Chicken Meatballs
Updated Mar 31, 2026
Baked Chicken Meatballs are made with ground chicken, garlic, seasoning, and rolled into balls, baked in the oven, and ready in 30 minutes.
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Chicken Meatballs are soo good!
Chicken meatballs are one of my favorite recipes to make, especially when my kids were younger, and I needed something easy that I knew would actually get eaten. I could bake a batch, serve them a few different ways, and usually count on leftovers for another meal. They also store really well, so they always felt worth making.
That’s still why I come back to baked chicken meatballs now. Once they’re formed, they go straight into the oven, and I can move on to the rest of dinner without having to stand over the stove. From prep to out of the oven, they take about 30 minutes, which makes them really easy to fit into a regular weeknight.
I also like how easy chicken meatballs are to build a meal around. I’ve served them with spaghetti, basmati rice, mashed potatoes, and even mac and cheese, depending on what we already had going.
Happy Cooking!
– Yumna
Chicken Meatballs Ingredients
- Ground chicken: Ground chicken is lean, so it helps to mix just until combined and not keep working it, or the meatballs can turn dense. If your ground chicken feels very wet, the breadcrumbs will help absorb some of that. Ground turkey works too if that’s what you have.
- Breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and egg: Use fine breadcrumbs so the mixture stays easy to scoop and roll. You can also make homemade breadcrumbs if you’re out. If you can grate your own Parmesan, I highly recommend it! Room temperature eggs work better!
- Garlic and meatball seasonings: Garlic, oregano, dried parsley, paprika, salt, and black pepper are mixed right into the chicken meatballs, so try to distribute them evenly before shaping. Mince the garlic finely so you don’t get larger bits throughout. You can swap dried parsley for Italian seasoning if needed, but keep the amount close.
- Cooking spray: A light spray of avocado oil helps the outside brown better in the oven. Another neutral cooking spray works fine, too.
How to Make Chicken Meatballs
Chicken Meatball Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Avocado oil cooking spray
- Marinara sauce for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, oregano, parsley, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Using wet hands (with either water or olive oil), combine everything until well-blended.
- Using a medium spring-loaded cookie scoop, scoop about 2 tablespoons of the chicken mixture, roll into a ball, and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining mixture; you should get about 15 meatballs.
- Spray with cooking spray and bake for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through. Serve with marinara, if desired.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. It can be tempting to use a spoon to mix your meatball mixture, but your hands will combine the ingredients more efficiently without over-mixing. Wet your hands first with water or oil so the mixture doesn’t stick to them.
- Wet your hands before rolling. Ground chicken is stickier than ground beef, and wet hands make the meatballs much easier to shape without overworking the mixture.
- Do not pack the meatballs tightly. Roll them just enough to hold together so they stay more tender after baking.
- Use a scoop if you have one. A medium cookie scoop helps keep the meatballs the same size, which matters here since they cook fast and can dry out if some are smaller than others.
- Start checking right at 15 minutes. Chicken meatballs can go from done to dry pretty quickly, especially if they’re on the smaller side. Spray the tops before baking. Since ground chicken is lean, a light coat of cooking spray helps them brown a little better in the oven.
Serving Ideas
- Add a dipping sauce: If you’re not in the mood for a big pasta meal, these meatballs are still delicious on their own with a little dipping sauce. My favorites are marinara sauce, Alfredo sauce, and cottage cheese pasta sauce.
- Make pasta: If you are in the mood for pasta, I love adding these baked chicken meatballs to my cacio e pepe, my pasta with cherry tomatoes, and my pink beet pasta.
- Try a salad: These chicken meatballs are so good alongside (or on top of) my Italian pasta salad, my caprese salad, and my mixed greens salad.
FAQs
If your meatballs fell apart in the oven, your mixture might have been too wet, or you might not have combined the ingredients well enough before forming the balls. I recommend refrigerating the balls for about 30 minutes before cooking to help them hold their shape better.
Your meatballs are done when they’re no longer pink in the middle. The safest way to check is by using a meat thermometer. They should reach an internal temperature of 165°F.
Comments
Thank you for this recipe. Can ground turkey be a substitute for chicken in this recipe?
Yes, I think that would work well!
Has anyone baked them?
Going to make tomorrow and thinking 20min @ 350?
Hi Barbie! You can bake at 400ºF for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through. The full instructions with bake time and oven temperature are in the recipe card at the bottom of the post (above the comments). You can also click ‘jump to recipe’ at the top of the page to get to the recipe card quickly. Hope you enjoy!
I’m wondering if the breadcrumbs in this recipe are panko crumbs/dry breadcrumbs or fresh breadcrumbs made from white bread in a food processor?
I use dry breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs.
So yummy! Made them for the first time today with Spanish rice on the side and they are perfection. Thank you for your easy recipes as I’m in pain often and on those days there’s no way I’m standing up to cook. This morning I was in pain but once it calmed down, I quickly prepped these as it was a one-bowl recipe so no mess and barely any cleanup.
Aww, you have no idea how much it means to hear that! I’m so glad my recipes are simple, quick, and easy for you. Thanks so much, Leia. Glad you enjoyed!!
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