Chicken Sausage Meatballs
Meatballs are just fun to eat. They’re a hit at parties and gatherings, and there is a plethora of options for flavors and sauces. My Chicken Sausage Meatballs are super-simple to throw together. There’s some room for adjusting flavors and even an added ingredient to help them maintain moisture.
My husband LOVES these meatballs. We will eat them as they are, warm from the oven, but they are good served with sauces and dips, also. Some of our favorites are BWW’s sauces… Mango Habanero, Asian Zing, and Medium Buffalo Sauce. Ranch dressing is a classic dip here, too. You can try my recipe for Ranch Dressing, if you’d like something that tastes fresher than bottled dressing.
There is no certainty of the history of the meatball, but there is some belief that the meatball may have originated in Persia with a dish called Kofta, a ground meat mixture containing one or more ground meats plus bulgur, rice or mashed lentils. I know, we often think of them originating in Italy, but that doesn’t sound like the case here.
Let me say, the chicken sausage listed in the ingredients is NOT breakfast-style sausage, but an Italian style, probably found packaged in links. For this recipe, you’ll need to remove the sausage from the casings and crumble the sausage into the bowl with the other ingredients. Discard the casings.
Also, if you choose to add extra spices or spice blends that have sodium, the nutrition label will no longer be accurate. The nutrition label below the recipe is according to my ingredient list. If you are needing accuracy, feel free to calculate for the ingredients you have added. There are free versions of nutrition calculators online to help you if needed.
Chicken Sausage Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 pound chicken sausage, see Notes
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs, or regular bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, hot or mild
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, see Notes
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced or grated on a microplane
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/2 onion, grated
"Add-ins"
- Chili powders
- Mrs. Dash
- Trader Joe's seasonings
- Green onions, finely sliced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Line a large baking sheet with foil for easy clean-up. Spray the foil with a non-stick spry such as Pam.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all the listed ingredients and any extra add-ins you would like. Mix gently, but thoroughly.
- Form the mixture into evenly shaped balls approximately 1 1/2" in diameter and place them on the baking sheet about an inch apart. You can use a cookie scoop/disher to make the uniform balls easier to form.
- Bake the meatballs for about 20 minutes, or until a probe thermometer reads the internal temperature of 165 degrees.
- Remove the pan from the oven and cool for about 5 minutes.
- Serve warm.
- Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
These were really good! I was surprised they stayed moist for a few days 🙂
I enjoyed making these and eating them!