Savory Chicken Meatballs

Chicken Meatballs With
Heirloom Tomato Sauce

Looking for an alternative to the traditional beef, pork, and veal Italian meatball? These savory chicken meatballs are a healthier alternative and are every bit as satisfying and flavorful.

We serve these meatballs over angel hair pasta with our heirloom tomato sauce. When we are looking for an extra kick, we add chopped serrano peppers or a fresh cayenne pepper to the sauce. Pair this with your favorite full-bodied red wine and this may become one of your favorite dinners!

Chicken Meatballs

5 lbs. ground chicken*
4 cups fresh bread crumbs, made with seeded rye bread
3 TBS fresh flat Italian parsley, finely chopped
3 TBS fresh basil, finely chopped
8 cloves garlic, pressed
1 egg
½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper

Grinding Chicken with
KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer

Yield: 6 ½ dozen meatballs.

Serving suggestion: serve with our heirloom tomato sauce, your favorite pasta, and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Note: This recipe makes over six dozen meatballs. For a smaller number of guests or to reduce leftover portions, cut this recipe in half.

Preheat oven to 375°. Spray three baking sheets with cooking spray.

Tear up three pieces of seeded rye bread and place them in a blender. Pulse into fresh bread crumbs and continue this process until you have 4 cups of crumbs.

Place the ground chicken in a large bowl. Add the bread crumbs. Wash and finely chop the parsley and basil. Add these herbs to the bowl. Clean 8 cloves of garlic and add them to this mixture. (If you press the cloves above the mixture, you will capture every bit of garlic and garlic juice.)

Add the egg and sprinkle the salt and pepper over the top of
the mixture. Combine the mixture with your hands until all
of the ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

Chop Fresh Flat Italian Parsley

Roll the mixture into standard sized meatballs, approximately ¼ cup each. As you roll them, place the meatballs on the greased baking sheets. After all of them are rolled, place them in the oven. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. The bottom of each meatball will be golden brown.

While the meatballs are baking, simmer the heirloom tomato sauce in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese to taste. For arrabbiata sauce, stir in two finely chopped serrano peppers or one cayenne pepper.

Remove the meatballs from the oven and add them directly to the tomato sauce. Gently toss them with the sauce and reduce temperature to low.

Boil the pasta according to its directions and serve immediately with chicken meatballs, heirloom tomato sauce, and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Buon Appetito!

Chicken Meatballs Ready for the Oven

*Use store-bought ground chicken or make your own with a
KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer and a KitchenAid food
grinder attachment. Simply slice chicken into large strips and drop these strips into the grinder’s feed tube.

Since you are grinding your own, you control the blend. Use boneless, skinless chicken breast alone or a mix of
breast and thigh meat.

I am sharing this chicken meatballs recipe with Simple Lives Thursday, Real Food Wednesdays, Tuesdays at the Table, Foodie Friday, Savory Sunday, Full Plate Thursday, Made From Scratch Tuesday, It’s a Keeper Thursday, Wow Us Wednesdays, Strut Your Stuff, These Chicks Cooked, Totally Tasty Tuesdays, Living Well Blog Hop, Tuesday’s Tasty Tidbits, and Menu Plan Monday.