Chicken Meatballs with Tomato-Balsamic Glaze
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These baked chicken meatballs make a quick, easy, and kid-friendly supper.
If you’re looking for an alternative to saucy, rich beef meatballs, these light and elegant chicken meatballs fit the bill. I love them with mashed potatoes, puréed cauliflower, 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.
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.
How to make chicken meatballs with tomato-balsamic glaze
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
These baked chicken meatballs make a quick, easy, and kid-friendly 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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A family member doesn’t like new foods, so he spent the day grunting and complaining when I was making the meatballs…to appease him, I used the Balsamic sauce on half of the meatballs and spaghetti sauce on the other half.
I made the recipe exactly as printed,,,and turns out he loved them…and I loved them…and…they (with the spaghetti sauce) were also accepted by a fussy 2 years old. So this recipe is a “keeper” and I’m happy I tried it.
I also liked that the meatballs were baked and not fried.
This is my family’s favorite meatball. I have made so many of your recipes and they are always delicious and the instructions spot on. Thank you!
Theses are easy and to die for
I made these just as the recipe called and they were delicious. I also made them with ground turkey and they were good, but the chicken has a better taste. As usual! Love all of your recipes…I feel like your groupie I am so excited about your site. I tell everyone I know, and no one leaves my house without asking for the recipes which I gladly share. Thank you. Keep them coming. I especially appreciate the freeze tips and make ahead tips.
💗
Is store bought already grated parmesan cheese okay (the refrigerated kind)?
Hi Theresa, Pecorino Romano has a slightly stronger flavor, but the grated parm will work. Hope you enjoy!
Hi! These meatballs are great, especially with the kids! Just wondering if they can be made in the crockpot for a party?
So glad you and the kids like them! I don’t have a slow cooker so I can’t say for sure, but I think it would work. Please LMK how they come out if you try it!
Hi Jenn! If making these the night before–what would be the best way to reheat and serve to company? I’m not a microwave person, so would love your thoughts and if this would even be smart to do with these given the glaze, etc. vs. sitting in sauce like more traditional meatballs. As always, thanks for your expert advice and hard work.
Hi Diane, I think you can get away with it. I’d reheat them, covered, in a 325-degree oven until heated through. Enjoy!
These were great! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
This was very tasty! The glaze is important and gives it nice flavor. I made fettucine with a light alfredo sauce, sprinkled on top diced roma tomatoes seasoned with Italian Seasonings, put the meatballs on top, added some toasted pine nuts. The combo with the tomatoes made a beautiful plating and the entire dish was good! Used 85% ground turkey, so it had dark meat in it.
Thanks Jenn!
I made a triple recipe of these for a family dinner to go with a baked tomato-cheese strata in September. Everyone loved them, especially my younger grandsons. I’ve already made them a second time for my grandsons!
Delicious! Made these last week and making a double batch today. You are going to want leftovers. I used ground turkey as that is all I had and they were really tasty and moist. Leftovers and a small salad was a perfect lunch.
Thanks Jenn for all the great recipes. I have loved every one!
I made these tonight. They were absolutely delicious! I used ground dark meat turkey instead of ground chicken. We loved them! I’ll definitely make them again!
My local grocery store only carries lean ground chicken. Is there anything I could incorporate (oil, butter, rendered animal fat) so the meatballs do not dry out?
Yes, you can add about a tablespoon of olive oil to the ground chicken to give it a little more fat/moisture. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
I made these meatballs for the first time today and they were delicious. I had 7 people for dinner and everyone loved them. They were quick and easy to make. I followed the recipe and made 15 meatballs. This is another great Once Upon A Chef recipe.
This recipe is a keeper! I made these meatballs last night and they will now become part of my endless list of rotating recipes! So so tasty especially with the glaze. This was the first time making chicken meatballs (actually I used a combination of ground turkey and chicken meat) and I doubled the recipe which I am glad I did because my husband and I now have wonderful leftovers. Instead of using Italian herb flavoured bread crumbs I used regular breadcrumbs then added an excellent blend of dried Italian herbs I have in my pantry. I also added fresh chopped basil which someone in in this comment section recommended, excellent added flavour. I prepared the meatball mix several hours in advance which probably allowed all the flavours to blend longer.
I look forward to making these for appetizers in the near future!
Thanks for this wonderful recipe.
Simple and sooo good!
Thank you!