Easy Italian Chicken Meatballs Recipe
You'll love these easy sheet-pan dinner with Italian baked chicken meatballs, tomatoes and onions. Loads of flavor in the meatball mixture from fresh herbs and spices to a bit of grated Parmesan. A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to keep the meatballs nice and juicy!
Servings: 20 meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 large red onion cut into wedges
- 6 to 7 to Tomatoes Roma or tomatoes on the vine, quartered or cut into wedges
- 3 tsp fresh thyme leaves divided
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil I used this Private Reserve olive oil
- Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 lb ground chicken or ground turkey, if you like
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 raw egg beaten
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup plain bread crumbs see notes for gluten free option
- 2 tsp dry oregano
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- black pepper
- 1 cup fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. And lightly brush a large sheet pan with extra virgin olive oil.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the sliced onions and tomatoes. Sprinkle with kosher salt and about 1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme (leave the rest of the thyme for later). Drizzle a bit of extra virgin olive oil and toss to combine. Transfer to the prepared sheet-pan and spread well.
- In the same mixing bowl, now prepare the chicken meatball mixture. Add ground chicken, garlic, egg, remaining 1 1/2 tsp thyme, Parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs. Add oregano, paprika, pinch of salt and black pepper, and 1 cup fresh chopped parsley. Drizzle a bit of extra virgin olive oil. Using clean hands (remove any rings, of course), mix well until the chicken meatball mixture is well-combined.
- Form the mixture into small chicken meatballs about 1 1/2 tbsp each (whatever size you choose, stick to it for even cooking.) Arrange the chicken meatballs on the same sheet pan with the tomatoes and onions (nestle them in between the veggies, making sure not to crowd the meatballs.)
- Bake for 30 minutes or so, or until meatballs begin to turn a beautiful golden brown and the tomatoes collapse. (If after they've baked, you'd like a little more "crust" or color to your meatballs, you can remove them from the oven briefly and brush the meatballs with extra virgin olive oil. Turn oven heat up to 450 degrees F and return the meatballs to the oven for 5 more minutes or so, watch carefully.)
Video
Notes
- Cook's Tips for Serving: You can serve these beautiful meatballs on top of your favorite grain or plain orzo pasta. If you'd like to turn it into a big chicken meatball and spaghetti dinner, cook spaghetti according to package and drain. Place warm spaghetti in a large serving bowl and add a generous drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil and some freshly-grated Parmesan cheese. Toss to combine. Add the baked chicken meatballs with onions and tomatoes on top, and mix again to combine. Enjoy!
- Cook's Tip for Gluten Free Chicken Meatballs: You can obviously blitz a piece of gluten free bread in a food processor to make GF bread crumbs. A friend of mine who specializes in gluten free cooking mentioned cornmeal. She found that it made lean chicken and turkey meatballs surprisingly tender and flavorful. You can try just 1/4 cup of cornmeal in this recipe.
- Leftovers? Store cooled leftover chicken meatballs with tomatoes and onions in tight-lid containers. Refrigerate for up to 4 days. Warm over medium heat, tossing as needed (adding a little liquid to your heating pan will help.)
- Visit our Shop to browse our collection of excellent extra virgin olive oils and all-natural and organic spices.
Nutrition
Calories: 79.4kcal | Carbohydrates: 4.1g | Protein: 7.9g | Fat: 3.9g | Saturated Fat: 1.3g | Cholesterol: 39.6mg | Sodium: 75.3mg | Potassium: 300.2mg | Fiber: 0.9g | Sugar: 1.3g | Vitamin A: 627.3IU | Vitamin C: 10.1mg | Calcium: 44.1mg | Iron: 0.9mg
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