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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Comments
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Love the recipe, the chicken balls were light and fluffy with lots of flavor, but would like a gravy of some kind. I would make extra glaze for dipping when used as an hors d’oeuvre, but not sure what to serve with it when used for dinner. I used
parmesan cheese as that’s what I had, but was wondering what the difference would be if I
used romano as in the recipe. Is parm saltier?
Hi Irma, Glad you like these! A lot of other readers have commented that they’ve made extra glaze as well. (And Pecorino cheese is more mild and a bit saltier than Parmesan.)
Best chicken meatballs Ive ever made!! My hubby AND kids (1 and 3 yrs old) ate every last piece. Glad I doubled the recipe for leftovers 🙂 The buttered noodles and side veggie were perfect.
I have used your recipes for years. And they have all been excellent. These meatballs were tasteless. Followed the recipe perfectly. Baked as directed and they were not fully cooked. Checked oven temp,and it was right. Are u sure you cook these at 325?
Hi Rick, I’m sorry that these were a bit of a flop for you! Yes, the oven temp of 325 is correct. If you try them again, I’d suggest leaving them in few a few minutes longer.
The best meatballsi have made!
Hi Jenn,
What can I use in place of the cheese? I am lactose intolerant. Would the meatballs be dry if I leave this ingredient out? (Love your recipes! I have made many tasty meals!) 🙂
Hi Heather – glad you like the recipes! You can just omit the cheese here – you could add another Tbsp. or two of milk to add a bit more moisture. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jenn,
I was thinking of making these dairy free so was reading through the comments. Just a heads up that people who are lactose intolerant can’t digest the lactose in all dairy products so adding more milk won’t do for this recipe. Is there a dairy free product you would recommend instead of milk?
Looking forward to your answer. Thank you.
Not sure how I missed that! You can omit the cheese and use a bit more of a non-dairy milk substitute to make sure they are moist enough. Hope you enjoy!
I’ve made these so many times….they are beyond amazing….everyone loves them!
I wanted to double the batch…could I use half ground chicken and half pork?
Thank so much!
Sure (and so glad you like them)!
Could these meatballs be broiled instead? I love how broiling on the top shelf gives meatballs such a crunchy shell. Was planning to make these tonight with ground turkey.
Sure, Abi – that’ll work. Enjoy!
Hi Jenn- This sounds so good! I have everything on hand but of course the main ingredient, ground chicken. I do have ground beef- would this work or do I have to add more of any ingredient to keep it moist? Thank you!
Sure, Daryl, you can use ground beef here with no other modifications. Hope you enjoy!
My husband and I loved the meatballs however two of my kids did not care for the sauce. If you have picky eaters you may want to hold the sauce on a few meatballs just in case.
I was very excited to try this but a little disappointed. Took longer than 30 minutes to cook to 160 degrees (almost 45 minutes) and were a bit bland. The glaze was delicious and the meatballs were nice and moist, but lacking something. I think possibly more garlic needed, maybe some onion or sundried tomatoes, or more paste? I’m not sure, but I will experiment 🙂