The best chicken meatballs are baked until golden brown and packed with only the best Parmesan chicken flavors. Easy and delicious!

I love a good meatball, I mean honestly, who doesn’t?! These balls are about to go to the top of your meatball recipe list!

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Tender, juicy Parmesan Chicken Meatballs will quickly jump to the top of your dinner rotation.

One of the reasons I love these so much is because chicken is a bit lighter meat than beef, but they still come out packed with flavor and are super easy to prepare!

Parmesan Chicken Meatball Recipe

To my busy cooks and hungry people, you are going to seriously love these meatballs. The secret is truly on the inside of the super juicy meatball mixture bursting with all the right Italian flavors!

Bonus for all, this is a low-carb dinner, perfect for eating right out of the pan, adding to salad, or meal-prepping for the week.

Looking for a more traditional Italian meal? Serve them with your favorite plate of pasta! Yes, I am thinking of a romantic dinner Lady and the Tramp style with the perfect plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

Parmesan Chicken Meatball Ingredients

There are only a small handful of ingredients that make up this mouthwatering Parmesan Chicken Meatball recipe.

Ground chicken – An essential ingredient in this recipe!

Italian bread crumbs – If you don’t have any, you can whip up a quick at-home batch by adding Italian seasoning to panko or bread crumbs as a quick substitute.

Fresh chopped basil – I just LOVE fresh basil! The taste and texture are perfection. However, you can use dried basil if that’s all you’ve got on hand – just be aware, the taste won’t exactly be the same.

Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese – You can buy fresh or packaged. The best is if you can grate or shred it before making the recipe so it is nice and fresh.

Olive oil – Any olive oil you have in the house will do!
Did you know: the darker the olive oil, the better quality it is?

Marinara Sauce – You can’t have chicken parm without marinara sauce! This is what I used, and my favorite store-bought sauce.

Spices – You will need red pepper flakes, dried thyme, dried oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste. You probably already have these spices in your pantry, but you don’t want to skimp – they are essential for flavor!

How To Make Chicken Meatballs

Get ready to have the best meatballs on the table in under 30 minutes.

1. Form the meatballs. In a large mixing bowl, combine ground chicken, Italian bread crumbs, basil, Parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, thyme, oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Form chicken mixture into 10 evenly sized meatballs.

parmesan chicken meatballs in a pan with marinara sauce

2. Cook the meatballs. Heat a large non-stick skillet with olive oil on medium high heat.

Once hot, add the meatballs in an even layer. Cook for 6-10 minutes, turning occasionally until golden brown on all sides.

3. Simmer the meatballs. Reduce the heat to low, add the marinara sauce and sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese.

Simmer for 6-8 minutes until the cheese has melted. You can cover the pan with a lid if you want the cheese to melt faster.

Pro-Tips For Making Ground Chicken Meatballs

Looking for a chicken substitute? You can use ground turkey and make a turkey meatball instead of ground chicken and still have recipe success!

When buying your ground chicken, try to pick 93-96% lean ground chicken. Avoid 99% lean ground chicken breast, you want some of the fat to aid in the cooking process and gives the chicken more moisture.

Try putting a little cooking oil on your hands when you form the meatballs. That helps keep the meat from sticking to you and gives you smoother meatballs. You can also use those disposable plastic kitchen/cooking gloves if you have them.

Don’t want to make this recipe stove-top? You can air-fry your meatballs, see below for details!

Can I Air-Fry Chicken Meatballs?

The air fryer is my favorite way to cook just about anything. To make meatballs in the air fryer, prepare the recipe the same way as directed and place into the Air-Fryer at 400 F for 10-12 minutes.

Turn at the halfway mark to ensure good color on all sides!

Find more of my favorite air fryer recipes here.

Let’s Chat Recipe Health!

I know I have addressed this in other chicken recipes, but yes! Chicken is a lean source of protein.

Beef/red meat tends to be higher in dietary cholesterol and saturated fat which is why I love cooking with chicken (if I’m making meat) as opposed to beef.

two plates with spaghetti and chicken meatballs

My Favorite Kitchen Tools to Make This Recipe:

See all my kitchen favorites here.

More Chicken Parmesan Recipes

If you’re looking for a side dish to go with this meatball recipe, try these Air Fryer Zucchini or Broccolini.

WANT TO TRY THIS PARMESAN CHICKEN MEATBALL RECIPE?

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