12 Aidell's Chicken Teriyaki & Caramelized Onions

Okay, so I have MAD love for Aidells brand chicken sausages and meatballs, particularly the Chicken Teriyaki & Pineapple Meatballs.  I mean, we keep these guys in business with the amount we buy.  Thank goodness they sell them at Costco, otherwise I'd be lost.  LOST.

The following recipe is one of our most favorite and comforting meals, and even the kidlet loves it.

1 package of  Aidells Chicken Teriyaki & Pineapple Meatballs, mushed up in the bag
1 large yellow onion, sliced very thinly
1.5 cups jasmine or basmati rice, cooked (yield is like...4 cups? cooked)
oil
salt & pepper

Heat your largest pan over high flame and add about 2 tbls of cooking oil - any kind, canola, olive, doesn't really matter.

Throw in your sliced onions, and add about 1 tsp of salt and ground pepper.  Arrange evenly in the pan, and don't touch it for at least a minute or two.  Let it start caramelizing.

See?

While the onions are caramelizing, you want to take your bag of meatballs and while the bag is still closed, mush and smoosh up all the meatballs into small chunks.

Before (that is a bit of ice...I keep extra bags in the freezer!):

Apres-smooshing:

Before I got smart, I used to use a knife and cutting board to chop them up.  Took me a few months to realize that the mush-and-smoosh method was so much easier.  And less messy.

Let's check on the onions.

Perfect!  They are now deliciously brown, and sweet.  Now, for the smooshed teriyaki meatballs.  Dump those in with the onions.

Now, I cook these for quite a while over high flame, at least 10 minutes so that the chicken also gets brown and caramelized.  Soooo good!  Add more oil if things start sticking too much.

Last comes the rice.  You did remember to make the rice, right?  Here's a crash course on how to make it.

In this application I normally make the rice a bit ahead of time so it has time to cool down (uncovered), and is not steaming when I add it to the onions and meatballs.  Let's add it now.

Good, good.  This rice is UNsalted.  I never, ever salt the rice before it is fully cooked, and sometimes I do salt it before using it, but for this, we'll just mix it up, and the saltiness of the meat will help flavor the rice.  You can always add salt after mixing it through.

Look at those onions!  Look at that yummy chicken teriyaki!  It's to die for, you really should try it.  Find Aidells in your grocery store, or order it online for heaven's sake.  You won't regret.