Make Ahead

Chicken Meatballs with Tomato-Balsamic Glaze

by:
August 12, 2010
5
3 Ratings
Chicken Meatballs with Tomato-Balsamic Glaze
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

Everyone seems to love these meatballs! They're made with ground chicken, which is a great alternative to ground beef and so much more satisfying than ground turkey. I've flavored them with a savory blend of garlic, fresh parsley, Pecorino Romano cheese, tomato paste and seasoned Italian bread crumbs. The tomato-balsamic glaze is the finishing touch; it's tangy and slightly sweet, and really dresses these meatballs up. You'll see these meatballs are light, elegant and bursting with great Italian flavor. And the best part is that they are incredibly easy to make! Serve them as you would meatloaf -- with buttered noodles and a vegetable





—Jennifer Segal

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • For the Meatballs
  • 1 large egg
  • 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound ground chicken (preferably not all breast meat)
  • 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons seasoned Italian bread crumbs
  • Tomato-Balsamic Glaze
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, combine egg, parsley, tomato paste, garlic, milk, salt and pepper. Mix well with a wire whisk, making sure the tomato paste is completely dissolved.
  3. Add ground chicken, grated cheese and breadcrumbs. Use your hand to mix ingredients together. Mixture will be somewhat wet. Form medium size balls (I think it's easiest to use a 3-tablespoon ice cream scooper with a wire scraper) and place onto ungreased baking sheet or very large baking dish.
  4. Make the glaze by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl, then brush over meatballs. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of a meatball registers 160 degrees. Remove from oven and serve.
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Jennifer Segal
Jenn Segal is the founder of Once Upon a Chef, the popular blog showcasing easy, family-friendly recipes from a chef's point of view. Her recipes have been featured on numerous websites, magazines, and television programs, including The Huffington Post, WJLA's Good Morning Washington, and Parade.com. Before starting her blog, Jenn cooked at the acclaimed L'Auberge Chez Francois and was director of marketing for a prominent restaurant group, both in the Washington D.C. metro area. She now lives in Potomac, Maryland, with her husband and two children.

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5 Reviews

ann H.
ann H. June 2, 2020
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I made it for the first time tonight, and my family loved it.
I asked my husband what made them so good, and he said that the cheese makes it so rich that he would have thought they were veal meatballs if I hadn’t told him they were chicken.
That’s excellent news, because my husband would like to eat a slab of meat at every meal, and that’s why I was searching for a recipe that would be satisfying and yet somewhat healthy.
This will definitely be on a regular rotation in our home.
 
Judi
Judi March 10, 2020
forgot to give it the rating!
 
Judi
Judi March 10, 2020
Made these tonight and DELICIOUS. Doubled the batch so I can have some in the freezer. This will be a family fave. Thanks!!
 
amy S.
amy S. January 17, 2020
I can't believe there are so few reviews of this recipe. I absolutely love this and it's one of the favorites in rotation in our household. Delicious!!!
 
Michelle M.
Michelle M. November 27, 2012
I made these tonight and they were fantastic. I used all chicken breast and used Pablo instead of bread crumbs. They were moist and very flavorful! Great recipe!