Chicken Meatballs
These meatballs always turn out juicy and tender because I have a few KEY ingredients to ensure that. This is my go-to recipe for chicken meatballs and I would love it if you tell me how you like it.
Chicken meatballs are as tried and true as any recipe could be. I make chicken meatballs or chicken burgers all the time. It’s my “I don’t even have time to think about what to make for dinner” kind of recipe. It’s easy, it’s fast, and always so delicious.
Even though these meatballs are so flavorful, they are very versatile and go with just about any sauce and any side dish! Serve them however you feel like that day.
Lyuba’s Tips to Make Chicken Meatballs
Make sure to dice the onion teeny-tiny! You don’t want to bite into a big chunk of onions, it’s not very pleasant.
Please make sure you use Dijon mustard, not yellow mustard! Those are NOT the same!
If you need to make the recipe gluten free, use gluten free bread crumbs.
Rolling meatballs: For the BEST results, make sure you grease your hands with some cooking spray and use a cookie scoop (I use #40 scoop)! The grease on your hands will prevent the meat from sticking to you, and the cookie scoop will ensure that all of the meatballs are uniform in size.
Keep them from falling apart: The main reason for meatballs to fall apart is because you are missing or don’t have enough binder! Egg and bread crumbs are the two great binders that work together in meatballs to keep them together. Both also help with tenderness and texture of the meatballs.
Variations and Additions You Can Try
These are very straightforward meatballs that are perfect any day and any time. You can dress up these meatballs with any sauce you want, and if you plan ahead a bit, you can even add complimentary flavors right into the meatballs.
- Flavors you can add right into the meatballs include lemon zest, orange zest, Parmesan cheese, rosemary and extra garlic, extra spice, basil and other additional herbs. Feel free to get creative!
- Some great sauces you can serve it with are pasta sauce, teriyaki sauce, Alfredo sauce, peppercorn sauce, creamy mushroom sauce, BBQ sauce, Thai sweet chili sauce, simple butter and garlic sauce, and lemon wine sauce (think Scampi).
- You can also check out my other chicken and turkey meatballs like buffalo chicken meatballs, Italian chicken meatballs, and honey garlic teriyaki chicken meatballs.
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Chicken Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground chicken (or lean ground turkey)
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 3 garlic cloves pressed or minced
- 1/4 yellow onion minced
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp coarse salt more or less to taste
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp fresh minced parsley*
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients for the chicken meatballs in the mixing bowl and mix well until combined.
- Grease your hands with some cooking spray. To get even meatballs, use a cookie scoop. I use #40 scoop but you can use a slightly larger one. Try to keep the meatballs about 1 inch in diameter. (You can make meatballs a little bigger or smaller according to your own preference. Just remember to adjust cooking time slightly if making bigger or smaller meatballs.)
- Quickly roll all the meatballs and add them to the baking sheet, close together but not touching.
To Bake The Meatballs:
- Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly grease a baking sheet with some oil or cover it with parchment paper.
- Bake the meatballs for 18-20 minutes, depending on the size. (Check the internal temperature of the meatballs using instant read digital meat thermometer. Chicken should be cooked to 165° internal temperature.)
To Pan-Sear Meatballs:
- Preheat a large cooking pan over medium to medium-low heat (depending on how hot your stove runs.)
- Add a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil to the pan and add meatballs. Cook meatballs, covered, for about 6-7 minutes and turn them over. Keep cooking the meatballs for 5-6 more minutes, uncovered until done.
- Tip: If you're not planning on adding any sauce you can always melt a couple tablespoons of butter when meatballs are almost done and toss in some fresh herbs and pressed garlic clove or two. Coat the meatballs, cook just a minute or two, and serve.
Video
Notes
- *If you need to use dried herbs, remember to half the recipe. So use 1 tbsp. died parsley if needed.
- Gluten Free: To make sure your chicken meatballs are gluten free, simply swap the panko breadcrumbs for gluten free panko breadcrumbs. The rest of the ingredients are already naturally gluten free.
Be sure to take precaution when purchasing ground chicken and ground turkey and read the ingredients. Some brands add extra things to their ground meats that may not be gluten free. Always check the label on your ground meats. - Substituting ground turkey: This recipe will work great with ground turkey as well. Remember that ground turkey is much leaner than chicken, so don’t expect the turkey meatballs to be as juicy as chicken. Also, I recommend that you use lean ground turkey, not extra lean
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in July 2022.
Categories:
30 Minute Meals, Chicken Dinner Recipes, Dinner Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, Healthy Dinner Ideas, Most Popular Recipes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
My family, even the one who is not a fan of chicken, and I love these tender and flavorful meatballs. I have given up looking at any other chicken meatball recipes.
That is always a win when the whole family likes them!
Fantastic flavor!
Thank you, Stephanie! I am so glad you liked it!
I double this recipe and freezing half makes my week a lot easier. Thanks for sharing!