These quick and easy Buffalo Chicken Meatballs are a fun twist on your classic appetizer recipe or enjoy as a busy weeknight dinner! Made with real, simple ingredients these flavorful chicken meatballs are Whole30/Paleo compliant. Everyone is going to love these during football season for delicious game day snacks!
We are huge fans of those tangy, but warm buffalo flavors. We swear we could eat buffalo wings or something with buffalo sauce every other day – we just don’t get sick of them and they always hit the spot! But, we thought we would mix things up today and do a fun spin on a classic chicken wing recipe. Enter, these easy buffalo chicken meatballs for a healthier alternative. The perfect party appetizer to enjoy on football Sundays or add to the menu of appetizers for Super Bowl Sunday. We cannot wait for you to try them!
If you also love chicken meatballs, you should also try our blog-favorite Greek Chicken Meatballs!
Key Ingredients + Substitutions
- ground chicken – love using ground chicken – a nice and lean meat that is perfect for making a healthier meatball. You could also sub with ground turkey.
- egg & almond flour – the binding agents that help hold these tender meatballs together. You can sub in breadcrumbs for the almond flour.
- olive oil – for your hands – helps with the sticky ground chicken.
- buffalo sauce – homemade or a store-bought version from your local grocery store (check ingredients for Paleo/Whole30).
How To Make Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
The first steps to making this easy recipe are to place all of the meatball ingredients in a large bowl and mix to fully combine.
Scoop about a tablespoon of the meatball mixture at a time and roll in your clean hands to form a meatball. Continue this process to form all of the meatballs and put them on a plate. Bring a large skillet to medium high heat, add one tablespoon of oil, and sear the chicken meatballs in a single layer. Add some of the buffalo sauce and let simmer as chicken meatballs fully cook. They should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F (use a meat thermometer).
Pro tip: we love using a cookie scoop or ice cream scoop to keep the meatballs a uniform size and shape.
Transfer meatballs to a large mixing bowl and drizzle a little bit of extra buffalo sauce on top. Serve with your favorite dip and celery sticks!
Best Ways To Serve Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
We love to serve these very similar to the same way we serve traditional buffalo chicken wings. Fresh celery sticks and/or carrot sticks are a great side option! They give you a nice break from the spiciness of the meatballs, as well as nice crunch. You could also do raw broccoli or even cauliflower. These juicy meatballs are great for dipping so make sure you have some ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing in a small bowl! And feel free to sprinkle some chopped green onions or blue cheese crumbles on top!
Erin’s Pro Tip
Ground chicken can be a *bit* sticky so here is what I do: use a cookie dough scoop to initially get a ball shape and then add a little bit of oil to your hands and finish rolling into a ball. Set on a plate. Repeat until you have made them all!
Recipe FAQ
Yes, if you still want the chicken meatball recipe to be Whole30/Paleo compliant we would suggest using cassava flour or something similar. If that isn’t a concern for you, just use some breadcrumbs!
Yes! To make crockpot chicken meatballs, make the meatball mix, roll them into balls, as directed, and then give them a quick sear on the stove top. Place seared meatballs in the slow cooker along with the sauce and cook on LOW for 2 hours. Expect some separation when it comes to the sauce, but you should be able to stir to recombine.
Definitely! Bake the buffalo meatballs on a baking sheet with parchment paper 375 degrees F for about 18-22 minutes (or until internal temp is 165 degrees F). Then toss them in the sauce.
Yes, simply form all the chicken meatballs and spray the air fryer basket with nonstick cooking spray. Place them in a single layer in the basket to cook at 400 degrees F for about 12 minutes. Make sure the internal temp reaches 165 degrees F. Toss in sauce after cooking. Depending on the size of your basket, they may need to be cooked in batches.
Made this delicious recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Other Meatball Recipes You Might Like
Buffalo Chicken Meatball Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 20–21 meatballs 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Description
These easy buffalo chicken meatballs are a fun twist on a classic buffalo wings recipe! Perfect for meal prep, work lunches, or a fun weeknight dinner!
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup almond flour (sub breadcrumbs if not Whole30/paleo)
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- oil (to help with forming meatballs)
- 1 batch of homemade buffalo sauce (or approx. 1 cup store-bought buffalo sauce)
Instructions
- Combine: Mix ground chicken, egg, almond flour, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and black pepper in a medium bowl.
- Scoop: Use a cookie dough scoop to scoop out approx. 1 1/2 tablespoons of meatball mixture, forming a ball, and place on a large plate. Continue until all of the meatball mixture is used. (See Notes)
- Skillet: Take a cast iron skillet and bring to medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of oil and use a spatula to spread evenly to coat the pan. Add chicken meatballs and sear on all sides, about 3 minutes.
- Cover: Turn down to medium heat and then add approximately 1/3 cup of buffalo sauce – cover the pan immediately as it will splatter.
- Simmer: Allow meatballs to cook in the buffalo sauce, adding more as needed, about 10-15 minutes or until fully cooked (165 degrees F internal temperature – recommend using a meat thermometer). Toss meatballs occasionally so the buffalo sauce really cooks into them.
- Bowl: Place cooked chicken meatballs and sauce into a large bowl and pour additional buffalo sauce on top, as desired. Toss.
- Serve: Serve with ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.
Notes
- Ground Chicken: Ground chicken can be very sticky so it helps to have a little bowl of oil next to you when you are making the chicken meatballs. Get a little oil on your fingers and then rub on the inside of the cookie dough scoop before scooping the meatball mixture. Place them directly on the plate and reform, as necessary.
- Homemade Ranch Dressing: this homemade ranch dressing is SO GOOD! Highly recommend!
- Store-bought Ranch: You can also use store-bought ranch for dipping – I like this kind and this kind!
- Store-bought Buffalo Sauce: You can easily use store-bought buffalo sauce instead of homemade! I love this one to keep the recipe Whole30/Paleo.
- Storage: keep leftover meatballs in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6oz
- Calories: 242
- Sugar: 0.5 g
- Sodium: 439.2 mg
- Fat: 13.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 3 g
- Protein: 18.6 g
- Cholesterol: 114.3 mg
Jen Moran says
Wow, if I could leave a ‘mind blown’ emoji I would. These were incredibly easy to make and very delicious! We’ve been on a buffalo sauce kick lately so these hit the spot. I baked the meatballs and threw them in the buffalo sauce when still hot. Baked cauliflower as a side. Yum!!
Erin says
So glad you enjoyed these, Jen!! Thanks for coming back to leave a rating and review – I really appreciate it!
christina says
This recipe was immediately approved and gobbled up by hubby and teens. Will definitely be making these healthy chicken buffalo meatballs during the football season. I popped them in the air fryer to cook and served with a homemade ranch. I used Noble buffalo sauce and may try a homemade buffalo sauce next time.
Karen says
This recipe is delicious and so easy! The meatballs are full of flavor on their own and made even better with the buffalo flavor. I love having them around for a high protein, tasty, filling snack and/or to have as part of my lunch.
Kaylyn says
I made these, and they were very delish! Super yummy on top of a cool salad with ranch dressing. The meatballs were quite spicy! But I love spicy! 😊
Erin says
So glad you enjoyed them, Kaylyn!
Justine says
Loved these buffalo chicken meatballs so much!! It had been awhile since I’d used ground chicken so I’d forgotten how sticky it is!!! Great trick to put some oil on the cookie dough scoop before scooping! They’re super moist and so tasty. We ate them with celery, bleu cheese dressing and some sautéed zucchini as a side. My partner and I loved these and are excited to make them again in the future; possibly for a Super Bowl party 🙂
Erin says
yay!!! So happy you enjoyed these, Justine!!