Italian Chicken Meatballs {Oven Roasted}
Italian chicken meatballs are an easy, budget-friendly meal prep recipe that turns 2 pounds of ground chicken into a generous batch you can use all week long. Bake them all at once, then divide the meatballs between quick pasta dinners, meatball subs, soups, bowls, and freezer meals for busy nights when getting dinner on the table needs to be easy.
As much as I love homemade chicken meatballs, it can be kind of a pain to make the meatball mix and shape them.
But these cheesy Italian chicken meatballs are so tender and delicious, they’re worth every ounce of effort.
So if you’re going to put the energy in, why not double the batch and have plenty left over for your fridge or freezer?
Baking them on sheet pans in the oven helps get golden brown meatballs in a lot less time with a lot less oil, as compared to browning them in a skillet on the stovetop.
You’ll be able to use these mild Italian meatballs in countless recipes for pastas, soups, rice bowls, sandwiches, and even for snacking straight out of the fridge.
Why This is the Best Recipe
- Made for Meal Prep: One batch makes about 70 small meatballs, giving you plenty to divide between several meals instead of cooking from scratch every night.
- Tender and Flavorful: Milk, eggs, olive oil, bread crumbs, two kinds of cheese, and plenty of seasonings keep lean ground chicken moist and full of flavor.
- Freezer-Friendly: Cook the whole batch at once and freeze what you won’t use right away for an easy homemade dinner shortcut later.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Ground Chicken: This keeps the whole dish nice and light. You can substitute ground turkey if you prefer.
- Eggs
- Milk: I used 2% milk. You could use whole milk but I do not recommend fat free.
- Olive Oil
- Panko Breadcrumbs: I love the texture these bring to the meatballs but you could use plain breadcrumbs if you have them on hand.
- Grated Parmesan Cheese: There’s no need to splurge on the fancy kind, I used the classic green canister.
- Grated Pecorino Romano Cheese: If you can find it near the grated parmesan, you can use that. I had to buy the fancier kind from the deli cheese department.
- Minced Garlic
- Fennel Seeds: If you have the time, I recommend gently crushing these before using in the recipe. It will help distribute the flavor among the meatballs more evenly.
- Dried Oregano
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- Salt & Pepper
Prepare the Meatball Mix
Start by mixing together the wet ingredients. Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl, then add the milk and olive oil. Whisk everything together until it is smooth and well combined.
Add the panko breadcrumbs, pecorino romano, parmesan, garlic, parsley, salt, black pepper, fennel seeds, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Stir everything together with a spatula until the ingredients are evenly mixed.
Add the ground chicken and then gently work it into the seasoned breadcrumb mixture.
Try not to overmix it. The less you handle the chicken, the more tender your finished meatballs will be.
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How to Shape the Meatballs
I used 2 soup spoons to lightly handle the meatball mixture. I keep this pack of soup spoons in my utensil drawer and I find I use them so much more frequently for cooking than we do eating actual soup!
I used one spoon to scoop the meat and leveled it off lightly against the side of the bowl.
Then I used the second spoon to scrape the chicken off the first spoon onto the baking pan, forming a rough ball shape as it comes off the spoon.
I patted the meatballs gently with the backs of the two spoons to clean up the round shape and tap in any pointy edges.
The chicken mixture is very wet and sticky, this helped keep things neat, made uniform sized meatballs, and kept the final baked texture tender and light since the meatballs aren’t compacted when shaped.
Cooking Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
I needed three rimmed sheet pans to fit all of my shaped meatballs, but my oven can only bake two sheet pans at a time. You may need to cook these in batches.
Bake the meatballs for 16 to 18 minutes, or until they are cooked through, the centers reach 165°F, and the meatballs are lightly golden brown.
Make Ahead Tips
If you are roasting the meatballs for meal prep, you can choose to store them in the fridge for up to 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When I made them, I planned to use them up within a few days from when I first baked them, so I simply stored them in a refrigerator dish.
If you plan to divide them up into multiple meals, it will be easier to store them in smaller packages for the freezer. That way, they don’t all stick together when you only need a few for your recipe tonight.
I think it’s best to thaw the frozen meatballs in the refrigerator overnight so that they don’t overcook in the reheating process.
However, in a pinch, you can warm them by placing them in a simmering sauce or right in the microwave.
Serving Suggestions
I prepared these meatballs so that I could add them to a stovetop Italian wedding soup but I doubled the batch so that I would have plenty left over for an easy dinner another night.
There are so many different ways you can use Italian chicken meatballs: use them as a protein on top of a pasta, simmer them in tomato sauce, tuck them into a meatball sub, or use them in place of my homemade romano chicken meatballs in this easy skillet dinner.
More Meatball Recipes
I love using meatballs as our main protein for family dinner. Here are a few more of my favorite recipes:
Italian Chicken Meatballs {Oven Roasted}
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 6 tablespoons grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 6 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 4 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds lightly crushed
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 pounds ground chicken
Instructions Start Cooking
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Add the milk and olive oil and whisk them together until smooth.2 large eggs, 1/4 cup milk, 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Add the breadcrumbs, both cheeses, garlic, dried seasonings, salt, and pepper to the bowl and stir everything together with a spatula until evenly mixed.1 cup Panko breadcrumbs, 6 tablespoons grated Pecorino Romano cheese, 6 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese, 4 teaspoons minced garlic, 1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
- Add the ground chicken to the mixing bowl and gently combine it with the seasoned mixture. Be careful to not over-handle the meat, just keep mixing until it is worked into the breadcrumbs.2 pounds ground chicken
- Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a small spoon to scoop the chicken mixture into about 1-inch ball shapes and drop them onto a baking sheet. You should get about 70 meatballs in total.
- Bake the meatballs for 16-18 minutes or until they are cooked through.
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About Tiffany
Tiffany is a home-cooking enthusiast, three-time cookbook author, and creator of the sites Peanut Blossom, Peanut Blossom Book Club, and Don’t Just Fly. She believes that family dinner can be manageable, fun, and — most importantly — tasty. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and two daughters and can often be found baking a loaf of bread with her beloved bread machine, reading a good book, or planning her family’s next adventure.