Marry Me Chicken Meatballs–ridiculously delicious chicken meatballs with parmesan and a creamy sundried tomato cream sauce.
Marry Me Chicken Meatballs
Yum! These chicken meatballs might just get you a marriage proposal…they’re that good. The meatballs are tender and flavorful in and of themselves but the sauce with cream, sundried tomato pesto, parmesan and bacon just takes them over the top. Next time I will serve these meatballs with garlic toast so I can use it as a vehicle to get more of the sauce into my mouth! You may want to double the meatball portion of this recipe so you can have plenty of leftovers.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Ground chicken–or ground turkey
- Sun-dried tomato pesto–Regular basil pesto could work for a different flavor. I find sundried tomato pesto in the aisle by the pasta sauces and jarred pesto.
- Italian seasoning
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Parmesan cheese
- Butter
- Shallot–or ¼ cup finely diced onion
- Garlic
- Chicken broth
- Tomato paste
- White wine vinegar–or red wine vinegar
- Cornstarch
- Heavy cream–or half and half
- Bacon crumbles
- Spinach–fresh or frozen
Steps
In a mixing bowl combine the ground chicken, 1 ½ Tbsp sundried tomato pesto, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and ⅓ cup of parmesan cheese. Form mixture into meatballs (about 2 Tbsp each).
Heat a large pan over medium high heat. Add in the butter and let it melt. Add in the meatballs. Sear for about 2 minutes and turn over and sear for 2 more minutes.
Stir in the shallot and saute for 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic for 20 seconds.
Add in the broth, tomato paste, vinegar and remaining 2 Tbsp of pesto. In a small bowl stir the cornstarch together with 1 Tbsp of cold water. Stir the slurry into the pan to thicken the sauce. Bring the mixture to a simmer and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Turn heat to low.
Temper the cream by stirring a half cup of the sauce into the cream. Stir the mixture into the pan. Stir in the remaining ⅓ cup parmesan, bacon and spinach. Heat through.
Serve the meatballs and sauce over pasta, if desired and enjoy.
Notes/Tips
- Serve with: these meatballs and sauce would be great over pasta, mashed potatoes, rice or even just served with garlic bread. A side of veggies like broccoli or salad would be a good side dish.
- Meatballs size: I used a cookie scoop* for portioning out the meatballs. It worked great to keep them all uniform. I used my hands to tidy them up and make them rounder.
- Tempering the cream before adding it to the skillet helps prevent it from separating when it combines with the hot sauce.
- Gluten-free: This recipe is gluten free, just make sure to check your pesto label.
- Leftovers: Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up 4 days. The meatballs themselves freeze very well. The sauce, not so much with the cream it tends to separate upon reheating.
- Tools:
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
Marry Me Chicken Meatballs
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Ridiculously delicious chicken meatballs with parmesan and a creamy sundried tomato cream sauce.
Ingredients
16 oz ground chicken
3 ½ Tbsp sundried tomato pesto, divided
½ Tbsp Italian seasoning
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper
2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese, divided
2 Tbsp butter
1 shallot, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ cup bacon crumbles
1 cup chopped spinach
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl combine the ground chicken, 1 ½ Tbsp sundried tomato pesto, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and ⅓ cup of parmesan cheese. Form mixture into meatballs (about 2 Tbsp each).
- Heat a large pan over medium high heat. Add in the butter and let it melt. Add in the meatballs. Sear for about 5 minutes and turn over and sear for 3 more minutes.
- Turn heat to medium. Stir in the shallot and saute for 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic for 20 seconds.
- Add in the broth, tomato paste, vinegar and remaining 2 Tbsp of pesto. In a small bowl stir the cornstarch together with 1 Tbsp of cold water. Stir the slurry into the pan to thicken the sauce. Bring the mixture to a simmer and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Turn heat to low.
- Temper the cream by stirring a half cup of the sauce into the cream. Stir the mixture into the pan. Stir in the remaining ⅓ cup parmesan, bacon and spinach. Heat through.
- Serve the meatballs and sauce over pasta, if desired and enjoy.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: stovetop
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*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
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