Chicken Meatballs, Italian Style
Updated May 1, 2024
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 60 minutes
- Cook Time
- 10 to 15 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
1 pound boneless chicken thighs, cut into one- to two-inch chunks and frozen for about a half-hour
1 small chunk (about one ounce) not-too-hard Parmesan cheese
¼ cup fresh parsley leaves
1 small onion or ½ medium onion, cut into chunks
1 egg
Salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
All-purpose flour for dredging
Lemon wedges
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
2 grams carbs; 78 milligrams cholesterol; 184 calories; 7 grams monosaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 14 grams fat; 189 milligrams sodium; 12 grams protein
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Put chicken in freezer while you prepare other ingredients. Put Parmesan, parsley and onion in a food processor and process until everything is finely chopped. Add egg, chicken and a good sprinkle of salt and pepper, and continue to pulse until the chicken is coarsely ground — finer than chopped, but not much. Shape into one-inch meatballs, pressing no more than necessary.
- Step 2
Put the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. One by one, dredge the meatballs in the flour and add to the oil. Cook, turning as necessary, until nicely browned all over, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature, with lemon wedges.
Private Notes
Comments
Tasty and easy. I used ground chicken instead of thighs to make it even easier. Served over marinara sauce.
I used chicken breasts and added seasoned breadcrumbs, garlic and basis to the mix. After lightly frying them, I put them in a dutch oven with homemade tomato sauce and cooked them on low heat for an hour. DELICIOUS!
These were the easiest and tastiest meatballs I've ever made! I made a double batch - used them as lunch box finger food for my family. My four year old came home from day camp exclaiming, "MAMA! I LOVED my lunch!" I'm sure they're great with sauce but they certainly don't need any.
i used pre-ground chicken (NOT the 98/99% fat free kind) and added 3 cloves of garlic to the onion and parm mix. did not have parsley on hand but didn’t miss it when substituting with italian seasoning and oregano (dried - maybe 2-3 tsp each?). eyeballed some breadcrumbs once in the mix. don’t skip the dredging, as i almost did. worth it. browned in a dutch oven and finished cooking in sauce. incredible. delicious. comes together faster than you think it will.
Made this with a mixture of basil and parsley. Don’t be shy with the salt! I had to salt at 3 steps. I used my medium sized meatball scooper. I air fried them for 12 minutes at 400F. I probably could have gotten away with 10 mins, maybe next time. Because I WILL make these again!! You could change to cilantro to make them Asian. Or even Mex, maybe with a bit of cumin. I also did not flour them.
too many onions and not enough flavor.