Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
These Chicken Parmesan Meatballs are an Italian dinner that’s ready in no time at all. Seasoned meatballs with Panko crumbs for that crunch you crave when you eat Chicken Parmesan. Serve these over noodles with garlic bread and a salad for a delicious dinner.
CHICKEN PARMESAN MEATBALLS
Earlier this week I had a run in with death. I was waiting at the gate of the airport getting ready to take off. It was stormy and dark as Florida most often is at least one time a day. I was on my laptop when an older lady next to me motioned out the window and said, “Is it snowing? What is that?”
What she was looking at and mistaking for snow was debris flying around in a tornado coming straight towards us at the gate. It was as wide as the the window making it hard to depict what it was. I couldn’t see the sides, but immediate terror struck me and I grabbed my stuff and started running.
I grew up watching the Wizard of Oz on repeat and tornadoes are one of my absolute worst fears. I’ve had nightmares about them since I was little.
There were papers and dust flying all around the terminal making it hard to see. Somehow, I managed to call my husband while running. He told me to get to a bathroom and to a lower level. By now the tornado sirens were sounding and the lights were flickering on and off. I turned the corner to the bathroom to see bodies on bodies of people overflowing out of the bathroom entrance like sardines. Obviously not an option.
I kept running to the center of the building by security and ended up in a little inlet in the wall huddled with a couple from Indiana who said they are used to this and do it all the time where they’re from. The tornado passed in a couple of minutes and luckily no major damage except for cargo tossed all over the tarmac (including my suitcase which was completely soaked with stuff hanging out).
I’ve never been so scared in my life and still get shaky thinking about what happened.
My last meal before I left for the airport were these Chicken Parmesan Meatballs. I’ve made them a couple of times to get them just right.
There are a few recipes I always have on repeat just because my family loves them and they’re easy: this One-Pan Broccoli Chicken and Rice, this Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup, and Kimi’s Parmesan Chicken. So these Chicken Parmesan Meatballs are a great way to switch up one of our favorite meals.
What everyone loves about Chicken Parmesan is the crunchy outside. Panko breadcrumbs gives it that crunchy bite and helps give the meatballs and little more structure inside. I didn’t want to cover these with cheese because they’re so pretty by themselves.
WHERE CAN I FIND PANKO BREADCRUMBS?
Panko Breadcrumbs are Japanese style breadcrumbs and are crunchier than regular breadcrumbs. They are made from bread without the crust and have a light and airy texture great for frying foods or in this case faux-frying our Chicken Parmesan Meatballs so they have that crunchy texture. They can be found right next to the regular breadcrumbs at your grocery store.
I use this Calphalon 12-inch pan
for most of my one-pan dishes and it’s oven safe. If you don’t have an oven-safe skillet you can brown the meatballs and then transfer it to an oven safe baking dish.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN PARMESAN MEATBALLS
In a large bowl, mix together the chicken, egg, Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, garlic powder, Italian seasonings, salt, pepper, and red pepper. Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Roll half of the meatballs in Panko breadcrumbs and brown them on each side in the oil. Remove from the pan and set aside. Wipe out any Panko breadcrumbs and heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Roll the remaining meatballs in Panko breadcrumbs and brown on each side. Remove from pan.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour marinara sauce in the skillet and place the meatballs on top of the sauce. Bake meatballs for 20 minutes sprinkling the mozzarella on top for the last 5 minutes of baking. Garnish with basil and serve over pasta.
OTHER RECIPES:
- Chicken Pot Pie
- Chicken Parmesan Casserole
- Easy Baked Ziti
- Chicken Parmesan Roll Ups
- Pioneer Woman Meatloaf
- Oven Fried Chicken
- Italian Meatballs
Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
These Chicken Parmesan Meatballs are an Italian dinner that's ready in no time at all. Seasoned meatballs with Panko crumbs for that crunch you crave when you eat Chicken Parmesan. Serve these over noodles with garlic bread and a salad for a delicious dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs (and about 3/4 cup more breadcrumbs for rolling later)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasonings
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
- 1 (26 ounce) jar marinara sauce
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
- 2 tablespoons basil, torn (optional)
Instructions
In a large bowl, mix together the chicken, egg, Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, garlic powder, Italian seasonings, salt, pepper, and red pepper. Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Roll half of the meatballs in Panko breadcrumbs and brown them on each side in the oil. Add more oil if needed as you go. Remove from the pan and set aside. Wipe out any Panko breadcrumbs and heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Roll the remaining meatballs in Panko breadcrumbs and brown on each side. Remove from pan.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour marinara sauce in the oven-safe skillet (or any baking dish will do) and place the meatballs on top of the sauce. Bake meatballs for 20 minutes sprinkling the mozzarella on top for the last 5 minutes of baking. Garnish with basil and serve over pasta.
Recipe Notes
If you don't have an oven-safe skillet, brown meatballs in a skillet then transfer to an oven safe baking dish.
Sometimes bits of the Panko can fall off when browning and start too burn which is why we brown the meatballs in batches, wiping out the pan in between batches.
Hi Christy,
I need to make these meatballs the day before serving them. Would it work to roll them in the panko and fry them and then refrigerate the meatballs and the next day bake them in the sauce?
Thank you so much for your help!
Yes, that’s what I would do! My friend made them all the way to the end 3 days ahead of time and then just threw them in a slow cooker. They didn’t have that crisp but were still good.
This is our new family fav! It was SO easy! It usually takes me a few tries to perfect a new recipe…this one was perfect on the 1st try! We have a little guy who has to do Gluten Free, so I use GF Panko & made it a meal we could all have!
Awesome to know that gluten free panko can be used.
Thanks for your recipe and well-written instructions. So easy to follow. My 10-year old son has found his passion in cooking, so we are trying new recipes together. We made this one last night. He even urged our use of the crushed red pepper! This was our first time using Panko (let alone ground chicken). Loved the crunch. Most time-consuming part for us was browning the meatballs. The sides were easy to sear, but getting the edges to brown (without the meatball falling over) was tricky. We probably didn’t need to strive for perfection, but we really wanted to achieve that lovely, uniform browning. Ultimately we did through persistence and adding more oil, per your suggestion, as we went. Glad you lived to tell about the tornado and share this recipe with us!
Kerry,
That makes me so happy to hear you cooked with your son! Yes, it can be a little time intensive to sear them all but it’s worth it.
Was recommended this recipe by a good friend. I wasn’t disappointed. I left out the chili flakes but otherwise followed the recipe as written. I served it with fresh pasta. Was enough for 3 adults and 1 child plus I had leftovers for lunch the next day. Will definitely make this again. Was the first time I have ever used Panko (where have these been my whole life?). Thank you for the great recipe!
You’re welcome!
So good..whole family loved it. I didn’t put red pepper flakes in it
This recipe is delicious
Thank yoU!
I made these for dinner tonight and they were delicious! Thanks so much for a great recipe.
You’re welcome!
Awesome recipe Christy! Thank you for sharing with us. My family LOVED these tonight! We all went back for seconds! This will definitely be in our top 5 rotation!
Awesome to hear that Ashley!
Tried these last night and they were a big hit. The only thing I did differently was cut down a little bit on the red pepper flakes for personal taste and I didn’t have quite enough panko breadcrumbs so I had to mix a little bit of regular Italian breadcrumbs in with the panko. I served the meatballs over linguni noodles with extra marinara.
Sounds delicious! Glad you liked them.
Could I use Ground Turkey?
Sure!
This was absolutely delicious!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes!
Thank you Kelly!
I’m an armature cook and these turned out delicious!
Yes!! You’re definitely not an amateur then! Glad you liked them.
I very rarely leave comments on recipes, but I just had to say that as with all of your recipes (and I’ve made a LOT of them), this one is absolutely amazing. I made it exactly as written, and it turned out perfectly. Thank you for always explaining everything in detail, it’s one of the many reasons why I love your website! PS – I really enjoyed the story, and love that you share your life with us. Thanks for being my go-to for anything food related!
Kaylee,
Oh my gosh you’re going to make me cry. That’s the nicest thing you could have said to me. I’ve been really uninspired lately wondering why I even do this blog and needed to hear that.
Love these! I’ve made them twice now. I served them over zoodles! THanks!
Thank you! Great idea to serve them over zoodles!
Your recipe isn’t very clear. It says to mix everything including bread crumbs in the mixture at the beginning but later says to save half and roll the outsides… so I used the breadcrumbs in the meatball mixture and have no coating.
The ingredient lists breadcrumbs and then says in the notes more for rolling. Sorry if it wasn’t clear to you.
I rarely ever leave comments but I had to take a minute to do so because these might just be the best meatballs ever!! Thank you for a great recipe!
The best comment ever. Thank you!
Have you tried freezing these after they’re baked? I’m wondering if the panko on the outside would get mushy from the moisture. Making them tonight! 😊
Thanks!!
I have not tried freezing them but I think you have a valid point.
One of our favorite meals we’ve had in a long time!
Thank you!
I made these. They are delicious! Daughter said “this is the best recipe you’ve ever made”! I doubled the amount of parm cheese that went into the meatballs, and I used Prego Farmers’ Market classic marinara sauce.
So glad you liked it!