Made with just a handful of ingredients, these easy Chicken Meatballs are baked until golden brown and ready in under 30 minutes. Serve with spaghetti, add to your favorite soups, or serve with mashed potatoes and roasted veggies. The possibilities are endless for these baked chicken meatballs!
We just love a good meatball, alternating between Italian beef meatballs, grape jelly meatballs, and this lighter chicken version.
Easy Ground Chicken Meatballs
These ground chicken meatballs are quick, easy, and healthy, making them a nice alternative to traditional beef meatballs with a lighter flavor that pairs well with so many things. The prep time is a whopping 10 minutes and then it’s just 15 minutes in the oven and these chicken meatballs are ready to serve.
Pair them with spaghetti and meatballs, baked ravioli, meatball sliders, soups, over mashed potatoes, or alongside your favorite roasted green vegetable. They pretty much go with everything.
I definitely recommend making a double batch and freezing some for later so you always have an easy weeknight meal at your fingertips!
Chicken Meatball Recipe Ingredients
There are just a handful of ingredients in these easy homemade meatballs.
(Scroll to the bottom for our easy printable recipe with the complete directions.)
- Ground chicken
- Egg – Helps bind everything together.
- Breadcrumbs – I like to use Italian seasoned breadcrumbs for all of the extra flavor. Panko breadcrumbs would work too.
- Parmesan cheese
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Seasonings – A simple trio of onion powder, salt, and black pepper.
Recipe Variations
If you want to add your own flare to these meatballs, here are a few suggestions.
- Make turkey meatballs. Just swap the ground chicken for ground turkey.
- Can I use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic? Sure. I love the pop of flavor from the fresh minced garlic but if you prefer to use garlic powder, that’s fine. Use about a 1/2 teaspoon.
- Play around with the spices. Since I’m using Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, I didn’t add any additional spices. However if you use unseasoned breadcrumbs, you should add some Italian seasoning or some dried parsley or oregano to the meatball mixture.
- Add some spinach. Finely chop up some fresh spinach to mix into the meatballs for a pop of green and extra nutrition.
How to Make Chicken Meatballs
There are just 3 steps to making these easy chicken meatballs. Here’s a summary:
(Scroll to the bottom for our easy printable recipe with the complete directions.)
- Combine the ingredients. Use your hands to mix together all of the ingredients.
- Form into balls. Use a cookie scoop to form 24 meatballs into balls. Place on a baking sheet.
- Bake. Bake for 15 minutes. At the end, turn the oven to broil for just a few minutes until the meatballs are golden brown. Remove from the oven & enjoy!
Tips for Success
Keep these tips in mind if you’re making these for the first time.
- Prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands. The chicken mixture will be sticky. Wear gloves or slightly oil your hands to prevent the meat from sticking to your hands while you roll your meatballs.
- How to tell when the meatballs are done. Since these are chicken meatballs, they must reach an internal temperature of 165F to be fully cooked. I use an instant read thermometer just to double check.
- Don’t let them burn. While I like to broil them for the last few minutes, be sure to watch closely so they only get lightly browned and not burnt.
What to Serve with Chicken Meatballs
There are so many ways to serve these baked chicken meatballs. They can be added to many recipes, used in place of traditional meatballs, or even turned into the main course themselves. Here are a few of my favorite ways to serve these homemade meatballs:
- Classic spaghetti and meatballs with our amazing spaghetti sauce.
- With or in baked ravioli casserole.
- On meatball sliders.
- Over mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower.
- Add some to spaghetti squash alfredo.
- In soups like lemon orzo meatball soup or Italian wedding soup.
- As a variation on Swedish meatballs.
- Tossed with buffalo sauce for a spicy treat.
- Alongside roasted green vegetables like roasted broccoli or roasted asparagus.
How to Store & Reheat Leftovers
- How to store leftovers. Leftover baked chicken meatballs can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- To freeze. These chicken meatballs freeze very well. I recommend making a double batch and freeze them, so you always have some on hand and can pull out as many or as few at a time as you’d like. To freeze, prepare as directed in the recipe card. Let cool to the touch; then place meatballs on an ungreased cookie sheet and freeze, uncovered, until solid. Then transfer to a freezer-safe ziploc bag and freeze for up to 3 months. You can thaw overnight in the fridge or reheat from frozen.
- How to reheat leftovers. Leftovers from the fridge can easily be reheated in the microwave. Frozen meatballs can be reheated in the oven (350F for 20 minutes) or air fryer (400F for about 10 minutes). If adding them to a soup, it’s usually better to thaw them overnight in the fridge.
More Meatball Recipes:
- Turkey Meatballs
- Italian Meatballs
- Chicken Chorizo Meatballs
- Grape Jelly Meatballs
- Beef Kofta Meatballs
- Swedish Meatballs
I hope you love this delicious and easy recipe – be sure to give it a review below! Also don’t forget to follow Belly Full on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube!
Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add all the ingredients to a medium sized bowl.
- Mix ingredients together with your hands until incorporated. (The mixture will be sticky.)
- Grease your hands. Using a tablespoon-sized cookie scoop, form 24 equal size meatballs, rolling them so they are round. Place on your baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Turn oven to broil and cook on the top rack until meatballs are golden brown, watching them carefully so they don't over-brown or burn. Check to make sure they have an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Remove from the oven and enjoy as desired.
These are the best chicken balls for any use…usually I make for Italian sauce and no one complains! Yum