Chicken Parm Meatballs

These healthy, low carb chicken parm meatballs are packed with flavor from asiago cheese, plus just the right herbs and spices. No wonder they’re my family’s favorite meatball!

Spaghetti and meatballs is nearly every family’s go-to meal, and for good reason. Meatballs are relatively easy for a parent to make quickly, they stretch a pound of ground meat quite well, and almost everyone in the family will eat them without complaint.

If you’re trying to cut back on red meat, or you’re just in the mood to try something a little different, these chicken parm meatballs should be at the very top of your Must Try list.

Ground chicken meat, especially white meat chicken, tends to be quite soft, and has a very low fat content. That means that browning these meatballs in a skillet before finishing them in the oven just isn’t practical, which means less work (and less mess!) for the cook. Wondering if ground chicken meat will be tender and flavorful?

Let me put your mind at ease…

To the traditional egg and bread crumbs, we add a semi-hard, intensely flavorful cheese like Asiago, plus grated onion which adds no texture but tons of flavor and aroma, and lots of Italian herbs and spices. Top it all off with a crown of rich tomato sauce and a thin slice of mozzarella cheese.

I have a red meat-loving family. We eat more chicken than beef, and more meatless meals than either of the two, but these chicken parm meatballs are on my family’s menu plan at least twice a month. If you can’t find ground chicken on your grocery shelf, see if your butcher will grind some for you.

Before I could find ground chicken easily, I would buy skinless boneless chicken breast and chop it up in my food processor. Just be sure to run the food processor through a dishwasher or wash it in very, very hot water afterward. I’ve also made these chicken meatballs with light meat ground turkey and even pork (the other white meat, right?), to stellar reviews.

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Chicken Parm Meatballs

Sample rating item

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: >30 minutes

Yield: 24 meatballs

Ingredients

2 eggs (100 g, weighed out of shell)

1 small yellow onion, peeled and grated

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried basil (or 2 teaspoons fresh)

2 teaspoons dried oregano (or 4 teaspoons fresh)

2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (or 1 teaspoon dried)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup (90 g) panko-style gluten free bread crumbs

4 ounces Asiago cheese, grated (or try Gruyère)

2 pounds ground white meat chicken (or you can use pork or white meat ground turkey)

1 cup tomato sauce

6 slices mozzarella cheese, each cut into 4 equal pieces

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.

• In a large bowl, place the eggs, onion, garlic powder, basil, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper, and beat until well-combined. Add the bread crumbs, grated cheese and ground chicken, and mix gently to combine. Ground chicken is very soft, so mix carefully. With a medium ice cream scoop or just wet hands, scoop the mixture into 24 pieces, each about the size of a golf ball, and roll gently into a ball then place about 1inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.*

• *The meatballs can be prepared raw ahead of time and frozen in a single layer on the baking sheet, then piled into a zip-top bag and kept in the freezer for at least a month. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight in a single layer on a lined baking sheet and then proceed with the recipe as written.

• Place the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until cooked all the way through. Remove the meatballs from the oven. Top each with about 1 tablespoon of tomato sauce, and one quarter of a slice of mozzarella cheese. Return to the oven and bake for 5 minutes more or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling. Serve immediately.