Chicken Piccata Meatballs

You know that meatballs are my jam!

Meatball prep days are the best.  I just love rolling out those tender, juicy orbs so much- there is something very therapeutic about the process and the sensations as I form the meatballs and set them on the baking sheet to freeze and store.

So here is another meatball recipe for you.  This time around the main ingredient is chicken.  And once you have these made up and frozen, feel free to pull them out and use them in a variety of settings and sauces.

Basic Chicken Meatballs

The ingredients for these meatballs are basic, straightforward, and can be easily made gluten free, using gluten free bread.  I suggest using fresh bread as opposed to using breadcrumbs for all my meatballs, it makes the final texture much more tender and juicy. If you haven’t made breadcrumbs already from fresh-ish bread (I always have a bag ready in the freezer) then just tear up some bread slices into small pieces or whiz them up in a food processor. The same goes for the parmesan cheese in this recipe.  Freshly grated not only tastes so much better, it actually adds to the tender texture of the meatballs.  Dry, pre-shredded (especially from a can!!) will make these meatballs more tough.  Plus they just don’t have any flavour.

You shouldn’t add a lot of salt right away, since the cheese has so much salt naturally.  But don’t worry, there are Italian seasonings, black pepper and even a small amount of chili flakes for flavour.  Your other flavour boosters will be plenty of garlic, and even some chopped parsley.

Once you have gently brought everything together with your fingers, (yes, always use your fingers, a spoon etc will make the mixture more tough) you will move on to the most important step in any meatball or meatloaf prep: the sautéed mini meatball for taste testing.

Never make meatballs without this step!

Once the mixture is ready (or you think it is) take a small portion and create a little patty about the size of a quarter.  Sauté this in a little oil in a small pan till cooked through.  Let it cool down till it is fine to pop in your mouth.  Taste this and decide if you are happy with the flavours.  If not, this is the best time to adjust any seasonings to the mixture in the bowl.  Now you know exactly what they will taste like. There is nothing worse that serving a meal only to find that it is much blander than you wanted.  And there is really no way to fix it at this point.  So be proactive!

Once the flavour is to your liking, you can roll the mixture up.  Use gently oiled or dampened hands to roll out mixture into medium sized balls.  I get 16 or so out of this batch.  So what I do is pat down the mixture in the bowl, and then divide the top of the mixture into four quadrants.  Each quadrant will make 4 or 5 meatballs, depending on the size you want to make.  Depending on appetites, 2-3 is what most will eat at a time.  Of course, you can roll them smaller. Just adjust the final baking time.

Roll out all the meatballs and place them one by one onto a wax paper lined baking sheet.  You can place this baking sheet into the freezer.  Once frozen, place all the ones you won’t need into a freezer bag.  This way they won’t stick to each other, and it will be easy to remove four or six as needed for a meal.

What is Piccata Sauce?

At its most basic, this Italian sauce is a combination of white wine and lemon juice.  Usually it is served over veal or chicken scallopine or cutlets, the two liquids being added to the pan drippings after sautéing the meat.  Through the years we have seen a few additions added to the sauce, including chopped capers, garlic and or parsley.  I actually think that these additions are an improvement!  So I add them here as well.  In fact, I take it a step further, and add some sliced up preserved lemon. But if you don’t have a jar of preserved lemons in the fridge, no worries, this sauce will taste amazing.  But if you do want a jar of preserved lemons in the fridge, here is the recipe that I rely on.  They work fantastically in tagines or stews, in marinades, or even salad dressings.  I also add just a touch of heat, but I’ll understand if you hold back a touch.

The Versatility of these Meatballs!

Having this recipe at your fingertips is a great lifesaver.  The chicken meatballs don’t take long to bake up.  They go great with other sauces as well.  How about a Marinara sauce to make a Chicken Parm type dish?  Add an Asian marinade transforms these as well.  Or even try a Satay sauce!!  Or what about my Dijon Maple marinade?!  For a great Marsala sauce, see here

Since this is a meatball dish, I have no problem serving this over pasta.  It would also work great over rice, mashed potatoes or even cauliflower polenta.  So basically any carb of your choosing!  Add a side of greens like broccoli, kale, green beans etc, and this is a great little weekday dinner.  But it is still fancy enough to serve on the weekend.  At that point, it really just depends on how fancy your plates and table cloth are, right!?

If you want some more meatball inspo, check out Cheesy Baked Meatballs     Lions Head Meatballs     Swedish Meatballs       Moroccan Meatballs with Jewelled Couscous      Lamb Meatballs with Kale Cumin Yogurt and Rice

Love Jen

5 from 2 votes

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Chicken Piccata Meatballs

Versatile Meatballs and a bright lemony sauce works great over pasta or any carb you want!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword chicken, lemon, meatballs, piccata

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 2 lb or 900 grams ground chicken
• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs if you don't have fresh bread crumbs, just tear your bread of choice and whiz it through a food processor
• 1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese use fresh if at all possible
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp chili flakes optional
• 2 large eggs beaten
• 1-2 tbsp milk if needed

Piccata Sauce

• 5 Tbsp butter divided
• 2 garlic minced cloves
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chicken stock a great time to use my Faux Chicken Bouillon powder
• 1 preserved lemon slice chopped finely (about 1 heaping tbsp)
• 2 tbsp capers roughly chopped
• 1 tsp each salt and pepper
• 2-3 dashes of hot sauce
• 2 tbsp parsley chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.

2. In a large bowl add the chicken, breadcrumbs, parmesan, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and chili flakes if using.

3. In a small bowl or cup roughly whisk the eggs together. Pour these over everything in the large bowl and bring it together gently, using only your fingers. If you find it a little dry (depending on the humidity of the day) you can add the milk 1 tbsp at a time.

4. To confirm that they are seasoned to your liking, break off a small amount to make a pattie about the size of a quarter. Sauté until cooked through over medium high heat. Once cooled enough, eat it to see if you like the flavour. If not, you can adjust the seasoning to the entire mixture before making the meatballs.

5. Using dampened hands, roll the mixture into 16 to 18 balls. Lay them onto a parchment or wax paper lined baking sheet. From here you can either freeze the baking sheet until the meatballs are frozen and can be transferred to a freezer bag. Or you can bake off what you want to use right away.

6. To bake, place on a baking sheet as many as you want to use (2-3 per person) and place on centre rack of your pre-heated oven.
7. Roast meatballs for 15 min on centre rack. Turn heat up to 500°F and brush meatballs with olive oil. Cook for another 5 minutes. If you find that you would like more colour, brush on a little more oil and turn the oven to broil. But keep a close eye on them.

Piccata Sauce

1. While the meatballs are baking you can prepare the sauce.
2. In a medium to large skillet, warm 1 tbsp of butter over medium high heat. Add the garlic and sauté, stirring constantly till softened.
3. Add the white wine and lemon juice and reduce the heat to a good simmer. Cook till slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Add the stock and combine well, stirring for another 3 minutes or so.

4. Turn off the heat and stir in the remaining 4 tbsp butter. Whisk till melted through. Stir in the preserved lemon, capers, salt and pepper and hot sauce if using. Pour this over the meatballs and carb of choice. Scatter the parsley over it all.

Recipe Notes

I say that this recipe serves 4.  The meatballs are enough for 8.  But if you only want to serve 4, still make all of the meatball recipe, it's worth having the extra in the freezer.

If you want to serve all the meatballs at once, double the sauce.

This is a great time to use my Faux Chicken Bouillon Powder, instead of having to open up a tetra-pack of stock. See here for one of the best kitchen pantry staples you will use all the time.

The preserved lemon is optional, but really adds great depth of flavour.

This recipe is a loose riff on a recipe by The Modern Proper