Chicken Meatballs & DC Mumbo Sauce

Hey ya’ll!! it’s the (other) most wonderful time of the year: SUPER BOWL TIME!! I LOVE the Super Bowl, like more than anyone who does not do sports should. But it’s the festivities. I get excited that football fans are so hyped for their sport to get to their Oscars. The halftime show and commercials, which are the only reasons I am watching and of course, THE FOOD! And that brings me to this post! When it comes to the Super Bowl spread, I don’t play. Besides the game, people are looking to eat good, have some drinks and hang with great company. Unfortunately, we’re still social distancing and quarantining, so we won’t have the great company besides the people who live here, but I can make sure the food is banging and the drinks are popping. In addition to some classics that HAVE to be on my family’s table (hello brownie sundaes and wings), I am bringing two new dishes to the fold. The first: crispy chicken meatballs and mumbo sauce straight from DC! A bonus, you can actually see me make BOTH super bowl dishes on my show Nik In The Kitchen!

The Inspiration

The inspiration for this dish is 2 fold. Where I’ve spent the majority of my life consistently and my sister. For those of you that don’t know, I am from Maryland. Although I’m not from the part of Maryland that has the metro or the quintessential DC accent, we do have mumbo sauce. I also grew up going to church in DC and on the corner down from the church was a corner store we’d always go down to get wings with mumbo sauce and crinkle cut fries with saltpepperketchup. It’s a must! Having lived all over the world, I had to find a way to make my favorite foods from home when I’m thousands of miles away and mumbo sauce was that for me. The second inspo is my little sister Christina. She LOVES meatballs and always wants them at functions. She really loves the classic meatball in a chili and jelly sauce and when she’s not having that, she wants wings with mumbo sauce on the side. I figured this was a way for her to have both, even when we have to be away from each other. This recipe comes together super quickly, but I know some of ya’ll may be wondering what even is mumbo sauce, so, check out the deets below.

The Deets

Mumbo sauce is the quintessential sauce from a carryout in DC. It’s said to have originated in Chicago (and they love staking claim to it), but it’s well known in this area. It’s a red sauce that’s sweet, spicy and tangy similar to a sweet and sour sauce, but also with qualities of ketchup based bbq sauces. It’s also super customizable to preferences, so you can make it sweeter, spicier, tangier, thicker or thinner. My recipe will get you a sauce that is pretty even, with a slight edge on spice and the texture is like a great pourable sauce that sticks to food rather than soaking completely inside. And it’s also not jelly. The meatballs are a simple meatball recipe, using ground chicken mixed, rather than all breasts, and have the right spices to make it like a perfect copy of carryout fried chicken! Alright, let’s go to the tips so you can make this dish and experience DC for yourself in a little bite and make your Super Bowl spread one that everyone will remember.

Tips For Making

This is a dish that will require 3 dishes, the bowl to mix the meatballs, the pan to cook the meatballs and the pot to cook the sauce. 5 if you count spoons. That being said it’s super simple and these tips will help to make it even easier.

• Don’t over mix the ground chicken mixture, this will make the meatballs tough. Mix just until everything is combined.
• Don’t worry about over cooking the meatball. You want the outside to get crispy, but the inside will finish in the oven. To get the juiciest meatball, remember to cook to an internal temp of 165.
• KETO FRIENDLY VERSION: Substitute the breadcrumbs with keto breadcrumbs or almond flour and use all cornstarch or some unflavored whey isolate. If using almond flour, reduce buttermilk by half.

That’s all I’ve got, go ahead and make these and you’ll feel like you’re ready to beat your feet! If you don’t know what that means, well…maybe you need a post quarantine visit to the capitol city!

Don’t forget to tag me in your photos online @lizeeangel or using #lizeeangel. And as always, comment below and please, like, share and follow me on youtube, instagram, twitter, facebook and pinterest!