Homemade Chicken Meatballs combine ground chicken with a little finely minced onion and garlic, Italian seasonings, and grated fresh Parmesan Cheese for the ultimate tender and juicy baked meatball experience. Add them to casseroles, soups, meatball subs, and your favorite pasta dish.
Or enjoy them as an appetizer served with warm marinara or your favorite sauce. For a low-carb meal serve with mashed cauliflower. Make a double batch and freeze half for a meal in a couple of weeks.
How to make Chicken Meatballs
First, in a large bowl, mix together the ground chicken, eggs, minced onion, minced garlic, kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, Italian seasoning, Panko bread crumbs, and Parmesan Cheese. Use a small scoop for an accurate size portion, and your hands roll the meatballs. Place on a parchment-covered baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with warm marinara, grated fresh Parmesan, and chopped fresh Italian Parsley.
Tips for making great chicken meatballs
- For optimal flavor, combine the meatball mixture with a gentle hand and just until combined. Overmixing can make the meatballs dense and tough.
- Other spices to work with include onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and marjoram.
- Use a small cookie scoop to proportion out the correct amount of meatball mixture, and then roll the meatballs in your hands so they are round on all sides.
- Ground turkey, ground pork, or ground beef can be substituted for the ground chicken.
- Covering the baking sheet with parchment paper helps the meatballs cook evenly, brown better, and makes for easier cleanup.
- Meatballs are done when they are cooked through and browned, and the internal temperature registers 165 degrees with an instant-read thermometer.
- As an alternative to baking, you can also pan-fry the meatballs in a large skillet over medium heat. Simply add a little olive oil to a large pan and cook until they are golden brown and cooked through.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave at reduced power or on the stovetop on low in a little marinara sauce.
- Freeze for up to 3 months. See below for more about freezing meatballs.
How to freeze meatballs
Cooked meatballs – fully cool the meatballs. Then place them on a parchment-covered baking sheet with a little space between them so they don’t freeze together. Place on a level spot in the freezer until fully frozen. Move them to a freezer zipper bag and freeze them for up to 3 months.
Raw meatballs – place the rolled meatballs on a parchment-covered baking sheet with a little space between them so they don’t freeze together. Place on a level spot or shelf in the freezer until frozen solid. Move the frozen meatballs to a freezer zipper bag and freeze them for up to 3 months.
For best results, thaw your meatballs in the fridge overnight before cooking.
More meatball recipes to try
Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. ground chicken or turkey
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons finely minced yellow onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- ⅔ cup grated fresh Parmesan Cheese
- Chopped fresh Italian parsley or thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix together the ground chicken, eggs, minced onion, minced garlic, kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, Italian seasoning, Panko breadcrumbs, and Parmesan Cheese.
- Use a small scoop for an accurate size portion, and your hands roll the meatballs. Place on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 25 minutes or until cooked through and browned.
Notes
- For optimal flavor, combine the meatball mixture with a gentle hand and just until combined. Overmixing can make the meatballs dense and tough.
- Other spices to work with include onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and marjoram.
- Use a small cookie scoop to proportion out the correct amount of meatball mixture, and then roll the meatballs in your hands, so they are round on all sides.
- Ground turkey, ground pork, or ground beef can be substituted for the ground chicken.
- Covering the baking sheet with parchment paper helps the meatballs cook evenly, brown better, and makes for easier cleanup.
- Meatballs are done when they are cooked through, browned, and the internal temperature registers 165 degrees with an instant-read thermometer.
- As an alternative to baking, you can also pan-fry the meatballs. Add a little olive oil to a large pan and cook until they are golden brown and cooked through.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave at reduced power or on the stovetop on low in a little marinara sauce.
- Freeze for up to 3 months. See below for more about freezing meatballs.
Nutrition
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Sonia Seivwright
Amazing bites. So delicious and easy to make!
Melanie williams
This is so perfect my husband LOVES meatballs but prefers chicken, so we are deffo going top have to give this a go x
Beth Pierce
Thanks! Enjoy!
Luna S
This sounds so much easier than I thought it would be to make homemade meatballs, and they look delicious!
Gervin Khan
Awesome! This chicken meatballs recipe it so yummy! The crispy texture of it makes it enticing and tempting! My kids love it too!
Tweenselmom
Will try to make this next week, I bet my kids would love these meatballs. Thanks!
Stephanie
These are perfect for my family! My youngest loves meatballs, but my oldest doesn’t like beef. It’s a great combination, so they both ate them.
Maureen
These look so good! My son is a big fan of meatballs and we have them once a week. I can’t wait to try and make these for him!
Grace
Absolutely delicious! I am so glad I came across this recipe. Thank you!
Beth Pierce
My pleasure, Grace!
Erin
These were incredibly delicious! Thanks for the great recipe!
Catalina
Oh my goodness! These chicken meatballs are everything I want right now!
Tayler
We made these meatballs for dinner last night and they were incredible! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Beth Pierce
My pleasure Tayler.
Tavo
These chicken balls were absolutely fantastic and super tasty! Thanks for the recipe!
Beth Pierce
The pleasure is all mine mine!
cam
These chicken meatballs were sooooo good and flavorful, definitely the best I’ve ever had!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Cam!! So glad that you liked them!
Chris
Our kids are really into meatball subs right now, so we decided to mix things up and give these chicken meatballs a try. They all loved it. Thanks for sharing!
Beth Pierce
Thanks Chris! So glad that everyone loved them!
Sandra
These chicken meatballs are such a crowd-pleaser! Perfect appetizer!
Amanda
Amazing! Went perfectly with our meal. Thanks for the great recipe.