Ground Chicken Breast ... My Best Friend

faithsimmons526

I love ground chicken breast ... it is really low in calories, yet filling and so versatile and accommodating. Anything you can do with ground beef you can do with ground chicken. If you're like me and prefer 5 or 6 little meals a day, this is a great option. If you like larger meals instead, this can be a great beginning to a satisfying dinner.

Basic Ground Chicken Filling
(Serves 4-5)

1 lb. lean ground chicken breast
1 onion, finely chopped
1 medium bell pepper, finely chopped (green is fine, but red, yellow or orange add color variety)
1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach
5 or 6 mushrooms, finely chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt (I use real sea salt … the wet gray type)


Brown the ground chicken with garlic in a non-stick pan. When still slightly pink, add onions, mushrooms and bell pepper. Sprinkle with onion powder and salt, and stir until chicken is cooked through.


This is your basic mixture. Now it’s time to add some flavor. The sky is the limit really, but here are some ideas that might strike your fancy:

To the basic mixture, add one package of:
 your favorite salad dressing and seasoning mix (ie. ranch, Italian, dill, blue cheese, etc).
 your favorite ethnic seasoning (ie. Greek, Asian, Thai, Indian, taco, fajita etc).

Note: although not a lot in most cases, these seasoning packages do have calories – add 1/4 (or 1/5) of the number of calories noted on the package to the meal count. Generally, the salad dressing mixes add about 20 calories per serving (woot woot!).


Divide mixture into 4 or 5 servings, depending on how hungry you tend to get.

1/4 of mixture = approx 170 calories (plus added seasonings)
1/5 of mixture = approx 135 calories (plus added seasonings)


Okay, we have the seasoned filling, now what can we do with it? Here are a few ideas that I can think of:

 Lettuce wraps – wrap a scoop or two in large lettuce leaves

 Cabbage rolls – steam cabbage, fill leaves with chicken mixture and bake with marinara or spaghetti sauce

 Toss the mixture onto a green salad and eat without salad dressing. (This is nice when using the taco or salad dressing seasonings. Garnish with salsa, light sour cream, olives ... even cheese if you can 'spare' it.)

 Spray wonton wrappers with non-stick spray and place in muffin tins. Fill wrappers with mixture then bake at 350 till the wrappers are lightly browned (ten minutes?). Serve with a dollop of yogurt (especially good if you opt for a spicy seasoning)

 If using an Asian seasoning, serve over boiled cellophane noodles with marinated carrots and cucumber on the side (there’s a topic here on cucumber that has some nice recipes)


Well, that's the extent of my creativity for the moment. If anyone can think of other ideas please add them to the list. I heard a rumor that using the imagination burns calories. :P

apothecarist

Great tips! Curious tho...do you buy chicken breast and grind it or have it ground up at the butcher? i'm always afraid that the ground chicken i buy at the store is full of skin and other fatty ingreds. Thanks.

ktully93

Bump

megsmom2

We love using ground chicken for tacos...just cook and season it the way you would beef. Delicious!

faithsimmons526

@ apothecarist
No, I don't grind it myself. What I've found is that the lighter the color the leaner the meat ... if you're buying it in a see-through package it's the best way to tell. Other than that, talk to the meat manager or your butcher -- in many cases you can choose a boneless skinless chicken breast and have them grind it for you no charge.

Congratulations on your success (you too megsmom) ... I'm only on day 3 ... nothing to report yet lol.

2bawallaby

Thanks for that.