Chicken Meatballs
You’re less than 30 minutes away from juicy, flavorful Chicken Meatballs on your dinner table! Serve them with pasta or zucchini noodles for dinner, or as an appetizer with marinara sauce for dipping.
For a meal that the whole family will love, serve these chicken meatballs with pasta, Marinara Sauce, Garlic Bread and an Italian Salad.
Why You’ll Love These Chicken Meatballs
- Flavor! These chicken meatballs are anything but boring! With Parmesan cheese, fresh garlic and dried seasonings, each bite of these tender meatballs is bursting with flavor.
- Healthy Meatballs. Swapping ground chicken for ground beef makes these chicken meatballs lower in fat but still high in protein. Prefer ground turkey? Try this Turkey Meatballs recipe.
- Baked Chicken Meatballs. By baking the meatballs, you’ll create less mess in the kitchen and you’ll be free to make the rest of your meal while the meatballs are in the oven (no flipping meatballs in a pan on the stove!). Baked meatballs are also healthier than pan fried, so it’s a win-win.
- Easy Dinner Idea. With just 15 minutes of active prep time and 13 minutes of baking time, you can have these delicious meatballs on your dinner table in less than 30 minutes.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Panko Bread Crumbs: The bread crumbs help to bind the meatballs together. The larger crumb pieces of panko bread crumbs trap more moisture in the meatballs, making them juicier.
- Parmesan Cheese: Adds lots of flavor to the meatballs.
- Egg: To bind the meat mixture together.
- Olive Oil: Since ground chicken can be drier than ground beef, adding a tablespoon of olive oil helps to ensure that the chicken meatballs to turn out moist and juicy.
- Garlic: For flavor!
- Seasonings: To season the meatballs you’ll need garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, salt and pepper.
- Ground Chicken
How to Make Chicken Meatballs
Grease a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil or avocado oil and preheat your oven to 425° F. Baking the meatballs at a high temperature locks in the juices, helps them to brown, and also means that they will cook quickly!
Combine all of the ingredients except for the ground chicken in a large mixing bowl. Mix with a fork until well combined.
Add the ground chicken and mix with your hands until just combined. Be careful to not overwork the meat mixture so that the meatballs turn out soft and tender.
Shape the meat mixture into 1 3/4-inch meatballs and place on the baking sheet. If the meat mixture sticks to your hands, use slightly damp hands or grease your hands with olive oil.
Bake the meatballs for 10-11 minutes (they will be almost but not fully cooked at this point). Then broil them for 2-3 minutes, until cooked through to 165° F. Broiling the chicken meatballs for the last few minutes of the cook time helps to brown the tops. Don’t overbake the meatballs or you run the risk of them drying out.
Storage and Freezer Instructions
- To Store: After baking, chicken meatballs can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- To Freeze: Bake the meatballs and then let them cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. To serve, thaw meatballs overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- To Reheat: Reheat meatballs in a simmering pot of marinara sauce on the stove or reheat gently in the microwave.
More Meatball Recipes
You might also enjoy these meatball recipes.
The Best Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- â…“ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for the pan
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 pound ground chicken
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° F. Grease a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil.
- Combine all ingredients except for the ground chicken in a large mixing bowl. Use a fork to mix until well combined.
- Add the ground chicken to the mixing bowl and use your hands to mix until combined. Be careful to not overwork the meat, just mix until the ingredients are combined.
- Shape the mixture into 1 ¾-inch meatballs and place on the greased baking sheet with a little room in between each one. (If the meat mixture sticks to your hands, use slightly damp hands or grease your hands with olive oil.)
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10-11 minutes, and then broil for 2-3 minutes to brown the tops. Meatballs are done when the centers register 165° F on an instant read thermometer. (I usually bake them at until they are about 135° in the center – this takes about 10 minutes – and then broil to brown the tops and finish cooking to 165° F.)
Notes
- To Store:Â After baking, chicken meatballs can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- To Freeze:Â Bake the meatballs and then let them cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. To serve, thaw meatballs overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- To Reheat:Â Reheat meatballs in a simmering pot of marinara sauce on the stove or reheat gently in the microwave.
Sounds great. Cannot use cheese with meat. Will it taste good without it?
Yes, the meatballs will still be delicious if you leave out the cheese.
What non dairy item can I use as a substitute for the parmigiana cheese?
Hi Debby,
You can omit the Parmesan cheese and there is no substitution needed. Enjoy!