Pesto Chicken Meatballs represent a recipe that’s perfect for an elegant dinner party or a quick weeknight meal! These pesto chicken meatballs are quick to make, easy to prepare, and super delicious!
Happy Wednesday, friends! I hope you all had wonderful Memorial Day weekends! While I absolutely love visiting my family back east, I have to say that it feels good to be back home. I feel like I’ve been going, going, going, and haven’t had the chance to get any housework done, gardening accomplished, or the ability to just sit and do absolutely nothing!
Another thing I missed while I was away, was cooking and baking all of the things. I think you guys can certainly relate. It’s like you need a vacation from your vacation! I plan on spending the next 5 days whipping up some delicious dishes.
These pesto chicken meatballs have been sitting in the old Cooking and Beer vault for over a month. In my attempt to get super ahead knowing that I would be gone for a couple of weeks, I may have overdone it a bit. I have so many recipes that I need to share with you that it’s almost overwhelming! These pesto chicken meatballs are just one of those recipes. They are seriously perfect, and while chicken is the star of the show, these meatballs are anything but dry.
Give them a go this spring, and pair them with a brown ale! Stick a toothpick in them for the perfect appetizer, or serve them with a side of pasta for the perfect main course! Either way, they are super delicious!
Pesto Chicken Meatballs
Servings:
4 -6Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken I used a blend of thigh and breast
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup prepared pesto
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons parsley leaves
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, egg, breadcrumbs, pesto, parmesan cheese, salt and black pepper. Fold the ingredients together with a wooden spoon until the ingredients are evenly dispersed. If the mixture is too wet to form meatballs, add more breadcrumbs until the mixture holds together. Form the mixture into 2 tablespoon-sized balls and set them on a large plate or baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper.
- Add the olive oil to a large oven-safe skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs, and sear on all sides until brown, about 5 minutes total. Cover the pan with a lid of foil and place it directly in the oven. Bake the meatballs for 18-20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside to keep warm.
- While the meatballs are baking, prepare your whipped ricotta. In the bowl of your stand mixer with whisk attachment fixed, add the ricotta cheese and milk. Mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Fold in the lemon zest. Set aside.
- Serve the pesto chicken meatballs with the whipped ricotta. Garnish with fresh parsley leaves and enjoy!
13 Responses
Love that you served these with whipped ricotta- so yum!
Our weekend was super busy but it was super awesome! Hope you had a great long weekend too!
Love the meatballs! I need to get into making chicken meatballs more!
My sister is big on pesto right now and she would never buy store-bought meatballs again once she sees this recipe!
These sound perfect and the whipped ricotta is such a great touch!
I’m going to stick a toothpick in mine and not share! Ok, I’ll share when it’s football season. These look soon good! And that whipped ricotta – WOW!
These look SO good!! I’m a huge fan of pesto and this is such a smart way to use it. What an awesome recipe!
I NEED to try whipped ricotta! This is one gorgeous dish!
I don’t know how you held onto this for a month…they look so amazing!
We love chicken meatballs in our house! This would be a perfect appetizer for my kids! :D
These are meatball perfection! I love that they can be served as a main dish or appetizer :)
Do you have a suggestion for a Italian Breadcrumbs substitute ?
Are you looking for a gluten-free substitute? When I substitute in gluten-free breadcrumbs I normally use Ian’s Breadcrumbs, and you can find them all over the place (even Amazon). Hope this helps! https://www.amazon.com/Ians-973875-Italian-Panko-Breadcrumbs/dp/B00CNVJOBA/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1466697677&sr=8-2&keywords=ians+gluten+free+breadcrumbs
yes – I wanted to do them gluten-free. I will look for Ian’s….hopefully they are available in Canada ;o) thank you