Juicy Baked Chicken Meatballs

Baked chicken meatballs are juicy, super easy to make and super tasty! These are healthy compared to meatballs cooked on skillet with loads of oil. It goes with ANYTHING!

Jump to:

• Juicy Baked Chicken Meatballs Recipe Is a Keeper
• Ingredients You’ll Need To Make Baked Chicken Meatballs
• How To Make Baked Chicken Meatballs?
• How To Serve Baked Chicken Meatballs?
• Make Ahead And Freezer Friendly Instructions For Baked Chicken Meatballs
• Tips To Make Soft Juicy Baked Chicken Meatballs
• Juicy Baked Chicken Meatballs

Juicy Baked Chicken Meatballs Recipe Is a Keeper

1. It’s BAKED!
2. It’s healthy, uses lean protein – chicken.
3. Baked chicken meatballs are super easy to make.
4. All you’ll need is ONE BOWL to mix everything and one baking tray to bake them.
5. No more standing near stove to do splattery rolling meatballs. No cleaning messy greasy stove.
6. Baked chicken meatballs needs simple pantry ingredients.
7. Bake chicken meatballs are super tasty, I bet you can’t stop popping them in mouth.
8. Great make ahead recipe. Make meatballs and store for later.
9. It’s freezer friendly too, make and store in freezer.
10. Best for weekly meal preps. It serves with ANYTHING!
11. Plenty flavorful and absolutely healthy.
12. This sure will become your new family favorite!

Ingredients You’ll Need To Make Baked Chicken Meatballs

Here’s what you’ll need-

• 1 pound ground chicken
• 1 medium yellow onion, grated
• 3 cloves garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon parsley, fine chopped
• 1 whole egg
• 1 teaspoon each – Italian seasoning, cayenne pepper, salt (adjust to taste), cracked pepper (adjust to taste)
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• Olive oil to spray

Ingredients Additions & Substitutions For Baked Chicken Meatballs

You can substitute ground chicken with ground turkey.

Highly recommend fresh grated onion in the recipe. Grated onion helps keep meatballs soft and juicy.

Fresh garlic can be substituted with garlic powder

For extra kick add more cayenne pepper or use red chili flakes to ground chicken.

Panko breadcrumbs keeps the meatballs light and air. If you want to make it gluten free you can use crushed rice chex to the recipe.

Ground Chicken – make sure ground meat that you purchase isn’t watery. In place of ground chicken ground turkey can also be used in the recipe.

Onion – do not chop onion, grate it!

Why Grated Onion? – grating onion releases it’s juicy which helps soak breadcrumbs. Saturating breadcrumbs in liquids (like milk, or juices) in this recipe extra juice from onion to avoid having them dry out the meatballs. As breadcrumbs soaks in onion juice, it’s will puff up when it bakes in oven and avoid meatballs from drying out.

Garlic – you can used fresh minced garlic or garlic powder. Fresh garlic will enhance the flavor and taste of meatballs.

Parsley – adds fresh flavor and taste to meatballs. Use flat leaf or curly leaf parsley whichever is available.

Seasoning – it’s crucial to season meatballs. Use salt and pepper seasoning to taste, Italian herbs or oregano and for extra kick cayenne pepper.

Egg – for binding.

Panko Breadcrumbs – helps keep meatballs light along with acting as binding agent.

Regular breadcrumbs will dry out baked chicken meatballs. Highly recommend you use panko breadcrumbs.

If you can’t get panko breadcrumbs use regular sandwich bread and pulse it a few times to turn into crumbs.  Sandwich bread is far more effective than regular breadcrumbs.

Parmesan Cheese – use freshly grated cheese.

How To Make Baked Chicken Meatballs?

Pre-heat oven at 400°F.

Into a bowl add ground chicken, grated onion directly into the bowl, minced garlic, parsley, egg, Italian seasoning, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste, panko breadcrumbs and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Use your hands or a spatula to mix everything. DO NOT OVER WORK MEAT. It will result in dry meatballs. Mix until ingredients just gets blended.

Using a small scoop or tablespoon portion out meatballs. Gently roll or shape meatballs.

Spray baking tray with olive oil. Place meatballs directly on greased baking tray or use a wire rack (greased well) to arrange meatballs.

Place meatballs ½ to 1 inch apart.

Generously spray olive oil on top of all meatballs.

Bake in pre-heated oven at 400°F for 18 to 20 minutes or until meatballs are browned and cooked.

Tip: don’t overcook meatballs. Remove from oven as soon as you see meatballs are beginning to brown. You want meatballs to be juicy and soft. Over cooking or even leaving it for 2 to 3 minutes in oven once cooked will tend to dry meatballs.

Allow meatballs to rest for 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and parmesan cheese powder. Serve immediately.

Baked chicken meatballs can be served with anything! As appetizer with a sauce on side, as main stirred with spaghetti or any of your favorite pasta.

How To Serve Baked Chicken Meatballs?

Baked chicken meatballs can be served with ANYTHING!

As Appetizer – Served as appetizer with your favorite sauce – ketchup will work. But oomph up your appetizer game with other sensational sauces to pair with these meatballs like vodka sauce, spicy marinara sauce, smoky BBQ sauce.

As Main – With creamy mashed potatoes and sautéed green beans or roasted broccoli on the sides.

Stirred with Spaghetti and sauce.

Stirred with pesto sauce mixed with pasta like bucatini.

Make Ahead And Freezer Friendly Instructions For Baked Chicken Meatballs

Baked chicken meatballs is great make ahead recipe.  You can make the meatball mixture and store the mix in fridge for upto 3 days (prior to baking).

You can also freezer meatball mixture.

After baking it can be frozen and stored for 3 months.

Refrigerate – mix all ingredients for meatballs. Cover in air tight container and store refrigerated for upto 3 days. Note: fresh ingredients like parsley will tend to loose it’s freshness as it sits in the fridge.

Freezer Raw Meatballs – Mix all ingredients. Shape into balls and arrange it on baking tray lined with parchment paper. Cover baking tray with plastic wrap. Freezer for 2 hours. Once frozen remove from baking tray and store in freezer safe containers and store frozen for upto 3 months.

Freeze Baked Meatballs – bake chicken meatballs in oven as per recipe. Let it cool completely. Transfer meatballs to freezer safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

To reheat frozen baked meatballs – thaw meatballs in fridge overnight. And then bake in oven at 325°F until warmed.

Note– reheating meatballs will turn to make meatballs a bit drier.

Tips To Make Soft Juicy Baked Chicken Meatballs

1. Use fresh grated onion in the recipe. Grated onion helps keep meatballs soft and juicy. Grating onion releases it’s juicy which helps soak breadcrumbs. Saturating breadcrumbs in liquids (like milk, or juices) in this recipe extra juice from onion to avoid having them dry out the meatballs.
2. Use panko breadcrumbs. Regular breadcrumbs will dry out the meatballs. If you can’t get panko breadcrumbs use regular sandwich bread and pulse it a few times to turn into crumbs.  Sandwich bread is far more effective than regular breadcrumbs.
3. DO NOT OVER WORK MEAT. It will result in dry meatballs. Mix until ingredients just gets blended.
4. Don’t overcook meatballs. Remove from oven as soon as you see meatballs are beginning to brown. You want meatballs to be juicy and soft. Over cooking or even leaving it for 2 to 3 minutes in oven once cooked will tend to dry meatballs.

MORE MEATBALLS RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE-

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Chicken Meatballs In Cream Sauce

Instant Pot Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

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