Can I tell you something? I feel a little self-conscious about how often I’ve written about meatballs. It reached fever pitch a few years ago, and I’ve been self-censoring ever since, doling out the meatball recipes slowly to avoid being too one-note.
In my defense, meatballs are a perfect weeknight food, though there are a few caveats. You need to bake them. (Frying is messy and requires working in batches; simmering them in soup or sauce typically requires browning them first.) And you need a recipe that’s pretty simple, flexible if you want to leave out a seasoning or herb, not too many steps, nothing precious. (Meatballs are not precious.)
Sue Li’s new chicken meatballs are fast meatballs done right. Sue’s the star of the latest episode of Cooking 101 at cooking.nytimes.com, helping you make the best meatballs with a handy guide and three new recipes: those chicken meatballs, classic Italian American meatballs and lion’s head meatballs.
If meatballs aren’t for you, don’t despair — there are four more great recipes for the week below.
1. Chicken Meatballs With Yogurt Sauce
This recipe transforms ground chicken into flavorful meatballs using warm spices, like paprika, cumin and coriander, and fresh herbs, like parsley, mint and cilantro, for binding instead of bread crumbs. Like Turkish kofte, these tender meatballs pair perfectly with a simple, lemony yogurt sauce. Serve them with salad, rice pilaf or on toasted bread for a balanced and satisfying meal.
By Sue Li
Yield: 4 servings (about 20 meatballs)
Total time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 large egg
- 1 small shallot, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley leaves and tender stems
- 1/4 cup finely chopped mint leaves
- 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
- Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup whole-milk Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving
Preparation:
1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, drizzle with the olive oil and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine chicken, egg, shallot, garlic, parsley, mint, cilantro, paprika, cumin, coriander, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. With a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, vigorously stir the mixture until well combined. With a standard soup spoon, scoop about 2 tablespoons of the mixture and scrape it against the palm of your other hand to shape it into a meatball. Drop the meatball onto the prepared baking sheet and repeat to form the remaining meatballs. (You should wind up with about 20 meatballs.)
3. Bake until the meatballs are cooked through, 14 to 15 minutes.
4. In a small serving bowl, whisk together the yogurt and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper.
5. Serve the meatballs hot, with the yogurt sauce and lemon wedges.
2. Pork Chops With Kale and Dates
A fat and juicy pork chop will always shine on a dinner plate, and these are especially star-worthy. For browned outsides, evenly cooked insides and fewer splatters, cook them over moderate heat and flip often. Use this method for basic pork chops, or continue with the recipe for a tangy and bittersweet tumble of kale, dates, garlic and vinegar inspired by bittersweet meat dishes like suon kho, orange beef or root beer-glazed ham. Instead of kale, use another bitter green like escarole or radicchio, but keep the dates, which contribute a sweetness far more nuanced than straight sugar. Eat with roasted potatoes, grits or on top of a thick piece of toast.
By Ali Slagle
Yield: 2 servings
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 (1- to 1-1/2-inch-thick) bone-in pork rib chops (10 to 12 ounces each), patted very dry
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil (such as grapeseed or canola)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3 fresh rosemary sprigs or sage leaves (optional)
- 6 Medjool dates, pitted and sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed very well and peeled
- 1 bunch kale, ribs removed, leaves torn
- 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
Preparation:
1. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium. Season the pork chops all over with salt and pepper. Add the oil and the pork chops to the skillet. Cook, flipping every 2 minutes, until browned on the outside and the internal temperature in the thickest part is around 130 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes depending on thickness of pork chops. If your chops have a fat cap, using tongs, stack both chops on top of one another, then grab both chops together and hold upright to sear the fat caps until crisp, about 1 minute.
2. Turn off the heat, add the butter and rosemary, if using. Tilt the skillet and baste the pork by spooning the butter and drippings over the pork for about 1 minute. Transfer the pork and rosemary to a plate, leaving the drippings in the skillet.
3. Add the dates and garlic to the skillet, then pile in the kale but don’t stir. Return the skillet to medium heat and cook untouched until the dates and bottom layer of kale is charred, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, add a tablespoon of water, then cook, stirring often, until the kale is dark green and slightly wilted, another minute or two. Remove from the heat, stir in the vinegar, then season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. To serve, discard the rosemary. Slice the pork away from the bones and thinly slice against the grain. Eat with the kale and any resting juices.
3. Salmon Teriyaki
Salmon teriyaki is a classic for many reasons, most notably because it is crisp and tender, sweet and savory all at once. This quick, single-skillet rendition cooks the salmon most of the way on its skin so that the flesh is tender and the skin is shattery-crisp. In the last few minutes, the fish is glossed in teriyaki sauce. (The “teri” in teriyaki means “gloss” or “luster.”) You could add a smidgen of chopped Thai chiles or grated garlic or ginger to the sauce if you like, or just embrace the allure of its sweet saltiness.
By Ali Slagle
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 (4- to 6-ounce) skin-on salmon fillets, patted dry
- Salt
- 1 teaspoon neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons mirin
- 2 tablespoons sake
- 4 teaspoons dark brown sugar
Preparation:
1. Season the salmon flesh lightly with salt, then coat the skin with oil. Place the salmon skin-side down in a large (12-inch) nonstick skillet. Turn the heat to medium and cook until the salmon is opaque halfway up the sides, 10 to 14 minutes. From time to time, press the salmon down with a spatula to help the skin make contact with the pan.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, mirin, sake and dark brown sugar.
3. Reduce the heat to low, flip the salmon and pour the sauce into the skillet, making sure to get the sugar in the bottom of the bowl. Let the sauce simmer until it starts to thicken, about 1 minute. Continue to simmer and occasionally spoon the sauce over the salmon until the salmon is cooked through and the sauce is foamy and glazy, 1 to 3 more minutes. If the salmon is done before the sauce has thickened, transfer the salmon to a plate and continue to simmer the sauce until it resembles maple syrup. Pour the sauce over the salmon.
4. Pili Pili Shrimp with Braised Cannellini Beans
Pili pili is the Swahili word for chile, and this recipe uses three common pantry varieties, each bringing something different when it comes to spice level, color and flavor. When sizzled with garlic in olive oil, the chiles create a flavorful marinade, infusing the shrimp with spice but not spiciness. The chiles here are all quite mellow, so that none upstage the others. Instead of adding cilantro as a garnish, here it’s added earlier in cooking so it has a more gentle flavor, a trick learned from my grandmother Agnes.
By Kiano Moju
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 pound peeled, deveined large shrimp, tails removed
- Kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup chicken, seafood or vegetable stock
- 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed
- 3 tablespoons plain yogurt or heavy cream
- Long-grain white rice, flatbread or grilled sliced sourdough, for serving
Preparation:
1. In a medium bowl, season the shrimp with salt and set aside.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the garlic to a cold pan. Set over medium-low heat and cook until garlic is fragrant and just begins to sizzle, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the paprika, crushed red pepper and cayenne and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Pour the flavored oil into the bowl of shrimp, tossing to coat. Set aside to marinate.
3. In the same pan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium. Add the onions, cilantro and cumin, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomato paste, lightly season with salt and stir until the tomato paste has slightly darkened in color, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Stir in the stock and beans and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Add the shrimp mixture to the pan. Cook until the shrimp start to curl and turn pink, 1 to 2 minutes, then immediately remove from the heat. (The shrimp will carry on cooking from the residual heat.) Stir in the yogurt and season with salt to taste. Serve immediately.
5. Dan Dan Noodle Salad
Turns out, dan dan noodles work well as a salad, in this recipe adapted from my cookbook “Linger: Salads, Sweets and Stories to Savor” (Knopf, 2025), as the signature punchy sauce made with sesame paste and chile oil transforms nicely into an assertive dressing. Curly and chewy ramen noodles cling perfectly to the sauce, but you could really use any noodle you like, including instant noodles, udon or thick rice noodles. Adapt this salad throughout the year by adding seasonal vegetables such as mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, snow peas, spinach or green beans.
By Hetty Lui McKinnon
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
For the salad:
- Sea salt
- 10 ounces baby bok choy (about 4)
- 10 ounces fresh or frozen ramen noodles
- 2 cups/10 ounces fresh or canned corn kernels (or thawed from frozen)
- 2 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
For the dan dan dressing:
- 2 tablespoons Chinese sesame paste or tahini
- 2 tablespoons chile oil or chile crisp, plus more for serving
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
- 2 teaspoons black or rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- 2 to 3 tablespoons unsweetened nondairy milk (such as soy or oat) or water
Preparation:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
2. Separate the white and green parts of the baby bok choy. Slice the white parts into thick pieces. Place in a colander and rinse well to remove any dirt or sediments. Drain.
3. Add the ramen to the boiling water and cook until al dente according to packet directions. About 1 1/2 minutes before the noodles are ready, add the white parts of the baby bok choy and the corn. Just before everything is ready, throw in the green bok choy leaves and blanch until they are wilted, about 20 seconds. Drain immediately and refresh under cold running water, then leave to drain again. Let cool while you make the dressing.
4. Make the dan dan dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the sesame paste, chile oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and garlic until a chunky paste forms. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and whisk, adding another tablespoon if needed, until the dressing is smooth and pourable. The dressing should be the consistency of cream. (The dressing can be prepared up to 2 days ahead and stored in a sealed jar or airtight container in the fridge. It will thicken up, so add a splash or two of milk or water to loosen it up before adding to the noodles.)
5. In a large shallow bowl, place the ramen noodles, greens and corn. Add the dressing and toss to coat. Top with the sesame seeds, scallions and a few drops of chile oil. Taste and season with salt if needed. Serve at room temperature.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.