Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
These buffalo chicken meatballs make the best party snack if you’re looking for something bite sized and less messy but just as flavorful as buffalo chicken wings. My secret to making these so good is adding olive oil and hot sauce into the meatball mixture and baking them until they are a nice golden color. They come out juicy and delicious even before adding the buffalo sauce.
I think these are so tasty right out of the oven, my favorite way to enjoy them is dry and just dipped in the buffalo sauce. But you can toss them in the sauce, drizzle the sauce over them, whatever makes you happy! However, I do recommend that you make your own buffalo sauce rather than using store bought. I’m the queen of shortcuts and this is one I wouldn’t take. Making the sauce takes only minutes and it is so much better than the pre-made stuff.
This recipe is for a milder sauce but if you are looking for more heat, just add red pepper flakes. I’d start with a 1/4 tsp and work your way up to the desired heat level.
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Prep time: 15 min | Cook time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: about 18 meatballs
Ingredients
Meatball Ingredients:
1 lb ground chicken
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (use gluten-free breadcrumbs if needed)
2 garlic cloves, grated
2 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
one green onion, white and green parts, chopped
1 Tbsp Frank’s RedHot sauce (not Frank’s Buffalo Wings Sauce)
Buffalo Sauce Ingredients:
1 stick of unsalted butter
3/4 cup of Frank’s RedHot sauce (not Frank’s Buffalo Wings sauce)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Equipment
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A small saucepan. We use one similar to this.
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Combine the meatball ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Use your hands to mix the ingredients together. Don’t over mix the meat or the meatballs will be a weird texture. (You can make this ahead of time, cover and keep in fridge. I mix it up the night before).
3. Using a medium cookie scoop portion meat into about 1.5” meatballs. I like to make these a little smaller than regular meatballs, so they are bite sized. Shape meatballs by rolling between the palms of your hands to form a meatball. Line them up on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until meatballs are golden, cooked through and temperature reads at least 165 degrees F.
4. While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the buffalo sauce. Melt one stick of butter over medium heat until melted. Remove from heat and add 3/4 cups of hot sauce and 1/2 tsp of garlic powder and whisk to combine.
5. When meatballs are done cooking, you can either toss them in the sauce or just drizzle a little over the top and serve with extra buffalo sauce for dipping. These meatballs are so good on their own, I prefer to keep them dry and just dip them in the wing sauce.
6. You can place these in a slow cooker to keep warm. If you are serving right away, just plate and serve with a side of the sauce, sliced celery and carrots and ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing.
