Baked Chicken Meatballs

Learn how to make these versatile and healthy baked chicken meatballs with my step-by-step guide. Serve the meatballs over spaghetti, tossed with pesto, or as an appetizer with your favorite sauce. They’re also great for meal prep and served over salads, with roasted veggies and more.

Master this recipe then get creative and mix it up with your favorite spices and herbs!

These baked chicken meatballs are:

• Juicy
• Flavorful 
• Easy to make
• Healthy 
• Satisfying 
• Versatile 
• CHEESY 

3 steps to creating juicy chicken meatballs  

1. Avoid over mixing, this will create a more tough meatball in the end (although that’s hard to do with this recipe). 
2. Add fresh flavor. Instead of using spices and dried herbs I opt for fresh, and it’s well worth the extra bit work. Instead of garlic and onion powder I use fresh minced garlic and grated onion. And instead of dried oregano (or Italian seasoning) I use minced fresh oregano. You can, of course, use dried as well.
3. Add a panade to the meat mixture, aka add some breadcrumbs and liquid, more on that below!

What is a panade? 

Essentially, a panade is a mixture of starch and liquid. You’ll most often find dried bread crumbs, fresh bread crumbs or sandwich bread used in combination with milk, buttermilk or broth. 

A panade is generally used in ground meat recipes, such as burgers, meatloaf and meatballs, to add moisture and  help keep them from overcooking.

For this healthy baked chicken meatball recipe, use fresh whole-wheat sandwich bread (torn into pieces) and milk. Combine all of the spices and flavorings with the panade prior to adding the chicken. This will help to avoid over mixing the meat and also distributes all of the ingredients more evenly. 

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How long to bake chicken meatballs at 400-degrees

As a general rule of thumb, cook chicken meatballs for 10 and 20 minutes. The size of your meatballs will be the deciding factor here. 

You’ll know your meatballs are done when an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center registers 165-degrees.

Here’s a guide for baking time: 

• Small chicken meatballs (1 tablespoon) — 12 minutes 
• Medium chicken meatballs (2 tablespoons) — 15–20 minutes 
• Large chicken meatballs (3 tablespoons) — 25–30 minutes

How to use these baked Italian chicken meatballs 

• Make it a meal and serve these meatballs with pesto pasta and roasted carrots!
• Serve chicken meatballs in sauce such as alfredo, marinara, pesto, curry and more. 
• Serve chicken meatballs in a meatball sub! 
• Spaghetti and meatballs! Serve these chicken meatballs over spaghetti with your favorite marinara sauce.
• Serve chicken meatballs in a teriyaki sauce as an appetizer.
• Use chicken meatballs in a simple broth-based or creamy soup.  
• I also like to make these chicken meatballs for meal prep.
  • Once baked, I let the meatballs cool on the sheet then transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid; store in refrigerator. Stored this way, chicken meatballs will last up to 1 week. 

Can you freeze baked chicken meatballs? 

Yes! You can freeze baked chicken meatballs. 

For the best results, once the meatballs have been baked, let them cool completely on the baking sheet. 

Transfer baked and cooled meatballs to a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet and arrange in a single layer, making sure they aren’t touching each other. 

Transfer baking sheet with meatballs to freezer and freeze until solid, at least 6 hours. 

Transfer frozen meatballs to a resealable zipper-lock bag (I like to use my reusable bags) and store in freezer. 

How to reheat chicken meatballs:

There are a few ways you can reheat chicken meatballs. 

1. Pop your bag of frozen meatballs in the fridge and let them defrost overnight. Then reheat them in a 350-degree oven until heated through, about 10 minutes. 
2. Toss frozen meatballs (or thawed) into a pot of simmering sauce. 
3. Combine meatballs with your choice of sauce in a slow cooker. Simmer on low heat for 1–2 hours, or until heated through. 
4. Sauté thawed meatballs in a skillet with a splash of olive oil. 
5. Microwave thawed meatballs for 1–2 minutes. 

Make it a meal!

Serve these chicken meatballs with carrot top pesto and roasted glazed carrots, or try my go-to Herb Pesto recipe.

And, if you like these meatballs, you might also like these Glazed Asian Turkey Meatballs.

More recipes you may like…

• Instant Pot Orange Chicken
• One-Pan Apricot Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner
• Triple Herb Chicken Skewers

Make sure to tag me @ZESTFULKITCHEN ON INSTAGRAM or comment below if you make this Healthy Baked Chicken Meatball recipe.

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This recipe was originally published June 28th, 2019.