These Buffalo Chicken Meatballs make the perfect party appetizer, game day snack or healthy weeknight dinner! Easily made with just a few simple ingredients for delicious flavor-packed meatballs served with fresh veggies and your favorite dipping sauce!
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- How to Make Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
- Can I Make these Meatballs in a Skillet?
- Can I Make these Meatballs in the Air Fryer?
- How to Serve Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
- Prepping and Storage
- More Meatball Recipes You’ll Love
- More Healthy Game Day Recipes
- Buffalo Chicken Meatballs Recipe
It’s officially football season and all I have to say is put aside those chicken wings and fall in love with these spicy buffalo chicken meatballs! This dish is a healthier way to enjoy your favorite party appetizer and these meatballs seriously check all the boxes. Bold, spicy flavor packed with lean protein and lower in carbs and calories for the perfect game day dish to feed a crowd. These meatballs also make an easy weeknight meal you can serve with cauliflower rice and veggies!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- These meatballs are high in protein, low in carbs and ridiculously delicious!
- Perfect game day snack or party appetizer.
- Made with just a few simple ingredients for a flavor-packed dish.
- These meatballs also make a great weeknight dinner option and are perfect for meal prep!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- ground chicken – I used ground chicken for these meatballs because I personally prefer the flavor of chicken with these ingredients, but you could also make these using ground turkey, ground beef or ground pork.
- buffalo sauce – use your favorite buffalo sauce here as we’ll be using the sauce in the meatball mixture as well as tossing the cooked meatballs in the remaining sauce before serving. Feel free to use mild, medium or hot buffalo sauce depending on your liking.
- almond flour – acts as a binder for these meatballs. I used almond flour to keep these low carb (keto buffalo chicken meatballs!) and gluten-free, but panko breadcrumbs work great too!
- egg – helps to bind the meatballs together and adds even more protein.
- garlic – adds flavor to the meatballs and fresh minced garlic is always best! If you don’t have fresh garlic cloves, feel free to use a 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder.
- green onions – adds color and flavor to the meatball mixture and we’ll also be topping the meatballs with green onions before serving.
- seasonings – combination of onion powder, salt and black pepper.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
- Mix together the ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine ground chicken, egg, almond flour (or breadcrumbs), buffalo sauce, garlic, green onions, onion powder, salt and pepper. Mix the meatball mixture together using a spoon or your hands until all combined.
- Make the meatballs. Using a small cookie scoop (I used this 1.2 tablespoon size scoop), roll the meatballs into 1-inch balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or sprayed with non-stick spray). I find that getting your hands a little wet helps to roll these meatballs as ground chicken can be a bit sticky. You should get about 28 meatballs or feel free to use this cookie scoop for 18 larger meatballs.
- Bake. Pop the sheet pan in the oven at 400 degrees F and bake for about 18 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned and cooked through. Meatballs should have an internal temp of 165 degrees F when inserting a meat thermometer.
- Toss with the sauce. Remove the meatballs from the oven and toss with the remaining buffalo sauce, top with some green onions and serve with your favorite dipping sauce and sliced veggies.
Can I Make these Meatballs in a Skillet?
Yes of course! I find that baking meatballs is just easier with less cooking required, but pan frying these meatballs would taste amazing! All you’ll need is about a tablespoon or two of olive oil to coat the pan then add the meatballs, cooking them on medium-high heat, and turn them continuously so that they get browned on all sides and are cooked through, for about 12 minutes.
Can I Make these Meatballs in the Air Fryer?
Absolutely and the air fryer is another way I love to make these! To air fry these meatballs, cook at 400 degrees for about 10 to 12 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through to make sure they evenly cook. Just make sure the internal temperature is 165 degrees.
How to Serve Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
- As an appetizer served with carrots and celery along with a ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing dipping sauce.
- Double or triple this recipe for a delicious party appetizer.
- As a main dish served over cauliflower rice or regular rice and they would also taste great with my sweet and spicy sweet potato fries.
Prepping and Storage
To Make Ahead: These meatballs can easily be prepped ahead of time and stored in the fridge tightly covered for 2 or 3 days before baking. When you are ready to bake, simply pop them in the oven and follow recipe instructions.
To Store: These meatballs can be stored in a sealed, airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days and leftovers taste even better making them great for meal prep! To reheat, you can either pop them in the oven at 350 degrees until meatballs are heated through or you can warm them up in the microwave or air fryer.
To Freeze: These meatballs are also freezer-friendly! To freeze, let them cool completely and store in a sealed Ziplock freezer bag for up to 3 months. Let them thaw completely before re-heating.
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More Meatball Recipes You’ll Love
- Mediterranean Chicken Meatballs
- Asian Glazed Turkey Meatballs
- Honey Sriracha Glazed Meatballs (most popular recipe on this site!)
- Cranberry Cocktail Meatballs
- Cheesy Keto Meatball Casserole
More Healthy Game Day Recipes
- Loaded Bell Pepper Nachos
- Sticky Honey Garlic Cauliflower Wings
- Hot Italian Sliders
- 7 Layer Spicy Taco Dip
- Baked Crab Cake Balls with Sriracha Dipping Sauce
- The BEST Turkey Chili
Hope you all enjoy these Buffalo Chicken Meatballs and if you love this as much as we do, please leave me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using the hashtag #eatyourselfskinny! I love seeing all your delicious recreations!
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1/2 cup buffalo sauce, divided
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup almond flour, or bread crumbs
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Garnish with green onions and blue cheese crumbles, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine ground chicken, egg, almond flour (or breadcrumbs), 3 tablespoons buffalo sauce, garlic, green onions, onion powder, salt and pepper. Mix the meatball mixture together using a spoon or your hands until all combined.
- Using a small cookie scoop (I used this 1.2 tablespoon size scoop), roll the meatballs into 1-inch balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or sprayed with non-stick spray). I find that getting your hands a little wet helps to roll these meatballs as ground chicken can be a bit sticky. You should get about 28 meatballs or feel free to use this cookie scoop for 18 larger meatballs.
- Bake the meatballs for about 18 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned and cooked through. Meatballs should have an internal temp of 165 degrees F when inserting a meat thermometer.
- Remove the meatballs from the oven and toss with the remaining buffalo sauce, top with some green onions and serve with your favorite dipping sauce and sliced veggies.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
