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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I agree that these chicken meatballs are very yummy! I’m already thinking of when I can make them as hors d’oeuvre at a party.
One thing I did different was to use grated dill-infused Havarti instead of P-R cheese, given that I didn’t have the latter on hand, and the Havarti was a great substitute. I also agree that the glaze recipe could easily be doubled. Next time I will do so, to ensure that I have plenty to put on the meatballs prior to baking, and I will divide half of it before contaminating the glaze so that I can apply some glaze a second time, once they are removed from the oven.
Thanks for another lovely recipe, Jenn.
Can this recipe work with ground turkey as my husband is not a fan of ground chicken?
I love these! I make them dairy free so I use a little water instead of milk and eliminate the cheese (I use kosher meat that’s already a bit saltier).
I also double the glaze as it is so yummy!
Made these for a quick Saturday lunch. They are outstanding. Great ingredients and directions. A keeper recipe. Thank you for adding another recipe to my tool belt!
These meatballs are incredible–so much flavour. My husband keeps asking me to make them!! Thanks Jennifer for sharing this recipe….
I didn’t love this recipe…at first! I only covered half of the meatballs with the sauce because my balsamic vinegar was getting a little skunky! I had hoped the meatballs would be a hit with everyone, but the picky eater didn’t like it (he opposes green flecks in his food) and our daughter wasn’t blown away with it (bummer because both kids have enjoyed the other recipes I’ve made from the site). My wife and I enjoyed the glazed version. Turns out the skunky balsamic wasn’t such an issue when cooked.
I took the plain meatballs to lunch the next day and had it with spaghetti sauce and penne: HELLO! It was delicious and amazing and I can’t wait to make these again! I actually think both kids will enjoy that. The only change I would make would be to add a bit more garlic.
* I saw that you have another meatball recipe. I’ll try that one also but I really enjoyed these!
I made this two months ago, and I didn’t have that many to serve for dinner because I ate most of them while I was waiting for my sides to finish. I plan to make a double batch next time.
I just made these tonight for tomorrow night’s dinner. Only things I changed were that I made six times the amount of sauce, as I plan to serve the meatballs with wide egg noodles and wanted some extra sauce for them. I made the sauce for basting the meatballs as per your recipe, but put the leftover sauce into a saucepan with some red wine, chicken broth, cream, crushed red pepper flakes, crumbled gorganzola, and freshly chopped basil from my garden. This is an excellent recipe for leaner meatballs… they are AMAZING! The sauce just needed a bit more uummph for me if serving over pasta. I love your recipes and blogs!! Keep up the great work! 🙂
Hi Rebecca, thanks for sharing your modifications. The sauce you made sounds delicious!
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I was thinking about leaving off the glaze, cooking the meatballs till they had only firmed up, and dumping them in the glaze, then finishing cooking. My thought was that the glaze might stay more on the surface. Do you think that would work?
Also, to those who find ground chicken bland, a little melted bacon grease mixed into the meat makes the meat more flavorful. If you have an air fryer, it’s really easy to collect nice clear bacon grease in the bottom when frying up bacon. Save it in a jar in the refrigerator.
Hi Meg, I’d stick with the recipe as is – there’s really not enough sauce to go the route that you suggested. Hope you enjoy them! 🙂
Jenn– my daughters (Alexis and Abbe) told me about your beautiful blog– been cooking for 45 years and I’m amazed that I’m still picking up helpful tips from your simple explanations about the “how’s and whys” of each recipe and your responses to each question asked.
The chicken meatballs are outstanding, even though I didn’t have fresh parsley or garlic( had to use freeze dried) on hand. Very moist and flavorful. And yes– double the glaze– it’s so good.
Can’t wait to start on another recipe — thanks.
That is so nice to hear, Judi. Thank you! I’m a big fan of your daughters, and your grandchildren too 🙂
Made these last night for a pool-side dinner with friends in our community. I did double the amount of glaze. They were such a hit….folks kept going back for more! I even had two friends ask for the recipe, which I am giving them along with your website address. Told them everything I have tried from your website has just been delish!
Thank you, Patricia!