Chicken Meatballs with Honey Garlic Sauce
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Ready in 30 minutes, everyone loves the sweet and spicy glaze!
Chicken meatballs are easy to prepare and make a delicious appetizer or main dish. Mix up a batch for game day or a quick weeknight dinner!
With just a handful of ingredients, these family-friendly baked chicken meatballs are bursting with flavor. Not only that, they’re especially versatile — serve them as a hot appetizer, over rice or noodles, or freeze them for easy meal prep later.
As a bonus, they’re lower carb and healthier than fried meatballs — so what’s not to love?!
Looking for more tasty recipes that use ground chicken? These quick and easy chicken egg roll bowls with fresh ginger are another yummy low carb option. Or, you may enjoy these ground chicken taco bowls or chicken burgers with zesty chiptole mayo.
Key ingredients & substitutions for chicken meatballs
- Ground chicken — A lean protein, ground chicken has a milder flavor than other meats, and cooks up quickly. Avoid the 98% fat free meat — you want some fat so that the meatballs are moist and tender.
- Panko breadcrumbs — Panko breadcrumbs are large, airy flakes made from crustless bread. You may substitute regular breadcrumbs for panko, but there will be a slight variation in texture.
- Eggs — Eggs act as the binder for the meatballs, but don’t particularly add moisture. Some meatball recipes add a bit of milk or broth to give moisture, but it’s not necessary in this recipe using ground chicken.
- Spices — Add a combination of onion powder, garlic powder, and oregano to flavor the meatballs. For a bit of heat, toss in a pinch or two of red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper.
- Honey — Personally, I love the combination of honey and garlic in this sauce, but you may substitute brown sugar or maple syrup in a pinch.
- Sriracha hot sauce — Use Sriracha hot chili pepper sauce, or any other hot sauce, to give the honey garlic sauce a little zing. Adjust the amount to your preference.
tip
- Make your own panko breadcrumbs — Place white bread in a food processor and pulse until you have coarse crumbs. Spread the crumbs on a baking sheet and cook in a 300-degree oven for 6 to 8 minutes, until dry but not toasted.
How to make Chicken Meatballs with Honey Garlic Sauce?
STEP 1 | Form the meatballs
In a large mixing bowl, gently combine the ground chicken, eggs, panko bread crumbs, and spices just until all the ingredients are incorporated. The best tool for this work is your hands, but you may use a rubber spatula as well.
Use a small scoop to evenly divide out the meat mixture, then roll between your palms into 2-inch balls. Lightly oil or wet your hands to keep the mixture from sticking. Bake the meatballs on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
STEP 2 | Simmer the sauce
While the meatballs are baking, boil the honey, Sriracha, soy sauce, and garlic over medium heat to dissolve the honey. Reduce the heat and simmer until the mixture is slightly thickened. If you want more sauce for dipping, double the ingredients and save the extra.
STEP 3 | Glaze the meatballs
At the end of baking, baste the meatballs with the honey garlic sauce. Bake for another 1 to 2 minutes until the meatballs are glazed. You may wish to turn on the broiler to caramelize the glaze, but be sure to watch carefully so that they do not burn.
tip
- The United States Department of Agriculture recommends cooking all poultry to an internal temperature of 165°F to kill bacteria. The most accurate way to measure the internal temperature of cooked chicken is with an instant read thermometer.
Frequently asked questions
The sure fire way to know when chicken meatballs are done is with an instant read thermometer. You want them to cook until they register 165 degrees.
Absolutely! These meatballs freeze well before or after cooking. To freeze cooked meatballs, cool completely then arrange in a single layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer until they are solid, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
To freeze uncooked meatballs, form the meat mixture into balls and arrange in a single layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer until they are solid, then transfer to freezer bags. Thaw the meatballs in the refrigerator overnight before cooking.
Place the frozen meatballs on a baking sheet and reheat for 10 to 12 minutes at 475 degrees, until warm in the center.
Serving suggestions
- Hot appetizers. Perfect for game day, keep chicken meatballs warm in a slow cooker and make a double batch of the honey garlic sauce for dipping.
- Easy dinner. Serve chicken meatballs alongside this easy vegetable rice and asparagus or steamed broccoli for a completely delicious meal.
- Meatball subs. Use a spoon to scoop out hoagie buns to make a “boat” for the meatballs. Brush the buns with olive oil and toast in a 375-degree oven for about 5 minutes. Layer mozzarella cheese on the buns and return to the oven another 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Spoon meatballs into each boat and serve.
Chicken Meatballs with Honey Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. ground chicken
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
Honey Garlic Sauce
- ½ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons Sriracha hot sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic minced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.Add the ground chicken, eggs, panko breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and other spices to a large bowl. Mix gently with a rubber spatula or your hands to combine.
- Form the mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls and place on parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
- While the chicken is baking, in a small saucepan bring the honey, Sriracha, soy sauce, and garlic to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the honey.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally until the mixture is slightly thickened. Remove from the heat.
- Baste the meatballs with the sauce and return to the oven for another 1 to 2 minutes to glaze. Serve immediately.
Notes
- If desired, place cooked meatballs under the broiler, watching carefully, for a couple of minutes to caramelize the glaze.
- For more or less heat, adjust the amount of Sriracha sauce.
- If you’d like more sauce for dipping, double the sauce ingredients.
- Meatballs may be frozen for up to 3 months.
- To freeze cooked meatballs, cool completely then arrange in a single layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer until they are solid, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. To reheat, place the frozen meatballs on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 475 degrees, until warm in the center.
- To freeze uncooked meatballs, form the meat mixture into balls and arrange in a single layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Place in the freezer until they are solid, then transfer to freezer bags. Thaw the meatballs in the refrigerator overnight before cooking.
Nutrition
Life Love and Good Food does not claim to be a registered dietician or nutritionist. Nutritional information shared on this site is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
About Sheila Thigpen
Recipe Developer, Food Photographer, Food Writer
Sheila Thigpen is the publisher of Life, Love, and Good Food — a Southern food blog — and the author of Easy Chicken Cookbook and The 5-Ingredient Fresh and Easy Cookbook. After 20+ years in the publishing industry, she retired in 2018 to focus on her own creative endeavors full time. She and her husband live near the beautiful Smoky Mountains and have a precious little granddaughter who has stolen their hearts. As an influencer, Sheila has collaborated with brands like Creamette, Kroger, HERSHEY’S, Hamilton Beach, Garafalo Pasta, OXO, Smithfield, Valley Fig Growers, and more.
The honey garlic sauce is so tasty and my favorite part of this dish! Great recipe!
This combination of sweet and savory is just SO good and perfect for a weeknight meal. We made these recently, and my kids loved them. (So did I!)
These meatballs are amazing! I made them for a family get-together and loved having a few left over for lunch the next day.
These were DEVOURED at our football watch party this past weekend! Thanks for another winning recipe!
I made a double batch and froze the rest, they were so tender and I loved the honey with the garlic. Reheating the rest for the Super Bowl!
These were a hit at my football watching party. Everyone loved them and asked for the recipe. I sent them your way.