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This recipe for baked chicken meatballs is made with just 6 ingredients, each packed with tons of flavor. Make these crisp outside, tender inside meatballs with any cut of ground chicken or even ground turkey!
my take
Nicole's Recipe Notes
- Super tender: Whether you make these meatballs with ground chicken breast or leg meat, they're really moist and tender. The secret's in the moisture-rich mayo.
- Perfect taste: Like chicken breast, ground chicken doesn't have a lot of natural flavor. That's why we add plenty of herbs and spices, plus shredded cheese for depth of flavor.
- Make ahead convenience: You can make the raw mixture 12 hours or more ahead of time, and store it in the refrigerator. Shape and bake the meatballs 20 minutes before dinnertime!
- No special ingredients: Ground chicken is easy to find in any grocery store, and you can use almost any sort of hard or semi-hard cheese. The rest are regular pantry ingredients you already have on hand.
- Freeze well: Freeze the raw, shaped meatball mixture, then defrost overnight in the refrigerator and bake at the end of the day for the freshest, easiest meal. You can also freeze them fully baked.
Recipe Ingredients
- Mayonnaise: Even if you don't like to eat mayonnaise, you won't make out the flavor of it in these meatballs, and it makes them incredibly moist and tender.
- Egg: Along with mayo, it binds this mixture together and helps keep the meatballs from being dense.
- Vegetable bouillon: My mixture of nutritional yeast flakes, minced dried onion, garlic powder, dried parsley, and dried thyme. You can also use 2 tablespoons or 2 cubes of packaged gluten free chicken or vegetable bouillon. Herb Ox and Edward & Son’s Not Chick’N brands are gluten free.
- Panko-style breadcrumbs: I usually use my own homemade coarse gluten free breadcrumbs, but otherwise here are the gluten free brands I buy often: Aleia's, Good & Gather (Target brand), Ian's, Jeff Nathan Creations, Nature's Promise (Stop & Shop brand). Create bulk and texture.
- Shredded Parmesan cheese: Adds so much flavor and texture. I like to buy pre-shredded Parm to use in this recipe because it helps the meatballs hold their shape better than freshly-grated cheese.
- Ground chicken: I prefer 92% lean ground chicken because the meatballs are a bit more tender from the added fat, but 98% lean works really well, too.
How to make baked chicken meatballs
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, egg, and vegetable bouillon until smooth.
- Break up the ground chicken and place it on top, then mix gently
- Add the breadcrumbs and shredded Parmesan cheese
- Mix the cheese and breadcrumbs into the ground chicken mixture gently with a spoon.
- Scoop small portions (a #40 ice cream scoop works great) about 1.5 tablespoons each onto a baking sheet
- With wet hands, roll each portion into a round meatball
- Brush the tops of the meatballs with olive oil or spray with cooking oil spray
- Bake at 375°F until brown all over, especially on the bottom, and cooked through
Ingredient Substitutions
Dairy free
You can replace the Parmesan with Violife brand vegan Parmesan or Follow Your Heart dairy free shredded Parmesan. If your dairy free Parmesan is grated, not shredded, expect to add more breadcrumbs to help the mixture hold its shape in balls.
Egg free
To make these egg-free, try a vegan mayonnaise in place of the mayonnaise. In place of the egg, try a flax egg or Just Egg brand refrigerated egg replacer.
Mayonnaise
If you just don't like mayo, I promise you don't taste it. If you still want to replace it, whisk 1 additional egg vigorously with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
Ground chicken
You can use ground turkey breast or ground turkey leg meat. I prefer the taste of chicken to turkey, but turkey works equally well. You can also grind skinless boneless chicken breast in the food processor to use here, but that's a lot of extra work and ground chicken is usually cheaper. For ground beef, I prefer my classic gluten free meatballs since the spices are better suited to beef in that recipe.
Breadcrumbs
In place of breadcrumbs, you can use crushed gluten free crackers, crushed gluten free cornflakes, or gluten free quick-cooking oats like we do in our gluten free meatloaf.
My Pro Tip
Expert Tips
Chill the raw mixture
This is a really adaptable recipe, since it works well with exactly the ingredients I've specified, including pre-shredded cheese and coarse breadcrumbs. But if you make it with grated cheese that doesn't add much structure, and even finely ground breadcrumbs, your meatballs will still turn out great. Just cover and chill the mixture in the refrigerator until it's firm enough to handle before shaping it into meatballs.
Handle the ground chicken gently
Break up the ground chicken gently with your fingers before mixing it gently into the mayonnaise and egg mixture. Just like with our gluten free meatballs made from beef, handling the meat too much can make it tough.
Use preshredded Parmesan cheese
I buy a big bag of shredded Parmesan cheese from Trader Joe's and use it to make these meatballs every week in my house. Preshredded cheese has less moisture but still has tons of flavor, so it adds structure as well as aroma and taste to the recipe.
Make the bouillon powder ahead
I make a big batch of the bouillon powder from this recipe and keep it in a sealed glass container in my pantry. I then use it to season anything poultry-related. It adds so much flavor to our classic gluten free stuffing recipe, is great sprinkled on gluten free ramen, and can make any hot liquid taste like rich chicken stock.
Baked Chicken Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients
For the vegetable bouillon
- 1.5 tablespoons (8 g) nutritional yeast flakes, (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 teaspoon minced dried onion, (or 1/2 teaspoon onion powder)
- ¼ teaspoon dried parsley
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ⅛ teaspoon dried turmeric, (optional)
For the meatballs
- 1 egg
- 5 tablespoons (70 g) mayonnaise
- Vegetable bouillon powder, from above
- 1 pound ground chicken
- ½ cup panko-style breadcrumbs, gluten free if necessary
- 2 ounces Parmesan cheese, shredded
- Olive oil, for brushing (or cooking oil spray)
Instructions
Make the bouillon powder
- In a small bowl, place the nutritional yeast flakes, dried onion, dried parsley, garlic powder, dried thyme, and optional dried turmeric, and mix to combine well.
Make the meatballs.
- In a large mixing bowl, place the egg, mayonnaise and bouillon powder, and whisk until smooth.
- Add the ground chicken, breaking it up a bit with your hands as you put it in the bowl. Mix gently to combine either with your fingers or with a spoon.
- Add the breadcrumbs and shredded Parmesan, and use a spoon to mix gently to combine. The mixture will be soft.
- To make the mixture easier to handle, cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. You can also let it sit in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 12 hours, so you can make this mixture in the morning, and bake your meatballs that night.
- When you’re ready to make the meatballs, preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
- Using a small ice cream scoop or two spoons, scoop the mixture out of the bowl about 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls at a time. Place on the prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart from one another.
- Wet your hands and roll each piece of meatball mixture between your wet palms into a ball, then return it to the baking sheet.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the tops and sides of the meatballs generously with olive oil. Or spray generously with cooking oil spray.
- Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake for about 22 minutes, or until the meatballs are lightly golden brown on top and golden brown underneath.
- When the meatballs are done, they should read at least 165°F in the center on an instant read thermometer, but usually when they’re nice and brown, it reads about 180°F. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
make ahead/leftovers
Storage instructions
Leftover meatballs will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
For longer storage, freeze any leftover baked meatballs in a freezer-safe container or wrapped tightly in freezer-safe wrap. You can also freeze unbaked but shaped meatballs raw in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Then, pile them into a freezer-safe bag and squeeze out as much air as possible. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator, and bake any raw meatballs as soon as they're defrosted.
Refresh refrigerated, cooked meatballs in the toaster oven or microwave. Sprinkle them lightly with lukewarm water and reheat in a 300°F toaster oven until warm.
FAQs
Yes! If you'd prefer, you can cook these meatballs on the stovetop in a pan. Heat a bit less than 1/4-inch of frying oil in a pan over medium heat until rippling. Place the meatballs in a single layer in the pan, without crowding it, and cook on one side for 5 minutes, undisturbed. Turn over and cook on the other side for 4 to 5 minutes more, or until the internal temperature reaches about 175°F.
They're done baking when they're lightly golden brown all over, with some darker brown spots, and an internal temperature taken with an instant-read thermometer reads at least 175°F. They're technically safe to eat at 165°F, but they taste better if you cook them longer.
Yes! You can use ground turkey breast meat or leg meat in this recipe. There's enough moisture from the mayonnaise that even very lean ground chicken breast or very lean ground turkey breast makes really tender meatballs.
Chicken is generally leaner than beef, and is generally lower calorie. But if you use a lean cut of ground beef like I like to do when I make “regular” meatballs, it's comparable to less lean chicken leg meat. Beef has more folate and iron than chicken, but chicken is higher in Vitamins A, E, and K. They each have their benefits. (Source.)
Serving suggestions
These chicken meatballs are packed with savory poultry-style flavor plus umami flavor from the cheese and bouillon powder. They go especially well with our gluten free rice a roni style rice, which has the same seasonings. I also love them with cooked spaghetti or other pasta with oil and garlic, gluten free mac and cheese, and some simple roasted potatoes. They're delicious as an appetizer, too, with some dipping sauce.
Made these tonight for dinner and they are absolutely delicious! I have another recipe for chicken meatballs that I adapted to gluten free but they don’t compare to these! Be sure not to overmix, and you’ll get really tender meatballs! I served with a few drops of Franks Red Hot sauce and some blue cheese dressing on the side, and I have a winner for the next football game! Thank you for such a great recipe!
That sounds delicious, Annette! I’m so glad you gave these a try and yes, definitely don’t overmix. Thank you so much for sharing your experience.
Going to try these. Just wondering if you could deep fry them or would they fall apart?
The mixture is relatively soft since ground chicken tends to be kind of soft, unfortunately, Micki. I’m not sure if it would work to deep fry them, but shallow frying would definitely work so maybe start there?
Very easy to make and very tasty! I have been looking for new ways to incorporate chicken into recipes.
I’m so happy to hear it, Tracie! So glad you enjoyed the meatballs. And thank you for sharing your experience!