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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Really enjoyed these; easy to make and flavorful. Cooked in two batches, and for the second I drizzled balsamic reduction (or balsamic glaze) over the recipe glaze. It gave it an extra balsamic “kick” that I liked.
Made these for my beef loving spouse this evening and he pronounced them to be “the best meatballs he has ever had.” Keep in mind that he is the only son of a FABULOUS first generation cook from Italy who rolls her own gnocchi. Took the advice from other reviewers and doubled the glaze. Delicious, and absolutely the way to go. Thank you, Jenn, for another winner.
Great recipe. I like better than traditional beef. Also the reviews advising double the glaze are spot on
I have been to 3 top grocery stores
and cannot find the required chicken.
Feels like I am in the Twilight zone as
everyone else can get it.
Can I ground the Chicken thighs in my own Processor?
Sorry you’ve had a hard time finding it! Yes, you can ground the thighs in your food processor. Hope you enjoy!
Walmart in a small rural community carries ground chicken in the organic chcken section.
Or, if you have a Kitchen Aide stand mixer, there is a grinder attachment! I have used that when I lived in places I could not find ground chicken. Happy cooking!
Just made these last night with all ground turkey…. They were absolutely amazing! Not even remotely dry. My kids loved them as well.
Hi there,
All I can find at my local grocery store is the lean ground chicken. What can I add to make sure it doesn’t turn out dry?
Hi Katie, If you’re not able to find anything but lean ground chicken, I would add a little more cheese to keep the meatballs moist. Hope you enjoy!
Hi,
I see you say ground chicken is more flavorful than ground turkey but could this be substituted with ground turkey? Or would the flavor just be ruined? Thank you.
Hi Christina, Ground turkey can be used, but I do think they are more flavorful with ground chicken. Other readers have used turkey though and have been happy with the results. Hope you enjoy!
This was disappointing. I think it would have been better with ground beef or veal.
I made these earlier this week during the big blizzard, and they were fantastic! They were so moist and flavorful even when reheating the leftovers. The only change I made was when serving the leftovers — I made a bit more glaze but substituted apricot jam for the sugar and added a pinch of salt. Another wonderful recipe from your site. Thank you!
Can the chicken meatballs be made as a meatloaf instead? If yes, how long would I bake it for?
Alice, You could make this into a meatloaf. I would increase the baking time to about 45 minutes, but before removing it from the oven, make sure that an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of the meatloaf registers 160 degrees. I’ve also got a BBQ Turkey Meatloaf and an Italian Meatloaf on the site if you want to try one of those.