Baked Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

Chicken parmesan is a classic Italian dish that just screams “comfort food.” We thought it’d be fun to change up our favorite chicken parmesan dinner and recreate it as a meatball recipe. These meatballs can be served with pasta or – and the drooling has already started – served as a chicken parmesan meatball sub sandwich. Need we say more?!? The recipe is super easy; we’re all pretty familiar with the basics of meatball preparation; ground meat, eggs, breadcrumbs, and seasonings are pretty standard. When we want that chicken parm feeling without all of the chicken parm work, a meatball is a perfect solution.

Meatballs are great as appetizers or as a super simple weeknight dinner. While they’re pretty hands-on in preparation, literally we use our hands to mix up the meat, meatballs are simple to prepare and super easy to eat. You can even premake your meatballs and freeze them for later, making any kind of meatball a fantastic meal-prep idea. This recipe will make anywhere from 20-24 meatballs, depending on how evenly you measure out your meat. We can’t think of a better way to get ahead of the weeknight hustle than having something like homemade meatballs on deck, ready to be served with just about anything. For our baked chicken parmesan meatballs, once the meatballs are cooked, you’ll top each one with marinara sauce and some mozzarella cheese, bake them for a few more minutes and then they’re ready to be enjoyed.

One way we like to serve our chicken parmesan meatballs is over a bed of lightly sautéed tomatoes, shredded carrots (for a subtle sweetness) and nice, fresh-peppery green onions. But we also can’t resist a toasted sub with these beautiful meatballs served on top – of course with extra marinara sauce. A meatball is such a great way to make good food that is quick and delicious, and it provides a blank canvas for so many different combinations. In this recipe, we get to enjoy one of our favorite Italian comfort foods in meatball form, and it’s pretty darn close to being as good as the original!

Baked Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

40 minutes to prepare serves 6

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds ground chicken
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
  • ¾ cup Panko breadcrumbs
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning + extra for garnish
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • ¼ cup yellow onion, finely diced
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper, divided
  • 2 cups marinara sauce
  • 12 cherry-sized mozzarella balls, halved
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 carrots, shredded
  • ½ cup green onions, sliced
  • 3-4 Roma tomatoes, diced

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Spray with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. Combine chicken, parmesan cheese, Panko breadcrumbs, Worcestershire sauce, eggs, Italian seasoning, ¼ cup diced yellow onion, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper in a large bowl. With clean hands, mix until ingredients are evenly blended.
  3. Scoop 2 tablespoons of meat and roll into a ball. Set each meatball on prepared baking sheet, evenly spacing each meatball 1-inch apart.
  4. Bake for 15 minutes at 400°F.
  5. While the meatballs bake, sauté green onion, shredded carrots, and diced Roma tomatoes in a medium pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil, until softened. Season with ½ teaspoon kosher salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Transfer to a serving dish and set aside.
  6. Remove meatballs from oven. Top each meatball with 1 tablespoon of marinara and a halved mozzarella cheese ball. Bake for an additional 3-5 minutes until cheese is melted. Garnish each meatball with a dash of Italian seasoning.
  7. Place meatballs on top of the tomatoes and carrots. Serve as-is or with your favorite pasta.

Recipe adapted from Five Heart Home.