Chicken Meatballs with Tomato-Balsamic Glaze
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Winner, winner meatball dinner! Quick, easy, and irresistibly tasty, these baked chicken meatballs with a tangy glaze make the perfect fuss-free family supper.
If you’re looking for an alternative to traditional meatballs or turkey meatballs in marinara sauce, these light and elegant chicken meatballs fit the bill. I love them with mashed potatoes, puréed cauliflower, polenta, or buttered noodles for a quick and easy weeknight meal. They also make a delicious appetizer—just make them smaller and spear them with toothpicks.
Table of Contents
“I made a triple recipe of these for a family dinner…Everyone loved them, especially my younger grandsons.”
What You’ll Need To Make Chicken Meatballs With Tomato-Balsamic Glaze
When purchasing ground chicken, stay away from extra-lean all breast meat; if the meat is too lean, the meatballs will come out dry and lacking in flavor.
Tomato paste can be purchased in a small can or tube. While I use canned here, the tubed variety is more practical because you can use just what you need and store it in the fridge until you need it again. To preserve canned tomato paste longer, freeze it in tablespoon-sized portions (use an ice cube tray or put tablespoon-sized portions on a cookie sheet). Once frozen, transfer these portions into a freezer-safe plastic bag for future use.
The recipe calls for pecorino Romano cheese, a hard Italian sheep milk cheese. It is similar to Parmigiano Reggiano, in that both cheeses have salty, umami-rich flavors, but pecorino Romano is saltier, tangier, and stronger in flavor.
Step-by-Step Instructions
To begin, combine the egg, parsley, tomato paste, garlic, milk, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
Mix well with a wire whisk, making sure the tomato paste is completely dissolved.
Add the ground chicken, grated cheese and breadcrumbs.
Use your hand to mix the ingredients together; it will be somewhat wet.
Using wet hands, form medium-sized balls and place into an ungreased 9-x-13-in baking dish.
Next, make the glaze by combining the tomato paste, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and sugar in a small bowl.
Whisk to combine.
Brush the glaze evenly over the meatballs.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball registers 160°F. Remove from the oven and serve.
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Chicken Meatballs with Tomato-Balsamic Glaze
Winner, winner meatball dinner! Quick, easy, and irresistibly tasty, these baked chicken meatballs with a tangy glaze make the perfect fuss-free family supper.
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ cup milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound ground chicken (preferably Purdue, not extra lean all breast meat)
- ½ cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons Italian seasoned bread crumbs
For the Glaze
- 1½ tablespoons tomato paste
- 1½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- ¾ teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- In a large bowl, combine the egg, parsley, tomato paste, garlic, milk, salt and pepper. Mix well with a wire whisk, making sure the tomato paste is completely dissolved.
- Add the ground chicken, grated cheese and breadcrumbs. Use your hand to mix the ingredients together; it will be somewhat wet. Form medium-sized balls and place into an ungreased 9-x-13-in baking dish.
- Make the glaze by combining all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Brush evenly over the meatballs. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball registers 160°F. Remove from the oven and serve.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cooked meatballs can be frozen, with their glaze, for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to serve, thaw them in the fridge and then reheat them, tightly covered with foil, in a 300°F oven, until hot in the center.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 1 meatball
- Calories: 119
- Fat: 7 g
- Saturated fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 4 g
- Sugar: 1 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Sodium: 161 mg
- Cholesterol: 54 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Delicious!!
Yum, yum, yum! Only sub I made was for dried parsley and didn’t have it on hand. The rest are pantry staples. These came together in all of 5 minutes (frozen garlic cubes to the rescue!). Served with whole wheat pasta and roasted zucchini. Chicken meatballs can be dry but the combo of milk and bread crumbs made these moist (even though I slightly over cooked!). Great for an easy week night meal.
Best ever chicken meatballs!! My daughter made these twice – they were that awesome. She served them over a bed of baked spaghetti squash. Thank you for ALL the fantastic, easy and super delicious recipes!
Fantastic! They were a little wet for me so I added more breadcrumbs. So delicious, great texture, loved the tomato/balsamic combo but it was just the right amount of sauce so that my picky kiddos (ages 2, 4, 6, 8) still loved them. As in asking for more meatballs after dessert loved them! Served with buttered egg noodles and broccoli- so easy. Thank you Jenn for making our family dinners so delicious 😋
I haven’t eaten beef for 30+ years. I’ve often made turkey and chicken meatballs but found them rather too firm and not as flavorful since I add a lot of breadcrumbs. These were more tender and had a very appetizing flavor. I have often added applesauce to my meatloaf to create a juicy loaf but not to meatballs because they lose their shape; too loose. I think I will try to add a small amount to the next batch, though. Applesauce makes for super juicy product when cooking with meat that’s doesn’t have much fat.
These were very, very good. The local grocery store does not sell ground chicken, so I substituted ground turkey. I only wish that I had made a pasta side to go with it. It seemed to be missing that.
We love these meatballs! They are quick, easy, and delicious!
These were amazing. My husband is so skeptical of ground chicken and anything that is not ground beef. He loved these and complimented me! He even ate 3 tonight for dinner. I followed the recipe exactly – except I used almond milk as I am lactose intolerant.
These were easy to make. I made them earlier in the day and glazed them right before I cooked them.
A real hit.
Very good! I made a regular and a vegan version adding in 3 c. chopped spinach and 3 chopped green onions. We decided we would omit the glaze next time. I served with spaghetti noodles, marinara sauce and green beans. For vegan version I used oatmeal for bread crumbs, almond milk for regular milk, flax egg for regular egg, no cheese, 1 tsp. Italian seasoning, 3 c. chopped spinach, 3 chopped green onion plus all the additional ingredients used in the recipe. Enjoyed by all.
These meatballs are delicious and easy to make – I love that they are made with chicken instead of ground beef. I didn’t make any substitutions – they are excellent as is! And I have shared this recipe with multiple friends.
Perfect consistency to the meatballs. Not dried out, just perfect.
The only meatballs i make! Delicious and easy. Great served with noodles.