Chicken Meatballs

Healthy Baked Chicken Meatballs

If your family loves a nice comforting bowl of spaghetti and meatballs, you’re going to LOVE the lighter version of the classic beef meatball, without missing a beat. These chicken meatballs will soon be on your most requested list by kids and adults alike!

Seasoned with fresh garlic, onion powder, and parmesan cheese then held together with the light and crispy Panko breadcrumbs, these chicken meatballs yield a very tasty meatball every time. We especially love them served over cooked pasta with marinara sauce.

Meal prep becomes easy peasy as these ground chicken meatballs are an easy freezer meal that can be made in big batches to pull out on busy weeknights or lazy weekends. Meatball Sub Sunday anyone?

Recipe Ingredients

It takes only a handful of ingredients and a few pantry staples to make these addictive and easily customizable chicken meatballs.

Find the full printable recipe with measurements below.

• Ground chicken: I like to use 80% lean ground chicken to make these meatballs hold their shape.
• 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 crumbs: I like to use panko as a binder that holds the meat together but also adds a nice texture.
• Parmesan cheese: I love the salty, nutty flavor this adds, but also it’s cheese. I love cheese.
• 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 garlic powder in a pinch.
• Seasoning: You only need onion powder, Kosher salt, and black pepper to help round out the flavor of these chicken meatballs.

How to Make Chicken Meatballs

The hardest part of this chicken meatball recipe involves shaping the meat mixture into balls. Other than that, it is simply stirring and baking.

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 meat, 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.

Tips & Variations

• 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.
• Non-stick. When forming your chicken meatballs, try using a bit of oil on your hands to help form the balls.
• Garlic substitute. If you don’t have fresh garlic, you can substitute with 1/2 tsp of garlic powder.
• Fried version. If you want to fry the chicken meatballs instead, cook them in a pan with 2 Tbsp of oil over medium-high heat until cooked through.
• Darker meatballs. For extra browning after baking, toss them in a sauté pan.
• Keep them moist. Mix the chicken meatballs thoroughly to make sure all of the ingredients are evenly dispersed but not enough to toughen the meatballs in the end. Also, don’t overbake!
• Air fryer: Follow these directions to make meatballs in air fryer.

Storing & Freezing

These chicken meatballs can be kept in the fridge for up to 1 week in an airtight container. So you’ll have leftovers for days! Otherwise, freeze them in a freezer friendly bag for up to 3 months. To avoid having them freeze in a clump, flash freeze them on the baking tray first before transferring them to the bag.