last updated on October 30, 2026
Continuing my bowl series, today we are making a couscous and chicken meatball bowl. It’s got lemon chive couscous, big ricotta meatballs, pickled red cabbage, and a yogurt dill sauce. It comes together quickly and is the perfect weeknight meal!
ingredients needed
ricotta meatballs
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 red onion
- 1/2 cup pickles (dill or bread & butter)
- 1/2 cup fresh dill
- 1/4 cup fresh chives
- 1 clove of garlic
- zest of one lemon
- 1 tsp kosher salt
lemon chive couscous
- 1 cup pearl couscous
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp fresh chives
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- pinch of kosher salt, to taste
pickled red cabbage
- 2 cups red cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
dill yogurt sauce
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp fresh chives
- 1 tbsp fresh dill
- 1 clove of garlic, grated
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
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couscous and chicken meatball bowl
[PREP] 20 minutes
[COOK] 20 minutes
[TOTAL] 40 minutes
Ingredients
pickled red cabbage
- 2 cups red cabbage thinly sliced
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
ricotta meatballs
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 red onion
- 1/2 cup pickles dill or bread & butter
- 1/2 cup fresh dill
- 1/4 cup fresh chives
- 1 clove of garlic
- zest of one lemon
- 1 tsp kosher salt
lemon chive couscous
- 1 cup pearl couscous
- 2 tbsp fresh chives
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- pinch of kosher salt to taste
dill yogurt sauce
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp fresh dill
- 1 clove of garlic grated
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Begin by making the pickled red cabbage. Add the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt to a small pot over medium heat. While it heats up, thinly slice the red cabbage and transfer it to a bowl. Once the vinegar mixture starts to boil, carefully pour it over the cabbage. Transfer to the fridge to cool.
- Now start on the meatballs. Preheat the oven to 400F. Finely chop the red onion, pickles, dill, chives, and garlic. Add it to a bowl along with the remaining ingredients for the meatballs: ground chicken, ricotta cheese, egg, panko breadcrumbs, lemon zest, and salt. Mix until everything is well combined.
- Shape the meat into large meatballs, each about 1/3 cup. Transfer to a greased baking sheet then into the oven. Bake for 12-17 minutes, flipping half way through. Bake until the meatballs hit 165F in the center.
- While the meatballs are cooking, make the couscous. Cook 1 cup of dry couscous according to package directions. When the couscous is cooked, remove from the heat and add the remaining ingredients: butter, fresh chives, lemon juice, and salt.
- To make the dill yogurt sauce, add all the ingredients to a bowl: plain greek yogurt, olive oil, honey, lemon juice, fresh dill, garlic, and salt. Stir until well combined.
- To plate, add the red cabbage and lemon couscous to a bowl, then top with a few meatballs and a generous scoop of the dill yogurt sauce. Enjoy!
What’d you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts or if you have any questions!