What better way to gear up for football season than adding crowd-pleasing Baked Buffalo Chicken Meatballs to your recipe repertoire? Meatballs are a mainstay around my house, as I’m constantly challenging myself to skip the store-bought sauces in favor of quick-fix homemade alternatives.
Orange chicken meatballs? Check. Teriyaki chicken meatballs? Check. Asian meatball lettuce wraps? Check. And best of all, they’re all baked and then glazed in your DIY sauce of choice. But the real secret to moist meatballs? A mini-muffin pan! Baking each ball-o-meat in its own tiny compartment seals in the juices and ensures the mixture remains moist. But if you don’t have a mini-muffin pan, simply coat a  baking dish with cooking spray, arrange the meatballs in rows and fire up the oven.
In search of more football-watching foods? Find inspiration for a gourmet gameday with my go-to football party recipes, including Homemade Soft Pretzel Twists, Crispy Baked Teriyaki Chicken Wings, Cheesy Chicken Pizza Pockets and more crowd-friendly favorites.
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Ingredients
- 2/3 cup hot sauce
- 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 1/2 lbs ground chicken (See Kelly’s Note)
- 2 Tablespoons minced scallions
- 1 large egg
- Blue cheese or Ranch dressing, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 500°F. Generously grease a mini muffin pan or baking dish with cooking spray.
- Combine the hot sauce and butter in a small saucepan set over medium-low heat and cook it, whisking constantly, until the butter has melted and the sauce is combined. Set the sauce aside to cool to room temperature.
- In a small bowl, stir together the milk and breadcrumbs and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, minced scallions, egg, breadcrumb mixture, ⅓ of the prepared sauce, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Use your hands to thoroughly combine the mixture and then shape it into balls using 2 to 3 tablespoons of meat per meatball.
- Place the shaped meatballs into each cup of the mini muffin pan (or arrange them in a single layer in a baking dish) and bake them for 12 to 15 minutes until they are cooked through.
- Remove the meatballs from the oven, immediately transfer them to a bowl and toss them with the remaining sauce. Serve warm with blue cheese or Ranch dressing for dipping.
Kelly’s Note:
- If you can’t find ground chicken at your local grocery store, you can substitute ground turkey.
- ★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below!
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Recipe by Kelly Senyei of Just a Taste. Please do not reprint this recipe without my permission. If you'd like to feature this recipe on your site, please rewrite the method of preparation and link to this post as the original source.
Awesome!! I make them all the time and everybody loves them!!
I’m so happy you’ve been enjoying the recipe, Cindy!
Great recipe, loved the flavor of the buffalo sauce. This was my first attempt at ever making meatballs! I’m vegetarian so I made the meatballs for my husband (which he said were delicious) and I tossed the sauce with cauliflower for me. Dinner, winner!
Love hearing this, Elizabeth! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Im going to try it with Venison and sausage combo! Sounds delish!!
Enjoy!
Do you use ground chicken breast , ground dark meat or a combo ?
Any combo works, but ground dark meat will have the most moisture and flavor!
Fantastic yummy recipes !!!
Mouth watering
Thank you so much, Zee!
I can’t rave enough about these meatballs. They are very flavorful and juicy and taste like fried meatballs. I substituted hot sauce with schezwan sauce. Phenomenal!
Thanks so much, Chery! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!