The best chicken meatballs baked until golden brown and flavored with garlic, herbs and spices. These meatballs are great served as an appetizer, or over a big plate of spaghetti.
My family loves meatballs, I often make their favorite versions including meatball soup, grape jelly meatballs, Italian meatballs, slow cooker meatballs, sweet and sour meatballs, and this lighter chicken version.
My family loves dinner recipes that involve meatballs, and these tender and juicy chicken meatballs are their all-time favorite. Chicken meatballs are a little lighter than their beef counterparts, but they’re still plenty flavorful and are super easy to prepare.
Table of Contents
Chicken Meatball Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need ground chicken, an egg, panko breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic, salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning and fresh parsley.
How Do You Make Chicken Meatballs?
To make chicken meatballs, place ground chicken, eggs, breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, olive oil and seasonings in a large bowl. Mix everything thoroughly, then roll 1 inch balls out of the mixture.
Place the uncooked meatballs on a foil lined baking sheet pan and they are ready to bake. Put them in the oven until the meatballs are golden brown and cooked through. Add a sprinkle of parsley, then serve and enjoy.
Tips For Chicken Meatballs
- You can use ground turkey instead of ground chicken with great results.
- When you select your ground chicken, pick 93-96% lean ground chicken. Avoid 99% lean ground chicken breast.
- I like to serve these chicken balls in garlic butter sauce. To make garlic butter sauce, simply cook in a pan 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 teaspoon of garlic, 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley and a little salt and pepper to taste. You can also serve these meatballs in homemade marinara sauce or with tomato sauce for dipping.
- Be sure to offer some great side dishes such as Hasselback sweet potatoes, sauteed broccolini or fennel salad.
- Try putting a little cooking oil on your hands when you form the meatballs. That helps keep the meat from sticking to you and gives you smoother balls.
- You can store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days, or put them in the freezer for 2 months.
- No parsley on hand? Try a different herb such as oregano or basil.
Quick Tip
Be careful not to pack the meatballs too tightly in your hands, or they can become tough.
Recipe FAQs
There are a few tricks to keep your meatballs moist. Be sure to use ground chicken that is 93-96% lean, that extra fat along with the olive oil in the recipe will keep the meat from getting dry. In addition, be careful not to over bake the meatballs. They are ready as soon as they are done and the tops are brown.
Chicken meatballs are made with ground chicken, breadcrumbs, egg, cheese, olive oil, herbs and spices.
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Chicken Meatball Variations
These chicken meatballs are fantastic in so many different ways. Here are some changes you can try.
- Greek style: Add 1/2 cup chopped cooked spinach and use feta cheese for the parmesan cheese. You can also add a tablespoon of minced onions.
- Cheese lovers: Add 1/2 cup each of shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese to the meatballs.
- Mexican: Omit the Italian seasoning, instead use 1 tablespoon of chili powder. Use cheddar cheese instead of parmesan cheese. Sprinkle a little cilantro over the top of the meatballs when serving them instead of parsley.
- Bacon: Try adding 1/2 cup of cooked crumbled bacon to the meatballs.
- Stuffed meatballs: Put a 1/2 inch cube of mozzarella cheese inside each meatball, then bake.
These baked chicken meatballs bake up browned on the outside and moist on the inside. They work perfectly in pasta, as a pizza topping, in a sandwich, or as a party snack. The possibilities are endless!
More Meatball Recipes You’ll Love
Turkey Meatballs (Slow Cooker)
4 hrs 25 mins
Cranberry Meatballs (Slow Cooker)
3 hrs 5 mins
Teriyaki Meatballs
25 mins
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground chicken 96% lean
- 1 egg
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- cooking spray
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with foil, and coat the foil with cooking spray.
- Place the ground chicken, eggs, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning in a bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Roll 1 inch sized meatballs, and place the meatballs in a single layer on the baking pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until meatballs are browned and cooked through. Sprinkle with parsley, then serve.
Notes
- You can use ground turkey instead of ground chicken with great results.
- When you select your ground chicken, pick 93-96% lean ground chicken. Avoid 99% lean ground chicken breast.
- I like to serve these meatballs in garlic butter sauce. To make garlic butter sauce, simply cook in a pan 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 teaspoon of garlic, 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley and a little salt and pepper to taste. You can also serve these meatballs in marinara sauce or with marinara sauce for dipping.
These were absolutely delicious. I only had 1lb of ground chicken, so I used the recipe conversion roll above to cut the recipe in half (used 1 whole egg instead of 0.5 eggs) and they were so tasty. It made exactly 24 meatballs. My picky 2 year old loved them! Will add these to our regular rotation!!
Oops, I meant recipe conversion TOOL not roll
My little boy is 28, he loved it and ate all 25+
This may seem like a silly question but do you start with cooked shredded chicken or raw?
it’s raw ground chicken!
If you don’t have fresh parsley how much should I use of dried parsley?
1/3 of the amount for dried!
I’ve been making these for the last 3 years or so, thank you so much for this delicious recipe, my family loves them!
I love this recipe. They came out delicious My son is a picky eater and he even had seconds. Usually my meatballs come out a bit dry but these were perfect moist and delicious 😁. Thank you !!
Is there a substitute for egg?
I would just omit it!
What is the serving size for the 310cal?
Also great recipe
It should be for 4 meatballs!
Can you freeze the meatballs?
Yes you can!
This was a simple recipe easily made. The meatballs were amazing. So flavorful. I took them out of the oven before they were totally cooked as they do tend to cook while standing. Had them in a Greek lemon/egg soup. So good. I didn’t have panko bread crumbs, but used a mix of stuffing crumbs and crumbs I make from bread going stale. Use a thermometer to check doneness, but realize the balls will cook even after you take them out, so don’t overcook!
I accidentally got turkey meat instead 🤦🏻♀️. Can I use that instead?
Yes that’s fine!
I’m looking forward to making this dish
Can I freeze after cooking? Thanks;
Yes that should be fine!
I have been looking for foods with less fat grams and ran across this recipe. My husband actually liked them!! Very good!!!
How many meatballs do you consider a serving? Love these! They are a great healthy snack we prep for our week!
It should be 4-5 meatballs!
I just made this chicken meatballs and my husband said it was the best chicken meatballs he has ever had!
Can you substitute the cheese with something else? My son is allergic to dairy.
I’d just omit it!
I can’t have dairy either; I used nutritional yeast in place of the cheese – it worked very well
I usually make turkey meatballs and have to add more spices because its so bland but these chicken meatballs are delicious! Followed recipe as is and it was perfect.
Wow..made up a big batch of your Chicken Meetmeat Balls. We used a Bocatini pastas. It was fabulous, accompanied with a sourdough loaf of bread and green salad
Thank you so much
Joanne Smith
Poulsbo Wa
This turned exactly as I wanted and hoped for. Definitely my go-to meatball recipe for the future. Freezing a bunch to have on hand. I use tzatziki sauce in a pita for a middle eastern/Greek twist,
I ended up making these with ground turkey as thats all I had and they were delicious.
These turned out SO deliciously! How do you get that amazing, burnished surface on your meatballs? Our oven sucks and I can never trust the temperature settings, so I set to broil in the final minutes, but yours are so glossy and browned! I even spritzed them with some oil to try to help…
Make sure to put your meatballs on the top rack so they’re closer to the broiler heating element! Glad you enjoyed the recipe.