/2 cup orange juice
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1-2 tsp water to make cornstarch slurry
- 1 sprinkle sesame seeds optional
Instructions
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Bake the turkey meatballs according to package/recipe directions. In a medium skillet, sautee the onions and bell peppers with a bit of oil spray.
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Mix the ingredients for the sauce, minus the cornstarch, and add to skillet with veggies. Cook down the sauce on low heat while meatballs bake. Once meatballs are done, let them rest.
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Combine cornstarch and water to form a slurry, add to the sauce and raise heat to medium, cook until sauce easily coats back of spoon. Add the meatballs to the pan and toss everything until it's all saucy. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Chinese orange sauce is adapted from Thekitchn.com
