Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
If you’re looking for something new and exciting to eat for dinner, you have to make Chicken Parmesan Meatballs made with ground chicken! Serve them as is or as a chicken parm meatball sub with spaghetti sauce and melted cheese.
I’ve been in a menu planning slump lately.
Each week, I struggle to figure out what I want to eat for the week and end up resorting to the same meals over and over, which usually involves too much pasta.
I’m not very good at buying groceries on a whim and hoping that I can come up with something; I’m a planner who needs to make a list.
I also tend to buy the same proteins over and over: bone-in chicken breasts, chicken quarters, shrimp, ground beef.
Sometimes when I don’t know what I want to make, I’ll pick a protein for inspiration and roll with it. I haven’t had ground chicken in a long time, so I thought about what I could make.
Meatballs immediately came to mind. Rather than making spaghetti and meatballs, I opted for Chicken Parmesan Meatball Subs, the cousin to traditional beef meatball subs with tomato sauce and of course topped with lots of cheese.
No need to pound out or bread chicken breast – just mix everything together and go.
This recipe can easily be made in an hour.
The meatballs make great leftovers too as I usually have a sub or two for lunch or dinner again the next day.
Take that, menu planning slump.
Meatballs need a ton of flavor as they can get pretty bland pretty quickly, so I made sure to use plenty of onion, garlic, Parmesan cheese, basil, and parsley.
I prefer to bake my meatballs rather than frying, not only because it’s healthier but mainly because the cooking process becomes hands off. You can use that time to make a side dish or even clean up.
Even though the meatballs may not be perfectly round, I find that baking them on a rack inside a baking pan helps keep them as round as possible while also letting the fat drip down into the pan.
Besides, the slightly flat sides helps keep them from rolling off of the buns, right?
Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
If you're looking for something new and exciting for dinner, you have to make Chicken Parmesan Meatballs! Serve as is or as a meatball sub.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound ground chicken, thawed
- 1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese (fresh, not the green can)
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, sour cream, or plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon finely diced onion
- 1 teaspoon garlic paste or 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon freshly chopped basil
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley or 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup prepared spaghetti sauce, warmed up
- 2 tablespoons finely shredded mozzarella cheese
- 4 sub rolls
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Line a rimmed baking sheet or roasting pan with foil and set a wire rack on top. Lightly grease rack with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix together chicken, breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, mayo, onion, garlic, basil, parsley, and salt.
- Roll the meat mixture into 1-1/2 inch meatballs (roughly 12 meatballs) and place on the wire rack.
- Bake 15 minutes or until brown and the internal temperature reaches 165F. If making subs, leave the oven on.
- Roll the cooked meatballs in the sauce then place 3-4 meatballs onto each sub roll. Top with remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.
- Bake for 5-8 minutes or until buns are toasted and cheese has melted. Spoon more sauce on top and serve.
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7am is an acceptable time to think about eating lunch, right? :)
Oh, big yum. I make chicken meatballs all the time but why I didn’t think to make them into subs is beyond me. I’ll be rectifying that in the future! Pinned.
I just stocked up on Gourmet Garden lemongrass and ginger and its a LIFE saver!!
Those lightly dried herbs sound fabulous. I’ve been in a rut lately, so these meatballs may have to make an appearance at my house!
Wow! This is another great recipe. I am an avid user of ground chicken. I put it into my stuffed peppers with orzo, strained tomatoes, and smoked mozzeralla, and love it for burgers, they turn out so much lighter than beef burgers. I will definitely try the chicken meat balls. I also use the Gourmet Garden spice pastes, they are a bit pricy, but last so much longer than fresh herbs do. Many thanks for such a fun post!
I’m with you – I always plan all of my meals for the week in advance. I never go to the store without a plan! I also keep a little list of easy weeknight meal ideas, and I’ll be adding these subs to that list. I love how the Lightly Dried line is a nice compromise between fresh herbs that go bad too quickly, and dried herbs that last forever but don’t always have much flavor. Flavorful (lightly) dried herbs that last way longer than fresh herbs = win!
Thank you for the nice recipe.
Ahhh..I should be your neighbor. I love pasta and don’t mind easting it everyday :) But this chicken parmesan subs sounds delicious and I might take this for breakfast!
Mmmm I love meatballs subs! When I was younger I would eat one almost ever week! These look amazing! I’m like dying for one now!
I would like this for dinner tonight. If only you did take our orders. :)
I absolutely love all of their products. This is such a great recipe. Like you, I’m always looking for new takes on classics. I can’t wait to make this. Pinned.
I’m with Anita–Why I never thought to make chicken meatball subs is beyond me! I’ll also be rectifying that very soon. :)
This is totally the kind of dinner that my family would love!
yum yum yum!!! You’re way better about your dinners than I am! I love these subs
These look absolutely delicious. I’ve definitely been in a meal planning slump recently myself and like you I like to plan everything out. Winging it doesn’t usually turn out great for me! Thanks for sharing, I will definitely be trying these out. — Romany
I always buy the same protein, once in awhile I switch it up but I’m boring too. I hardly ever buy ground chicken but with all those herbs that would had such a great boost of flavor and who can resist meatball subs anyway.