Marry Me Chicken Meatballs
Creamy, cozy, and weeknight-easy, these Marry Me Chicken Meatballs simmer in a tomato Parmesan sauce with spinach. Perfect over pasta or mashed potatoes!
Servings: 4 servings (2-3 meatballs per person)
Calories: 726kcal
Equipment
- Large Sauté Pan
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Ice Cream Scoop (4 oz.)
Ingredients
Chicken Meatballs
- 2 Tbsp salted butter $0.25
- ½ cup breadcrumbs toasted, $0.18
- 1 lb. ground chicken $4.83*
- 1 large egg $0.15
- ¼ tsp garlic powder $0.05
- ¼ tsp dried oregano $0.03
- 1 tsp dried basil $0.05
- 2 Tbsp sun dried tomatoes finely minced, (oil-packed) $0.30
- ¼ tsp salt $0.01
- ¼ tsp black pepper freshly cracked, $0.02
- 1 Tbsp mayonnaise $0.10
- 1 tsp soy sauce $0.02
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil $0.18
Marry Me Sauce
- 3 garlic cloves minced, $0.18
- 2 Tbsp salted butter $0.25
- ⅛ tsp chili flakes $0.03
- 1 cup chicken broth $0.12**
- 1 cup heavy cream room temperature, $1.48
- 14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes strained, $0.96
- ⅓ cup frozen spinach $0.37***
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese grated, $0.90
- 1 Tbsp fresh basil minced, $0.25
- ½ Tbsp fresh parsley minced, $0.10
Instructions
- Gather the ingredients.
- Prepare fresh ingredients: mince sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and parsley.
- In a large sauté pan or braiser, melt 2 Tbsp salted butter and add breadcrumbs. Stir together and toast breadcrumbs until golden brown and fragrant. Remove from heat once toasted.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine toasted breadcrumbs, ground chicken, egg, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried basil, finely minced sun-dried tomatoes, salt, pepper, mayonnaise, and soy sauce.
- Gently mix using a fork or clean hands until well-combined. Wipe out the braiser or sauté pan you used to toast the bread crumbs. Add 2 Tbsp vegetable oil to the pan and set it to medium heat.
- Using an ice cream scoop (ours is 4 oz), scoop level portions of the meat mixture into the hot oil in the braiser, searing the meatballs.
- Turn the meatballs after about 4 minutes until they are golden brown on at least 2 sides. Remove from the pan and continue this step until all meatballs are evenly browned.
- Mince the garlic (I cheated and used a garlic press—so easy) and add 2 Tbsp of butter to the pan with minced garlic and chili flakes. Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add chicken broth to the pan and let simmer for 3-4 minutes, scraping up any bits of chicken from the bottom of the pan.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and add room-temperature heavy cream.
- Then, add strained tomatoes, frozen spinach, grated Parmesan, and fresh herbs. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.
- Add the browned chicken meatballs back to the pan.
- Spoon the sauce over the meatballs as they finish cooking.
- Your meatballs are done once they reach an internal temperature of at least 165°F. (I cooked mine for an additional 15-20 minutes until done.)
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Notes
*I use 8% fat ground chicken. Leaner ground chicken should still work, but might turn out a little drier and not as tender.
**We use Better Than Bouillon to make our chicken broth! It's cheap, easy, and one pot lasts for a long time. You may need to season to taste if you use a low-sodium chicken broth.
***You don't need to thaw the frozen spinach before using. You can also use fresh spinach if you have it to hand. Roughly chop a few handfuls of fresh spinach and stir them into the sauce at the end. The heat from the sauce will wilt the spinach and warm it through.
Tip: If you like your sauce thicker, you can make a slurry by removing ¼ cup of sauce from the pan and stirring in a bit of cornstarch, then adding that mixture back to the sauce. I didn’t have a need for this step, but if you want a thicker sauce, that’s an easy way to accomplish it!
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 726kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 57g | Sodium: 1129mg | Fiber: 4g