Easy Chicken Meatballs

Easy Baked Chicken Meatballs

If your family loves a comforting bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, you’re going to love this lighter twist on easy homemade meatballs. These chicken meatballs are a lighter twist the whole family will love.

Made with seasoned ground chicken, garlic, onion powder, Parmesan cheese, and Panko breadcrumbs, these easy chicken meatballs are baked in the oven until juicy and tender every time. Serve them over pasta with marinara sauce or pile them onto a meatball sub for an easy meal.

Ingredient Notes

Find the full printable recipe with measurements below.

• Ground chicken: I like to use 80% lean ground chicken.
• Egg: This is not only a binder but also helps add moisture to keep the chicken meatballs from getting too tough.
• Olive oil: This helps keep the ingredients together and also adds a nice richness.
• Panko bread crumbs: I like to use panko as a binder that holds the meat together and also adds a nice texture.
• Parmesan cheese: I love the salty, nutty flavor this adds to the chicken meatballs.
• Green onion: This helps balance the other flavors while adding a little extra boost.
• Garlic: I like to use freshly minced garlic, but you can use 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder in a pinch.
• Seasoning: You only need onion powder, Kosher salt, and black pepper to help round out the flavor of these easy chicken meatballs.

How to Make Chicken Meatballs

1. Prep. Heat the oven and prepare a baking sheet with foil and spray with a non-stick spray. You definitely want to spray the foil as these have a tendency to stick while baking. And we want to keep the meatballs nice and intact!
2. Combine. In a bowl, combine the ground chicken, egg, olive oil, Panko breadcrumbs, grated parmesan cheese, minced garlic, onion powder, salt, and pepper. In other words, combine everything. Mix together, being careful not to overmix. Doing so may cause a loss of moisture and tough meatballs.
3. Scoop. Scoop out the meat and form it into 1 1/2″ balls and place them individually on the pan, leaving a bit of room in between each one.
4. Bake. Bake uncovered until no longer pink in the middle. If you are worried about one side browning more than the other, feel free to turn them over halfway through.

Recipe Tips

• Lean meat. When buying your ground chicken, look for lean meat (I use 80%).
• Ground turkey. Sub ground turkey for chicken to make turkey meatballs.
• Greek chicken meatballs: Add some lemon zest, red onion, fresh dill, dried oregano, cumin and red pepper flakes.
• Viral hit. Turn these into marry me meatballs with a rich and creamy marry me sauce!
• Non-stick. When forming your chicken meatballs, try using a bit of oil on your hands to help form the balls.
• Pan fry. Pan fry meatballs with 2 Tbsp of oil over medium-high heat until cooked through or make air fryer meatballs.
• Keep them moist. Don’t over bake! The chicken meatballs are done when they are golden brown, firm and a meat thermometer registers an internal temperature of 160 – 165°F.