Baked Italian Chicken Meatballs
Homemade Baked Italian Chicken Meatballs are the perfect addition to your favorite pasta or as the main part of a low-carb meal! Made with ground chicken, garlic, herbs, cheese, and some pantry staples, these baked meatballs are a healthier alternative that don’t sacrifice any flavor!
If there’s one meal my whole family and I can agree on, it’s spaghetti & meatballs. It’s such a classic comfort food!
To me, it’s like a warm blanket that just came out of the dryer on a cold January night.
It’s my happy place, and thankfully, these Baked Italian Chicken Meatballs are a guilt-free way to enjoy one of my favorite meals.
Ingredients needed for this recipe (scroll down to recipe card for complete recipe):
- Ground chicken
- Breadcrumbs
- Eggs
- Fresh parsley
- Parmesan cheese
- Mozzarella cheese
- Garlic
- Herbs & spices (dried oregano, dried basil, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper)
These meatballs are truly a win-win-win. They’re super flavorful because they are loaded with garlic, herbs, and both parmesan and mozzarella cheese.
They’re healthier than traditional meatballs because they are baked and not fried, and also because they’re made with ground chicken, which is super lean.
Lastly, have you compared the price between ground beef and ground chicken? Ground chicken is so much cheaper!
How to serve Baked Italian Chicken Meatballs
- I like to add these chicken meatballs to Spaghetti Aglio e Olio so that the flavor of the meatballs really shines, but they would be excellent as a main course with roasted vegetables and a salad for a low-carb meal.
- A cheesy meatball skillet with your favorite pasta sauce is a fun family-style way to serve them also.
- Alternatively, you could serve them with toothpicks and sauce as a two-bite appetizer!
Serve these chicken meatballs with homemade Sugo, an authentic Italian tomato sauce made with San Marzano tomoatoes, onion, garlic, and basil.
If you love these Baked Chicken Meatballs and want to indulge, make sure you try The Best Italian Meatballs (pictured below)!
Made with ground beef, Italian pork sausage, parmesan cheese, and lots of fresh herbs. These are the ultimate treat!
How long are homemade chicken meatballs good for?
Leftover cooked meatballs can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
They can also be frozen in freezer-safe packaging for up to 2 months.
NOTES:
- The best kind of ground chicken for this recipe is 92% lean. Anything leaner and your meatballs will be dry.
- Looking for a homemade sauce to pair with the meatballs? Amatriciana Pasta Sauce, made with bacon, onion, and garlic, is one of my favorites!
- Baked Italian Chicken Meatballs are perfect in your favorite pasta, or on meatball parmesan sub sandwiches. In the picture below, the meatballs are in Spaghetti Aglio e Olio, a spicy garlic & oil pasta dish with lots of red pepper flakes.
- I have used both Italian-style breadcrumbs and panko breadcrumbs with great results.
Baked Italian Chicken Meatballs
Equipment
- baking sheet
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. ground chicken 92% lean (any leaner and the meatballs will be dry)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs Italian-style OR panko (both work well)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp. dried basil
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° and spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients. When everything is fully incorporated, grab small handfuls of the mixture and roll into meatballs that are a little bigger than a golf ball. The mixture makes approximately 24-30 meatballs.
- Bake meatballs for 20 minutes. Add to your favorite pasta, make chicken meatball sub sandwiches, or eat as a low-carb entrée. Enjoy!
Notes
Did you make this recipe? Rate it and let me know in the comments below! ♥
I also have a fun Facebook group for us foodies to share recipes and talk about food. I’d love to have you! Request to join HERE. Cheers!
My meatballs always burn and get hard on the bottom, is there any advice? Thank you. I do love this recipe but I end up having to cut bottom half off.
Hi there! Perhaps your oven runs a little hotter? There are a couple things you could try. One is to make the meatballs smaller and reduce the cooking time, so they don’t take as long to cook. You could also turn down the temperature of your oven. If you have a meat thermometer, you just need to make sure the meatballs are 165 in the middle. If you don’t have one, there’s an excellent one that I use that is very inexpensive. Hopefully one of these suggestions will work for you :) https://www.amazon.com/shop/therealflavorfuleats/list/1CP9ZLHSPP05Q?tag=onamzlavorfat-20&ref_=aip_sf_list_spv_ofs_mixed_d
Delish!