Chicken Meatballs

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My go-to baked chicken meatballs recipe is easy to make and customize with your favorite seasonings.

Tens of thousands of you have made my favorite traditional meatballs since I first shared that recipe a few years ago. So I’m pleased to be back today with my favorite recipe for baked chicken meatballs! ♡

Let’s get right to the core issue of this recipe — chicken is a considerably leaner meat than pork or beef, which too often leads to sub-par meatballs that can be dry, tough, or disappointingly bland. Which, of course, will not do! So today, we’re going to employ a few easy tricks to make sure that your meatballs are 5-star winners every single time.

First off, you’ve gotta start with a panade (puh-NOD), which is just a fancy French word for a starch-and-liquid mixture (in our case, breadcrumbs and milk soaked together while you prep the other ingredients) that helps prevent the meat from shrinking and toughening during cooking. It requires almost zero extra time yet makes a huge difference in keeping the meatballs moist and tender, so don’t skip it! Second, we’re going to be extra-gentle when forming the meatballs, so that the mixture doesn’t get overworked and accidentally become too tough. We’re also going to bump up the oven shelf and cook the meatballs near the top of the oven so that they can brown more quickly during their short baking time. And finally, we’ll add a generous amount of seasoning to make sure each bite is legit-delicious and full of flavor.

I’ve included my favorite all-purpose seasoning for these meatballs in the recipe below (garlic, onion powder, smoked paprika, and Worcestershire), which honestly works with just about any type of recipe you may be craving. But please feel free to customize the seasoning to taste and add in whatever herbs, spices, or other flavor boosters that you love best. Then serve these meatballs up however you prefer — with Italian marinara and pasta, Swedish gravy, American buffalo sauce, Thai curry, Japanese teriyaki, Greek tzatiki, you name it. This chicken meatballs recipe is here for all occasions and is always a winner!

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