Soft Juicy Baked Chicken Meatballs Recipe (2024)

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Baked chicken meatballs are juicy, super easy to make, and super tasty! These are healthy compared to meatballs cooked on a skillet with loads of oil. You can serve it with anything!

Juicy baked chicken meatballs is a keeper

1. It’s BAKED! Much healthier than fried meatballs.
2. Made with lean protein, chicken. You can also use ground turkey as a substitute.
3. These are super easy to make.
4. All you’ll need is ONE BOWL to mix everything and one baking tray to bake them using basic pantry ingredients.
5. No more standing near the stove to cook splattery meatballs. No cleaning messy greasy stove.
6. Meatballs are juicy and tasty, I bet you can’t stop popping them in your mouth.
7. Great make-ahead recipe. Make meatballs and store them for later. Works great for weekly meal preps. It can be served with anything!
8. It’s freezer-friendly, make and store in the freezer for later.
9. Plenty flavorful.
10. A definite crowd-pleaser!

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need-

• Ground chicken
• Yellow onion
• Garlic
• Parsley
• Egg
• Italian seasoning
• Cayenne pepper
• Salt & pepper
• Panko breadcrumbs
• Parmesan cheese
• Olive oil

All the ingredient’s exact measurements are mentioned in the recipe card below.

Ingredients notes:

1. Ground chicken: lean meat is better. Best to use 93-95% lean meat instead of 99% lean meat. A bit of fat is required to help meatballs stay juicy. Use ground turkey as a substitute for ground chicken. Ground pork works too.
2. Onion: adds flavor to meatballs and helps keep it moist. do not chop the onion, grate the onion directly into the bowl.
3. Garlic: the aromats, help add flavor and taste. Fresh garlic can be substituted with garlic powder.
4. Parsley: fresh flatleaf parsley minced fine, adds freshness to the meatballs. Curly leaf parsley or cilantro leaves can be used as a substitute.
5. Egg: helps bind everything together.
6. Italian seasoning: helps pack more flavors.
7. Cayenne pepper: adds mild heat.
8. Panko breadcrumbs: keep the meatballs light and air along with acting as a binding agent. Regular breadcrumbs will dry out meatballs. Highly recommend you use panko breadcrumbs. If you don’t get panko breadcrumbs use regular sandwich bread, tear into pieces and pulse it a few times to turn into crumbs. Sandwich bread is far more effective than regular breadcrumbs.
9. Salt & pepper: add to taste, use freshly ground pepper.
10. Parmesan cheese: use freshly grated cheese. Always buy a Parmesan cheese block and grate it yourself whenever needed. Pre-grated cheese is usually filled with fillers and chemicals that prevent it from melting properly and also may alter the taste.
11. Olive oil: to spray on the meatballs before baking. Helps prevent the meatballs from drying and sticking to the tray.

Ingredients additions & substitutions

You can substitute ground chicken with ground turkey. Ground pork can be used.

For an extra kick add more cayenne pepper or use red chili flakes in the recipe. Use smoked paprika along with cayenne pepper for a smoky spicy kick.

If you want to make it gluten-free meatballs you can use crushed rice Chex cereal as a substitute for panko breadcrumbs.

How to make ground chicken meatballs

Below is a step-by-step picture to help me make meatballs.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400°F.

Grate onion into the bowl.

Step 2: Add ground chicken, minced garlic, parsley, egg, Italian seasoning, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste, panko breadcrumbs, and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Step 3: Use hands or a spatula to mix everything. Mix until ingredients just get blended.

Step 4: DO NOT OVERWORK MEAT. It will make meatballs dry.

Step 5: Using a small scoop or tablespoon portion out meatballs. Gently roll or shape meatballs.

Step 6: Spray the baking tray with olive oil. Place meatballs directly on a greased baking tray or use a wire rack (greased well) to arrange meatballs.

Step 7: Place meatballs ½ to 1 inch apart. Generously spray olive oil on top of all meatballs.

Step 8: Bake in preheated oven at 400°F for 18 to 20 minutes or until meatballs are browned and cooked.

Tip: don’t overcook meatballs. Remove from oven as soon as you see meatballs are beginning to brown. You want meatballs to be juicy and soft. Leaving it for 2 to 3 extra minutes in the oven will tend to dry meatballs.

Allow meatballs to rest for 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and parmesan cheese powder. Serve immediately.

Ways to serve

These can be served with anything! As an appetizer with a sauce on the side, as main stirred with spaghetti or any of your favorite pasta.

• As an appetizer – serve an appetizer with your favorite sauce. My kids love it with ketchup, but for me I like to pair it with other sensational sauce like vodka sauce, spicy marinara sauce, and smoky BBQ sauce.
• As main – serve as main with creamy mashed potatoes, mashed cauliflower, and sautéed green beans or roasted broccoli as a side.
• Stirred with spaghetti and marinara sauce.
• Stirred with pesto sauce mixed with pasta like bucatini.

Tips to make juicy chicken meatballs

1. Use fresh grated onion in the recipe. Grated onion helps keep meatballs soft and juicy. Grating onion releases its juicy which helps soak breadcrumbs. Saturating breadcrumbs in liquids (like milk, or juices) in this recipe extra juice from onion to avoid having them dry out the meatballs.
2. Use panko breadcrumbs. Regular breadcrumbs will dry out the meatballs. If you can’t get panko breadcrumbs use regular sandwich bread and pulse it a few times to turn into crumbs. Sandwich bread is far more effective than regular breadcrumbs.
3. DO NOT OVER WORK MEAT. It will result in dry meatballs. Mix until ingredients just get blended.
4. Remove from oven as soon as you see meatballs are beginning to brown. You want meatballs to be juicy and soft. Leaving it for 2 to 3 extra minutes in the oven will tend to dry meatballs.

Common questions

Storing info

You can make the meatball mixture and store the mix in the fridge for up to 2 days.

You can also freezer the meatball mixture.

After baking it can be frozen and stored for 3 months.

Store in refrigerator – mix all ingredients for meatballs. Cover in an air-tight container and store refrigerated for up to 2-3 days. Note: fresh ingredients like parsley will tend to lose their freshness as they sit in the fridge.

Freeze raw meatballs mix – mix all ingredients. Shape into balls and arrange it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Cover a baking tray with plastic wrap. Freezer for 2 hours. Once frozen remove from the baking tray and store in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months.

Freeze baked meatballs – bake chicken meatballs as per recipe. Let it cool completely. Transfer meatballs to freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months.

Reheat – thaw meatballs in the fridge overnight. And then bake in the oven at 325°F until warmed.

Note– reheating meatballs will turn to make meatballs a bit drier.

Other meatball recipes:

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