Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

I love meatballs (as you can see from all of the meatball recipes on my site!). I like a cozy dish that you can make ahead and then pop in the oven when you are ready for dinner.

I served mine with some spaghetti tossed with a little pesto, but I think they would be great in a roll as chicken parmesan meatball subs! You could also do a mini version and pop in a skewer for a fun appetizer with marinara on the side for dipping.

Finish with some fresh basil and extra parm.

Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

Serves 6

Ingredients

For the Meatballs:

• 2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs

• 1/3 cup whole milk or half & half

• 1/2 cup Italian parsley (no need to measure this precisely…just use about one small bunch)

• 1 cup loosley packed basil leaves

• 3 garlic cloves

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese

• 1 1/2 tsp salt

• fresh ground pepper to taste

• 2 lbs ground chicken

• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

• olive oil

Remaining Ingredients:

1. 4 cups marinara sauce (home made or store bought)

2. 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

3. ½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions

To make the meatballs:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the panko breadcrumbs and milk with a fork until all of the milk is absorbed into the breadcrumbs.

2. In a small food processor (this can also be done by hand), process the basil, parsley, and garlic until finely chopped and add to the breadcrumbs. Add the oregano, 1 cup parmesan, salt and pepper and mix well until everything is combined. Add the chicken and beaten eggs and mix well with your hands being careful not to compact the meat or over mix.

3. Line a large baking sheet with foil for easy clean up and coat with a drizzle of olive oil. Form the meat mixture into meatballs (I make mine a little bigger than a golf ball) and place on the baking sheet.  You should end up with around 14 good size meatballs. Brush or spray a light coating of olive oil on the meatballs

4. Put your oven rack close to the top and turn on your broiler to high. Broil the meatballs, turning them a couple times to brown them on all sides. This should take around 8 minutes. You just want a nice golden crust on as much of the surface as you can get. You don’t want to fully cook them. Don't walk away from the oven during this step because they can burn quickly.

5. Alternatively, skip the browning under the broiler and brown in an oven proof pan in olive oil in 2 batches. Remove them from the pan and wipe out excess oil then proceed with assembly steps below.

To assemble the Meatball Parmesan:

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.

1. Pour 2 cups of your marinara sauce into the bottom of a large, oven proof pan or baking dish. Arrange your browned meatballs in the sauce and top with the remaining 2 cups of sauce. Top with the mozzarella and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese.

2. Cover with a lid or foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 5-10 more minutes until cheese is bubbly.

3. Top with some fresh basil and extra parmesan cheese if desired.

Serve with pasta and crusty bread!

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