Make these chicken meatballs small or large! Small ones are the perfect holiday buffet appetizer!
These Are Addictive!
It’s really rare that I use the term “addictive” about anything, but I’m using it here. The reason? They are!!!
I made these up when I was working on another project where I had to “beef up” if you’ll pardon the expression, a chicken soup I made. To be honest, I didn’t really care much what they tasted like as their main purpose was photographic only.
However, when I tasted one, I fell completely in love with the taste of these. I might also add at this point that I never cared that much for foods where chicken or turkey is substituted for ground beef, but these chicken meatballs cured me of that fallacy.
I gave most of the soup to a friend for her dinner. Later on that evening, she emailed me to tell me that the meatballs in it were “(expletive deleted) AWESOME.” So I knew these were good enough for their own post!
Grind It Yourself
I already bought some boneless skinless chicken that was on sale that week so I used some of them to make up these meatballs. Grinding is a simple affair if you have a small food processor or a Ninja. The only caveat here is not to over-process or you’ll end up with paste. Just a couple of quick pulses will give you the texture you need.
If you start with fresh chicken breast, then you know exactly what’s in them. Mind you, I don’t buy it any more, but I have heard that ground chicken or turkey that you buy contains a lot of skin and less-than-prime meat. Pre-ground also has a higher fat content, if you’re watching stuff like that. However, the reason I recommend starting with a chicken breast is that it just tastes better. I think that is the reason I never cared for ground turkey/chicken in meatloaves and other things–due to the anonymous additions to it.
Great Appetizer
Made small as I did for the soup, these chicken meatballs make an excellent appetizer for holiday or party buffets. Put them on a plate and stick a toothpick in each and watch them fly. When they’re made larger, they are a tasty, simple and healthy family dinner!
The Recipe
- 1 lb ground white meat chicken
- 1 tbs dehydrated onion flakes
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 tbs parsley
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ¾ cup seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- ½ cup Parmesan -OR- Romano cheese
- 2 tbs olive oil
- Mix all ingredients except olive oil in a medium bowl.
- Shape into meatballs of desired size.
- Heat olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Brown meatballs on all sides. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or until center of meatballs is 165 degrees F.
- Servings are calculated for appetizer. It will serve 4 made as regular-sized meatballs.
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PattiAnn says
December 5, 2018 at 10:29 pmWhat kind of soup? Like italian wedding soup? Any other ideas how to use them besides appetizers?
Thanks for the recipe. I have always avoided pre ground chicken because of the “unknowns”! Thanks for the tip on grinding your own. Never thought to do that.
Judith Hanneman says
December 6, 2018 at 4:42 amThe soup I put these in was something like Italian wedding soup, but they’d be fantastic for the real thing. When I ground my own chicken, I actually liked the taste. When I tried the pre-ground from the supermarket, it always tasted somewhat nasty.
PattiAnn says
December 6, 2018 at 5:51 amThank you. Happy Holidays
Judith Hanneman says
December 6, 2018 at 12:00 pmYou too!
Angelina says
December 6, 2018 at 4:08 pmYup, I was also thinking of adding them into my Italian Wedding Soup. I might use half veal and half chicken, if I can find veal at a decent price. I was thinking of adding a bit f thyme into the mixture, so what do you think, and how much?
Judith Hanneman says
December 6, 2018 at 5:41 pmI don’t even see veal up where I live now!!! And on the rare occasions, it’s just shoulder chops. As for the thyme, I’d go pretty easy on it because of the chicken breast being so mild. For fresh, I’d use the leaves of about 3-4 sprigs, chopped and for dried, maybe just a pinch. I’d also cook a “test” meatball and check for the flavor–if it needs more you can add it without spoiling the whole batch of meat.
Dove says
December 9, 2018 at 11:31 pmI tried this with ground Turkey, and i made about 20 larger meatballs (used a large cookie scoop to measure)… they were quite crumbly as i turned them over in the oil… but i think it was due to my own “user error.” Next time i will make them smaller, and I’m considering sauteing them in white wine somehow? (Can’t get enough of white wine recipes lately! ) i served these with alfredo pasta this time… DELICIOUS! I used plain bread crumbs and montreal steak seasoning instead of Italian bread crumbs, and i crushed up some French fried onions instead of dehydrated onion. I think it helped the bland Turkey flavor be more “meaty,” and we loved them (even if they did crumble!)
Judith Hanneman says
December 10, 2018 at 12:10 amOMG I love the wine idea! Love anything cooked in wine!! I found my mixture to be rather sticky–which shows that results can vary. But I made mine small which could be the reason they held together.