Chicken Piccata Meatballs
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These chicken piccata meatballs are a fun twist on a classic—golden and crisp on the outside, tender inside, with a silky lemon-butter sauce and briny capers. Perfect over pasta or rice.
If you love classic chicken piccata, these chicken piccata meatballs hit all those same bright, briny notes—but in a way that feels a little more fun. I mean, who doesn’t love meatballs? Instead of pan-frying cutlets, you get tender, juicy meatballs with a lightly crisp coating. They’re quick to mix, easy to cook, and perfect for serving over pasta or rice to soak up every last bit of the sauce.
The flavor is pure piccata—fresh lemon juice, a silky, buttery pan sauce, and plenty of capers—but the meatballs make it feel more relaxed and family-friendly. Even young kids tend to like them (and you can always skip the sauce if they prefer things plain).
“One word…fabulous.”
What You’ll Need To Make Chicken Piccata Meatballs
- For the Meatballs: egg, parsley, shallots, capers, garlic, milk, salt and pepper, ground chicken (preferably not extra-lean all breast meat), pecorino Romano (or Parmigiano Reggiano), seasoned breadcrumbs, and olive oil
- For the Sauce: chicken broth, unsalted butter, lemon juice, capers, and Italian parsley
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Make and shape the meatballs. In a large bowl, mix the egg, parsley, shallot, capers, garlic, milk, salt, and pepper with a fork. Add the ground chicken, cheese, and 6 tablespoons breadcrumbs and gently mix with your hand until combined (the mixture will be a bit wet). Place the remaining breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl. With wet hands, form 12 meatballs (about 2 inches each), roll in the breadcrumbs to coat, and set on a plate.
Step 2: Brown and roast. Heat the oil in a large oven-safe nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the meatballs and cook, turning occasionally, until lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast, turning halfway through, until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Place an oven mitt over the handle as a reminder it’s hot, then transfer the meatballs to a platter or plates (cover loosely with foil to keep warm, if desired).
Pro Tip: Don’t worry if the meatballs flatten slightly as they sit or cook—the mixture is intentionally a bit wet for tenderness, so a little spreading is completely normal.
Step 3: Make the pan sauce. Set the skillet over medium-high heat and add the broth. Bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits, and cook until slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the butter, lemon juice, capers, and parsley until combined.
Pro Tip: Taste before serving—the saltiness of the sauce can vary depending on your broth and capers, so feel free to add a pinch of salt or a squeeze of lemon at the end, if desired.
Step 4. Serve. Spoon the sauce over the meatballs and serve warm with noodles or rice.
Video Tutorial
More Easy Italian Recipes You’ll Love
Chicken Piccata Meatballs
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot, from 1 shallot
- 1 tablespoon capers, drained and rinsed, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ cup milk (any kind)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lb ground chicken (preferably not extra-lean all breast meat)
- ½ cup grated pecorino Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- 6 tablespoons + ½ cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, divided
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, for cooking
For the Sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and set a rack in the middle position.
- In a large bowl, combine the egg, parsley, shallot, capers, garlic, milk, salt, and pepper. Mix well with a fork. Add the ground chicken, grated cheese, and 6 tablespoons (53 g) of the breadcrumbs. Use your hand to mix the ingredients together; it will be somewhat wet.
- Place the remaining ½ cup (70 g) breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl. Using wet hands, form 12 medium-sized meatballs (about 2 in/5 cm in diameter), rolling each one in the breadcrumbs to coat, then place on a plate.
- In a large oven-safe nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the meatballs and cook, turning occasionally, until lightly golden all over (they will continue to brown in the oven), about 5 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast, turning the meatballs halfway through, until tender and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Immediately place an oven mitt over the handle of the skillet to remind yourself that it’s hot (it’s very easy to forget and burn yourself).
- Place the meatballs on a platter or divide among 4 plates (cover with foil, if you like).
- Place the skillet over medium-high heat and add the broth. Bring to a boil, stirring to lift any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Cook until slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the butter, lemon juice, capers, and parsley until well combined. Spoon the pan sauce over the meatballs. Serve warm with noodles or rice.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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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I made these Chicken Piccata Meatballs tonight for dinner. They were delicious! 8.5 rating from my husband and son. I served them with thin spaghetti and roasted carrots. I doubled the recipe to have leftovers. Otherwise, I did not modify the recipe. It was a bit of work but so is chicken picatta. Will definitely make again. I may attempt to make the meatballs a little smaller and serve them in the sauce as an appetizer. We’ll see 🙂
Side note – I make many of Jenn’s recipes and they do get rave reviews !!!
When I opened my email this morning and saw the photo of the chicken piccata meatballs I knew what was going to be on the menu for tonight. It was delicious! Next time I will make more sauce since we all loved it. Start to finish it was an hour to prepare but I always take longer to make your recipes than you say it will! Thank you for another happy night for our family.
Made these for dinner tonight and my husband said they were “outstanding”!
I didn’t have capers so had to leave them out. I love all your recipes. Ty
I had planned on making your Chicken Piccata Meatballs this weekend, but mistakenly bought ground turkey today. What do you think? Not sure if I should save that turkey for something heartier, like chili, or whether it’ll be fine for the meatballs.
Hi Janice, it’s fine to use ground turkey here, assuming it’s not the very low-fat version. Hope you enjoy!
Okay…I admit I was wrong to avoid ground chicken/turkey recipes for decades, because I thought they’d be dry and bland. Not so!! Your meatball recipe yielded tender, tasty meatballs that paired so well with the lemon-caper sauce. I did find the sauce on the thin side, so I may reduce it further next time around (because there WILL be a next time). This recipe definitely deserves 5 stars. I will never overlook ground chicken/turkey recipes again. Thanks, Jen.
I LOVE all your recipes and can’t wait to try this tonight! Can I omit the capers? Favorites are your Peruvian chicken and baked ziti!
Hi Monica, It’s fine to omit the capers. Enjoy!
What type of pan are you using? Directions say non-stick but your pan doesn’t look like any nonstick pans I’ve seen—curious what type of pan you are using?
Hi Beth, My photographer used a stainless steel pan, which does work, but I prefer nonstick here just to be on the safe side.
Thank you for a recipe we’ll make very soon. We LOVE your Chicken Piccata recipe, and so did our guests who cleared their plates and wanted more. (We had doubled the recipe thankfully.) Now, I have a 6-pound chub of ground pork, some of which I used in your excellent “egg rolls in a bowl”. Do you think ground pork could work with this recipe, replacing the ground chicken, please? Thank you!
Hi Connie, I do think pork will work well. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it. 🙂
I thank you again for your kind reply with the exact answer I hoped to get. You are always a star in this house … and in a few others that I’ve recommended you to. 🥰
💕
Could you cook these in the air fryer?
Hi Serena, I don’t own an air fryer, so, unfortunately, I can’t tell you confidently whether this would work in one. But if you were to use an air fryer, you wouldn’t get the pan drippings, which help to create flavor in the sauce.
Seems like a pain to make the meatballs. Can you make with just the ground chicken without rolling into a meatball? Like a sloppy joe piccata?
Hi Sharon, I don’t think that will work – sorry!
Can I bake the meatballs instead of frying them?
Hi Ilene, Technically, you could, but it won’t give you that crispy coating, which is what makes it similar to chicken piccata. You could skip the breading, but that’s part of what makes the meatballs so good.