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These ground chicken meatballs are perfect if you’re looking for something delicious, easy, and quick for dinner. The dish requires a few simple ingredients and takes less than 30 minutes from prep to plate. Plus, this recipe substitutes low-carb almond flour for regular breadcrumbs, so you can guiltlessly treat your tastebuds.
Why Make This Ground Chicken Meatball Recipe
- Homemade option without breadcrumbs: Replace breadcrumbs with almond flour to make juicy keto chicken meatballs.
- Easy recipe: It’s an easy 4-step recipe requiring basic cooking skills. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, form the meatballs, and set the air fryer.
- Simple ingredients: This recipe uses a handful of simple kitchen ingredients you probably already have or can easily get at your local store.
- Make in the air fryer to save time: These meatballs will be in the air fryer for as little as 15 minutes.
Ingredients Needed
Here’s what you need to know about the ingredients in this recipe. Be sure to check out the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact amounts and full instructions.
- Ground chicken: I used 1 lb ground chicken dark meat (chicken thighs or chicken legs). This easy recipe works best with the highest fat content available.
- Almond flour: Blanched, superfine
- Egg
- Onion powder
- Sea salt: You can always salt this dish at the end of the cook time. But, I added the right amount of salt for my family to the ground chicken mixture.
- Garlic powder: I use dry spices to keep this simple, but you can use 3-4 minced fresh garlic cloves instead
- Dried parsley
- Black pepper
- Italian seasoning
- Grated parmesan: I get this fresh from the refrigerated section of the market
- Mayonnaise: I use this to keep the meatballs moist as they cook
- Marinara Sauce: You can use my homemade keto marinara sauce or your favorite marinara sauce from the grocery store. Be sure to warm it.
How To Make Ground Chicken Meatballs Without Breadcrumbs
- Add spices, mayo, egg, almond flour, and Parmesan cheese to a large mixing bowl. Whisk (or use a fork) to combine (it will look like a paste).
- Add the ground chicken to the bowl. Use a rubber spatula or hands with gloves to mix to combine.
- Form 14 meatballs (using a meatball scooper or round tbsp measuring spoon – about 1.5 tbsp per meatball). Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 400 degrees.
- Line the air fryer with parchment paper for easy clean-up. Place the meatballs in the air fryer basket in a single layer. Spray the meatballs generously with oil spray. Air fry the meatballs for 6 minutes. Spray again and air fry for 6 more minutes.
Recipe Tips & FAQs
- Use a meatball scooper or a round (tbsp) measuring spoon to scoop about 1.5 tbsp per meatball. By keeping your tools and your hands wet, it’s easier to handle meatball mixture without it sticking as much.
- Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 400 degrees to help your meatballs become golden brown
- Make a double batch in the oven: Simply add your meatballs to an aluminum foil-lined sheet pan and cook until an instant-read thermometer reads 165 degrees.
- Switch the sauce: this easy dinner recipe is versatile. You can add marinara sauce or you can have these with teriyaki sauce, buffalo sauce, BBQ sauce, and more.
What to Serve Juicy Chicken Meatballs With:
- Ninja Foodi Air Fryer Spaghetti Squash
- Air Fryer Squash (No Breading)
- Buttery Cauliflower Rice Pilaf Recipe
Storage & Leftovers
Store your cooked meatballs in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
Use a binder. Adding an egg to the mixture helps hold the meatballs together.
The main ingredients for chicken meatballs are ground meat, eggs, seasoning, and breadcrumbs. My ground chicken meatballs recipe uses almond flour instead of breadcrumbs to keep the carbs low.
The egg acts as a binder to prevent the meatballs from falling apart.
You can buy ground chicken from the store or make it at home. If you choose to do it yourself, cut the boneless meat into small pieces, then grind it in the food processor.
More Meatball Recipes
After making these tasty chicken meatballs, you can try these other meatball recipes:
- Keto Meatballs with Italian Sausage
- Frozen Meatballs in an Air Fryer
- Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Ground Chicken Meatballs
Use DRDAVINAHS at checkout to save on some equipment & ingredients!
Recommended Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground Chicken, 93% lean ground chicken (works best with the highest fat content available)
- 2 tbsp Almond Flour, blanched superfine
- 1 large Eggs
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/4 tsp Natural Ancient Sea Salt, use DRDAVINAHS to save
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp Dried Parsley
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1/4 cup Mayo
- 1.5 cup Marinara sauce, warmed
Instructions
- Add spices, mayo, egg, almond flour, and Parmesan cheese to a large mixing bowl. Whisk (or use a fork) to combine – it will look like a paste.
- Add the ground chicken to the bowl. Use a rubber spatula or hands with gloves to mix to combine.
- Form 14 meatballs (using a meatball scooper or round tbsp measuring spoon – about 1.5 tbsp per meatball)
- Preheat the air fryer for 5 min at 400 degrees to sear and start the cooking process immediately.
- Line the air fryer with parchment paper for easy clean-up. Place the meatballs in the air fryer basket in a single layer. Spray the meatballs generously with oil spray.
- Air fry the meatballs for 6 minutes. Spray again and air fry for 6 more minutes.
- Add the meatballs to the warm marinara sauce. Top with more parmesan cheese and parsley.
Nutrition Details
The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into Spoonacular API, a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used. The keto sweeteners I use have 0g net carbs & are not included because sugar alcohols do not impact most people. This is provided as a courtesy, but you can do your own calculations if you wish!
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