Not going to lie, when my husband brought home ground chicken “on sale” from the store and told me he couldn’t pass it up, I was slightly amused.
When he then proceeded to ask if I could figure out something to make with it in the next day, I actually laughed.
My first thought was a kind of chicken nugget, since most commercial chicken nuggets are basically ground chicken (plus a whole slew of other things that shouldn’t even be in food, but that’s a discussion for another time).
However, I didn’t want to deep fry anything, and we don’t really have a standard air fryer, so that was kind of off the table. On the topic of the air fryer though, please let me know in the comments if you’ve found one with no plastic, aluminum, or nonstick internal components! We ended up going with the Gourmia, and it’s great, but it’s definitely more of a “toaster oven” than an air fryer.
Back to the food: neither my husband nor my children are really “ground meat” people, so I knew I was in for a challenge. I started to think about some of their favorite chicken dishes, and one of them is Chicken Parm!
So I thought, okay, I can probably re-imagine the classic chicken parm with the chicken I have here.
And that’s how this recipe was born! It turned out to be a huge hit, and it was one of the first nights in a while that literally everyone finished their plates! I served it with some angel hair pasta, but it would also be great in my Easy Soft Dinner Rolls as a creative take on a meatball sandwich/slider!
Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you click and buy through these links, I may earn a small commission- at no extra cost to you. Rest assured, I only recommend products I truly believe in, use, and love! I appreciate your support and hope you find these recommendations helpful!
Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
Equipment
- heavy bottom skillet with lid oven safe! This is the one I use
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 yellow or white onion small, minced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3/4 cup almond flour can use regular or gluten-free breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil or coconut oil or tallow, any oil with a high smoke point!
For the sauce
- 2 cups marinara sauce choose your fav jar or make your own!
- 1 cup shredded cheese mozzarella would be best, but feel free to use what you like!
- 1 pinch Italian seasoning for garnish
Instructions
- Using gloves, in large mixing bowl combine all meatball ingredients and mix gently using your hands, just until combined. Do not over-mix. The mixture will feel slightly soft, but should stick together. If too "runny" add more almond flour or breadcrumbs 1 Tablespoon at a time until thicker consistency.
- Heat skillet on stovetop over medium heat, add avocado oil.
- Roll meatballs: using a standard cookie scoop or a Tablespoon, scoop the chicken mixture. Or eyeball it and gently roll them into balls using your gloved hands.
- Place the meatballs into the heated skillet. Cook for about four minutes and flip. We're not trying to cook them all the way through right now, just brown the outsides to add depth of flavor!
- Pour marinara sauce into skillet, place lid over top, and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes or until the internal temperature of each meatball reaches 165F.
- Turn on the broiler.
- Remove lid, add shredded cheese over top and place pan under broiler just until cheese starts to bubble and brown (probably less than a minute). Carefully remove from oven, garnish with a dash of Italian seasoning, and serve!
Notes
Provided nutrition information is just an estimate and will vary based on the specific and exact ingredients used. If exact values are needed, please calculate your own nutritional values using the ingredients you use.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @modernmysticmeals on Instagram and hashtag it #modernmysticmeals.