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You are here: Home / Recipes / Chicken

Flavorful Baked Chicken Meatballs

By Susie Weinrich ยท Date Oct 5, 2023ยท 2 Comments ยท May contain affiliate links.

Pinterest image for chicken meatballs with text
Pinterest image for chicken meatballs with text
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These Baked Chicken Meatballs are tender and moist, filled with the most delicious flavors of garlic, Romano cheese, and herbs. They are baked until golden brown and can be served on top of spaghetti, in a meatball sub, or just to snack on by themselves (they are that good!!). You are going to love this meatball recipe!

A pile of baked chicken meatballs with spaghetti

These chicken meatballs make a super family friendly dinner! Kids and adults absolutely love them. Serve them to your pickiest eaters.

Table of Contents hide
1 Listen to the Audio Recipe!
2 The Trick to Keeping Ground Chicken Moist
3 Ingredients
4 How to Make and Bake
5 Serving Chicken Meatballs
6 Freezing
7 Reheating & Using Leftovers
8 More Meatballs To Tryโ€ฆ
9 Did you make this recipe?
10 Flavorful Baked Chicken Meatballs Recipe

Listen to the Audio Recipe!

You can LISTEN to an audio version of the full recipe, skip down to the recipe card below! It is a full episode on the podcast Letโ€™s Make Dinner, all the tips and tricks are included to make your Chicken Meatballs perfect.

These are the most flavorful chicken meatballs I have ever made. I have used them in pasta sauce with spaghetti and have also used them for meatball subs โ€“ both were delicious. They are so good you can just eat them plain

five stars โ€“ tas

The Trick to Keeping Ground Chicken Moist

To secret to keeping your ground chicken meatballs moist and tender is using a panade.

Traditionally a panade is a mixture of stale bread and liquid which helps ground meat retain its moisture, no matter how long it is cooked (within reason!).

In this meatball recipe you combine the ground chicken with a panade mixture of panko bread crumbs and milk. It retains the moisture while the chicken cooks all the way through.

Ingredients

Since ground chicken can be a blank canvas it is important to add plenty of flavorful ingredients to your meatball mixture:

Panko Bread Crumbs are one of the secrets to keeping your ground chicken juicy. This courser bread crumb mixes perfectly with milk and turns into a panade. Make sure you find โ€œpankoโ€ bread crumbs in the grocery store.

Italian Seasoning is a great way to get a lot of flavor from one spice. It is commonly a mix of dried basil, oregano, parsley, thyme and rosemary.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil will not only help keep your chicken meatballs tender, it will also impart a nice flavor. Make sure to use the โ€œextra virginโ€ olive oil and not just plain olive oil.

Ingredients to make Baked Chicken Meatballs

Romano Cheese is a super flavorful hard Italian cheese that grates and melts perfectly. You can also purchase parmesan to use in place of the Romano.

Fresh Parsley not only adds a nice fresh flavor to your chicken meatballs, it adds a few green speckles, like a garnish. You can absolutely swap out fresh chopped spinach here for a punch of nutrition.

Ground Chicken when you purchase ground chicken make sure to not purchase the extra lean all breast ground chicken. It will be too lean and may dry out.

How to Make and Bake

Preheat the oven to 400. Grab a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper, spray the paper with the non stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl combine the panko bread crumbs, milk, salt, pepper, parsley, Italian seasoning, onion powder, shallots and garlic.

In another small bowl whisk together the egg and extra virgin olive oil. Pour it into the bread crumb mixture.

ground chicken meatball mixture

Add the grated Romano cheese and ground chicken to the bread/egg mixture. With clean hands or a fork, very lightly combine everything, do not overmix or you will have tough meatballs.

With a light touch roll 18-20 meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet. Spray the tops of the meatballs with the baking spray.

a tray of rolled chicken meatballs that are raw

Pop in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Make sure they are golden on the outside and cooked through with a 160-165 degree internal temp.

If you like a little more of a golden finish you can pop them under the broiler for 2-3 minutes.

a baking pan full of baked chicken meatballs

Serving Chicken Meatballs

These Baked Chicken Meatballs are perfect to top spaghetti with marinara, they also would be amazing inside a meatball sub.

If you want to stick to something healthier you could serve them atop spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles (zoodles).

a stack of meatballs with one broken open on the top

However they are delicious enough to serve on there own too, maybe with a side of creamy Instant Pot Risotto and roasted broccoli.

Freezing

You can absolutely freeze your chicken meatballs. I recommend baking them completely and then freezing.

Let the baked meatballs cool, then pop them in the freezer on a baking sheet. Once they are frozen, about 2 hours, you can place them in a freezer safe baggie. Keep for up to 3 months.

Reheating & Using Leftovers

Reheat your frozen meatball from FROZEN, do not thaw first. Pop the frozen meatballs in a 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes.

More Meatballs To Tryโ€ฆ

If you love these chicken meatballs, here are a couple more meatball recipes to check out:

  • Instant Pot Turkey Meatballs
  • Ham Balls
  • Instant Pot BBQ Meatballs
  • Easy Meatball Subs

Susie leaning on the kitchen counter

๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’›๐Ÿ’›

Did you make this recipe?

I would love to hear your review, especially if you have tips and tricks to add! Pop down to the comment section and connect with me

Rate This Recipeโ†’
baked chicken meatballs in a pile garnished with parsley and romano cheese

Flavorful Baked Chicken Meatballs Recipe

Truly the best baked chicken meatballs made with ground chicken. They are tender and moist and filled with flavor. Great on top of spaghetti, inside a meatball sub or served all by themselves!
5 from 4 votes
Print Pin Rate Save Saved!
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
Servings: 20 meatballs
Calories: 67kcal
Author: Susie Weinrich

Equipment

  • Large rimmed baking sheet
  • Parchment paper

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground chicken - do not buy the extra lean all breast meat, it is too dry!
  • ยฝ cup panko bread crumbs
  • ยผ cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ยฝ teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoon Italian parsley, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 2 tablespoon shallot, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • ยฝ cup Romano cheese, grated
  • 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large egg
  • cooking spray

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 400ยฐ and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a reusable silpat, spray with cooking spray.
    cooking spray
  • In a large bowl combine the bread crumbs, milk, salt, pepper, parsley, Italian seasoning, onion powder, shallots and garlic.
    ยฝ cup panko bread crumbs, ยผ cup milk, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ยฝ teaspoon black pepper, 2 tablespoon Italian parsley, chopped, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 2 tablespoon shallot, finely chopped, 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • In another bowl whisk together the egg and extra virgin olive oil. Pour it into the bread crumb mixture.
    2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 large egg
  • Add the cheese and ground chicken to the bread/egg mixture. Lightly combine, do not overmix or you will have tough meatballs.
    ยฝ cup Romano cheese, grated, 1 lb ground chicken
  • Form the chicken mixture into 20 meatballs, placing them on the prepared baking sheet. They will be a little smaller than a golf ball.
    Spray the tops of each meatball with the baking spray.
  • Bake the meatballs for 20 minutes until they are cooked through (165ยฐ internal temp).
    For a golden top place them under the broiler for 3-4 minutes.

Serving

  • These meatballs can be served on top of spaghetti with marinara sauce or in a meatball sub!
    Or they are yummy enough to eat by themselves with a little dipping sauce!

Recipe Tips and Notes:

MAKE AHEAD AND FREEZE
You can absolutely make these chicken meatballs and then freeze them for later. Bake completely, cool, then pop in the freezer on a baking sheet. Once they are frozen, about 1-2 hours place them in a freezer safe baggie for up to 3 months.
To reheat pop the FROZEN meatballs (do not thaw) in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.
ย 
Did you make this recipe?Connect with me and let me know by commenting below!
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Serving: 1meatball | Calories: 67kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 176mg | Potassium: 141mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 0.4g | Vitamin A: 63IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 39mg | Iron: 0.4mg

About Susie Weinrich

Susie Weinrich is the recipe developer, food photographer, and content creator behind Mom's Dinner. She has over 20 years experience in the food industry. Currently, Susie shares all her recipes and food knowledge on Mom's Dinner. You will find her recipes are easy to follow and full of tips and tricks to make sure the recipe you are making turns out perfect!

Comments

    5 from 4 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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  1. Andrea Howe says

    October 20, 2022 at 11:19 am

    5 stars
    My kids LOVE meatballs and will eat them just about anyway I prepare them! This recipe was so delicious and easy. I was worried using chicken, they would be a little dry but they were very moist and tender and flavorful. Thanks for this easy recipe!

    Reply
  2. TAS says

    February 13, 2021 at 12:46 pm

    5 stars
    These are the most flavorful chicken meatballs I have ever made. I have used them in pasta sauce with spaghetti and have also used them for meatball subs – both were delicious. They are so good you can just eat them plain.

    Reply
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Meet The Author:

Susie Weinrich is a professional food photographer and recipe developer. Her thoroughly tested recipes and step-by-step guides give readers confidence in the kitchen.

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