Baked Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

Baked chicken parmesan meatballs makes for the perfect make ahead meal. The best thing about these cheesy chicken parmesan meatballs is that they can be paired in a variety of ways. More on that below, but first if you love prepping meatballs, try these Asian meatballs or these spinach and turkey meatballs. 

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ARE THESE CHICKEN MEATBALLS HEALTHY

I love making these baked chicken parmesan meatballs because they are the perfect alternative to its breaded chicken counterpart. One chicken parm dinner portion without the pasta still comes in at 641 calories and 48% fat. This healthier take is not only much easier to make but 1 serving is approx. 2 30 calories and 20g of fat. Much more palatable to incorporate into a healthy everyday diet.

WHAT DOES BAKED CHICKEN PARMESAN MEATBALLS TASTE LIKE

With the base flavor notes being basil mixed with crushed red pepper, these cheesy chicken meatballs have the perfect sweet and spicy mix. I love the taste and aroma of basil as it has a slightly sweet smell mixed with a fresh floral scent. Combined with black pepper, Italian seasoning and salt, the combination of flavors are the perfect compliment to one another making this dish sing. 

WHAT INGREDIENTS DO I NEED TO MAKE THESE MEATBALLS

As you know, I try to cook with simple ingredients that you’re most likely to have on hand and that you can use across different recipes. 

Here are the base ingredients of what you’ll need for the meatballs

• Lean ground chicken
• Onions
• Garlic
• Tomato Paste
• Breadcrumbs
• Parmesan cheese (low fat)
• Italian seasoning
• Crushed Red pepper
• Lightly Dried Basil 

How to Make Baked Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

The full recipe instructions can be found further down for in this post!

First pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. While your oven is pre-heating, mix all of your ingredients for your chicken meatballs in a large bowl. Once the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, roll the chicken mixture into 1.5 – 2 inch balls.

For added flavor, I like to pan fry my meatballs on all sides in a cast iron skillet to give them a bit of a crust. You can skip this step if you like, however it does deepen the flavor of these healthy chicken meatballs.

Once all of your meatballs are pan fried, return all of them to the cast iron skillet and top with your sauce ingredients along with your additional cheese.

Lastly, place the skillet in the pre-heated oven and finish baking for an additional 15 – 20 minutes. The sauce should be nice and bubbly and the cheese should be slightly browned. You can opt to use dried basil or parsley to give it that final touch.

HOW TO SERVE CHEESY CHICKEN MEATBALLS

I promised to tell you a variety of ways you can choose to serve these meatballs. First, you can serve with the traditional side of pasta. 100% whole wheat pasta or even chickpea or lentil pasta will give you added nutrients than regular white pasta.

Second, who can’t resist a meatball sub sandwich? I know I can’t, and these baked parmesan chicken meatballs make the perfect meatball sub. Pull out your favorite whole grain sub bread and lightly toast the bun and add a sprinkle of garlic powder. Add your meatballs and sauce and you have a hearty meal on the go.

Lastly, for a lower carb option, you can choose to pair these meatballs with a simple greek salad. Load the salad up with your toppings of choice, add some Italian or Balsamic dressing and dinner is served.