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GET IT NOWMy Buffalo Chicken Meatballs Recipe Just Got A Glow-Up
I’ve been making these buffalo chicken meatballs since 2019, but I re-tested and updated the recipe this year, and now they’re even better. Every bite has that tangy, meaty, cheesy combo that reminds me of a plate of buffalo wings… just less messy. Here’s why I love them even more than before:
- Buffalo sauce inside and out – Most buffalo chicken meatball recipes I’ve seen just coat regular ones in sauce, but I add buffalo sauce right into the meat in addition to the outside. While this doesn’t add a ton of spice inside, it makes the meatballs much more tender and juicy.
- New and improved texture – I swapped in my now-go-to binders (yep, the same ones I use in my classic chicken meatballs), used a whole egg instead of just the whites, and made a few changes to the method. It’s still the same bold, cheesy, saucy flavor I’ve loved since the beginning… just a little more tender, a little more sturdy, and a lot more foolproof.
- Perfect, healthy apps or dinner main – People often think of buffalo chicken meatballs as game day appetizers, but I love serving them as a healthy dinner, too. They’re protein-packed, easy to make ahead, and super satisfying with a veggie side.
If you love buffalo anything and everything (like my husband does ;)), these buffalo chicken meatballs are for you. Make them with me!
Reader Review
“This is another recipe that gets gobbled up every time I make them! By boys eat them with rice and my husband and I eat them with zoodles! We love the kick!” –Sarah
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Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for my buffalo chicken meatballs recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
- Ground Chicken – I actually first made these with ground turkey, but after hearing from you, it was clear chicken was the favorite! That said, you can still use turkey, beef, or any ground meat you like. If you’ve got whole chicken breasts instead, make my baked buffalo chicken.
- Buffalo Sauce – This brings the signature tangy heat! I use it both in the meatball mix and as a coating. You can use any hot sauce you like, but this one is my favorite.
- Binders – I bind my buffalo chicken meatballs with a mix of grated parmesan cheese and Wholesome Yum Blanched Almond Flour, which gives them the best texture because it’s finer than other brands and less dry than regular flour. I’ve also had good results making these with gluten-free breadcrumbs.
- Egg – You can swap in a flax egg if needed.
- Blue Cheese – For a sharp, creamy bite that balances the heat. If you’re not a fan, shredded mozzarella, cheddar, or even crumbled feta (like one reader recommended to me) works.
- Green Onions – For a fresh, slightly sweet crunch inside and a pop of color on top. Chives make a good alternative, or you can throw in a few cloves of minced garlic.
- Butter – This mellows out the buffalo sauce and helps it cling to the meatballs. I prefer this unsalted grass-fed brand, and find that salted makes the coating too salty.
- Ranch Dressing – Totally optional, but it’s a cooling contrast to the heat. I usually drizzle it on top or serve it on the side for dipping.
- Sea Salt & Black Pepper
How To Make Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Make the base mixture. In a large bowl, whisk together the parmesan, almond flour, egg, buffalo sauce, salt, and pepper. Fold in the blue cheese and green onions.
- Mix in the meat. Add the ground chicken and gently mix, just until it comes together.
- Shape and bake. Form into meatballs and place on a lined sheet pan. Pop them in the oven until cooked through.
- Make the sauce. Warm the buffalo sauce and butter in the microwave or on the stove, then whisk until smooth and hot.
- Toss and serve. Coat the meatballs in the warm sauce. I like to top these buffalo chicken meatballs with ranch, more blue cheese, and green onions before serving.
My Tips For Tender, Juicy Results
- Be careful not to overmix the meat. This is why I always mix everything else before adding the ground chicken. Mixing too much makes these buffalo chicken meatballs more dense and less tender after baking. Besides, a more gentle hand keeps pieces of blue cheese intact, which is delicious here.
- Use slightly wet hands to shape the meatballs. This helps prevent sticking.
- For a tender texture, form the meatballs gently. My kids helped me make my last batch of these, and I described it as “think hot potato, not play dough”. This prevents the meat from getting too warm, which makes the meatballs more tough.
- A cookie scoop is great for even portions. I use this one. It also helps minimize warming up the meat (see above).
- If your meat mixture feels warm or extra sticky even with wet hands, refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. Chilling helps remove some of the stickiness.
- Use a meat thermometer for best results. Ideally the buffalo chicken meatballs should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. They can dry out if they go much higher.
- Why are my meatballs not perfectly round? These are so tender that they spread a tiny bit, and I say who cares, because they taste amazing! But if you want them perfectly round, you may want to add an extra 1/4 cup of almond flour or parmesan to make them firmer.
- You can also pan fry these buffalo chicken meatballs if you like. I prefer the baked version because they come out extra moist and tender, but pan frying gets you a nice golden brown exterior. The timing would be about the same as my regular chicken meatball recipe.
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
My buffalo chicken meatballs are super juicy with bold, tangy flavor! They make the perfect party appetizer or easy weeknight dinner.
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Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see the ones I use.
Meatballs:
Coating & Topping:
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (204 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the parmesan cheese, almond flour, egg, buffalo sauce, salt, and pepper. Fold in the blue cheese and green onions.
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Add the ground chicken. Mix until just combined. (Don’t overmix.)
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Form the mixture into 1-inch (2.5-cm) meatballs and place on the lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cooked through.
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Meanwhile, in a small bowl in the microwave or a small saucepan on the stove, heat the buffalo sauce and butter together, until melted. Whisk until smooth and hot.
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When the buffalo chicken meatballs are done, gently toss them with the buffalo sauce mixture. If you like, serve them with a drizzle of ranch dressing, extra blue cheese crumbles, and extra green onions.
LAST STEP: Leave a rating to help other readers, or tag me @wholesomeyum on Instagram. I’d love to hear from you!
Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 6 meatballs
- Tips: Check out my recipe tips above to help you make the juiciest meatballs, shape them with ease, and cook them perfectly.
- Storage: Keep leftover buffalo chicken meatballs in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3–4 days.
- Reheat: Warm them in the oven or microwave. I usually toss with a little extra buffalo sauce afterward.
- Freeze for meal prep: I prefer to freeze these without the sauce if possible. Arrange them in a single layer on a lined baking sheet and place in the freezer until solid. Then, you can transfer them to a zip lock bag and keep frozen for up to 3 months. To reheat, thaw overnight, add buffalo sauce, and bake until hot. It’s okay to freeze them with sauce too, but the texture isn’t as nice and I still recommend adding more after heating.
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
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Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Serving Ideas
I love these as apps, but here are some more ideas to go with them:
- Classics – You can’t go wrong with the classic combo of celery sticks and carrots. They add crunch and freshness, and pair perfectly with ranch or blue cheese dressing for dipping.
- Easy Sides – Like I said above, I love serving these buffalo chicken meatballs for dinner, and they pair perfectly with simple sides like roasted veggies, a quick salad or broccoli slaw, or something to soak up the sauce like mashed cauliflower or zucchini noodles.
- Appetizer Spread – When I’m serving these up for a crowd, I like to pair them with other party favorites like deviled eggs, tortilla chips with guac or queso, or a big snack board with cheese and pickles.
49 Comments
Sarah
0This is another recipe that gets gobbled up every time I make them! By boys eat them with rice and my husband and I eat them with zoodles! We love the kick!
Wholesome Yum D
0Sarah, I’m so glad this one’s a hit with the whole family! Love that you serve it with rice and zoodles, such a great way to make everyone happy. That little kick makes it extra tasty!
Lisa
0These meatballs were really good! I added a little salt and pepper, used a full egg instead of egg whites, and added about 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs to solve the “too mushy” issue. Wow! They were really tasty! My husband and son loved them too. I will be adding this recipe to my favorites list!
DeAnne
0I used one whole egg and made my own buffalo sauce. These were the best ever! I’m afraid I’ll eat them all that’s how good it is. The mixture was very soft and sticky so mine were more like nuggets or sliders but who cares! These rock!
Bridge
0I just took these out of the oven. I used Turkey. I had two pounds, so used one whole large egg (I had no plans for the yolk, and the cost of eggs these days!), and adjusted the other ingredients to scale. My “dough” was quite wet like other posters mentioned so I added 1/4 c almond flour. I baked half like that and they were still wet. Lots of liquid to pour off and the collapsed into domes, but SUPER delicious domes. I though coconut flour might do better for this as it’s SO absorbent. So I added maybe a TBSP to the second half a d they formed easier, lost no liquid during baking, and came out round. You can’t taste the coconut at all. My plan is to air fry to reheat before serving and then toss in the wing sauce with a little crunch to the outsides. They are great flavor and texture! This native Buffalonian approves!
Alexandra
0What can I sub for the blue cheese?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Alexandra, You can omit the blue cheese.
Alyssa Cordova
0I don’t know how you do it but every recipe I try is better than the last. This one was another hit with my whole family. Yes, I make one dinner. Yes, my kids eat it. My teenage daughter requested this be a regular rotation and that we make it for school lunches! I used primal kitchen buffalo sauce and a cookie dough scoop to form the meatballs. I broiled them for a few minutes after adding the sauce/olive oil combo. This came together in less than 10 Minutes. Served with a side of roasted broccoli and I am totally satisfied! Thank you, Maya!
Marie Lynn Fincher
0What can be used instead of blue cheese?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Marie, You could use ranch.
Eliza
0Awesome recipe, a real crowd pleaser. I ground my chicken because then I know what I’m serving. It’s very important to buy a high quality ground chicken. I’ve found that cheap ground chicken is the reason people are getting a watery consistency as it happened to me.
Toni
0Hi I just recently started keto and I’ve been saving difference recipes of yours since I’ve been surviving off of different ham sandwiches with keto bread lol. Would I have to cook them any different if I’m going to be reheating them in a microwave at work?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Toni, Not at all! Follow the recipe as instructed and they will reheat just fine in the microwave. Enjoy!
Colleen
0This recipe is so flavorful. I added a but more salt and a few handfuls of crushed pork rinds to help with the binding. I made the balls quite small so I served them in a celery stick and top with blue cheese or ranch dip.
Christopher Winter
0This came out waaaaay too watery to form into balls for me. Disappointing
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Christopher, I’m sorry this didn’t turn out to your liking. Did you use carton egg whites? I’m not sure how it ended up too wet to form the meatballs.
Stacey
0I plan on using egg whites from the carton, should I adjust the amount?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Stacey, No need to adjust the amount, use the 1/4 cup as written in the recipe.
Lorri Goddard
0Mine is too watery also. Not sure if it is because the chicken has a lot of water content or what. Not sure what to do now.
Lorri Goddard
0Is the Buffalo sauce measurement that goes in the chicken mixture 3/4 of the 1/2 of a cup?? Cause 1/2 of 1/2 is 1/4 and then 3/4 would be slightly more. I did that and waayyy too watery. Ended up putting in a small muffin tin
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Lorri, Sorry this recipe didn’t turn out as expected. It should be a bit more than 1/3 cup of buffalo sauce that goes in the ground chicken mixture.
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Lorri, Were you able to make these work in a muffin tin?
Suzy
0The mini muffin tin worked great!
Jennifer
0Do you think these would freeze well, and would you freeze raw or partially cooked?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Jennifer, These do freeze well. Because they are chicken, I would freeze them after being fully cooked. Enjoy!
Mary
0This recipe sounds great for a party. Was wondering if you could finish cooking them in a crockpot in the Buffalo sauce or perhaps just serve them that way using the warm setting on the slow cooker. What do you think?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Mary, Yes, that sounds like a great idea!
Claudia
0I have made these many times everyone loves them great recipe
Kelly Anthony
0Buffalo chicken is one of my favorite flavors, but I rarely eat wings because they’re fried. I am so excited to have a new way to eat it without having to worry about what it’s going to do to my waistline! Thank you for the recipe!
Elyse
0Hi. Is there a recipe for the sauce? I only see a link to buy one on line.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Elyse, I don’t have a buffalo sauce recipe currently, I just use the a store bought one and the ingredients are fine.
Kathy
0Hi there. I found your recipe by searching for ground turkey keto recipes. I had 3 lbs of meat so I doubled the recipe. Made a few changes. I used whole eggs- 4. I didn’t have green onions so I used some chives, parsley, and a grated medium onion. I used feta instead of bleu cheese. I also cut the hot sauce in half for this first time. Perfect for me, but the boys could have used the whole amount. I can get adventurous next time! I served edamame pasta on the side with some marinara sauce. I don’t this this is keto, but the carbs are very low, protein is high, and it tastes pretty close to real pasta- but it is green. Needless to say, we do dirty keto. It is working for us right now. My hubby just committed to this WOE and I have to work around what he is willing to eat and not eat. We have no dietary restrictions. Just trying to eat healthy and lose weight. It is working.
Adine
0Love these!! My husband doesn’t like bleu cheese so I made half with feta and compromised! Great over a salad for lunch or dinner.
Barbara
0I’m from Buffalo and newly subscribed to your blog because I’m gluten free and like to see new recipes. Born and bred in Buffalo and this is the first I’ve seen Buffalo Meatballs!!! Franks hit sauce is a staple in our house and the meatballs – What a novel idea and why on God’s green earth have I not thought of this?!?!?!?!?! Well, I’m going to make these soon Superbowl or not!
To the commenter below who was not bc they didn’t like blue cheese- they can substitute Ranch dressing instead. Ranch and bleu cheese are Buffalo’s best friends and interchangeable lots of times. Or if ranch doesn’t thrill them either, leave it out and reduce the amount of hot sauce or add butter to the sauce to tame it.
Cant wait to try this recipe!!
Kim
0This looks so good. I’m not a big blue cheese fan. Would it affect the recipe?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Kim, I haven’t tried them without it. It might work, but the heat might be overpowering without the cheese to balance it out. Let me know if you try, and how that goes!
Shauna Skinner
0Thank you so much for this recipe! We are a nut free family (my son is very allergic) and many of the grain-free options have almond flour in them (which is like death at my house! ha!). So I was eager and happy to find this recipe! Making it now!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you, Shauna! I’m glad the recipe is helpful for your nut-free family!
Nikki
0Is there anything you can substitute for the blue cheese?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Nikki, Any crumbled soft cheese, like goat cheese or feta, would also work. Of course the flavor would be different based on the type of cheese you choose.
Christy
0I’m with you… love buffalo sauce, on anything except wings! Can’t wait to try this.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I’m glad I’m not the only one! 🙂
KalynsKitchen
0Hi Maya,
Just letting you know I featured these meatballs today in my weekly Low-Carb Recipe Love on Fridays post, which was all about low-carb meatballs today. (And I leave these comments partly so I can tell I’ve featured this recipe, in case I find it again!) Hope a lot of my readers will try the meatballs!
Rachel Pierson
0Hi Maya,
Just wondering — in the directions it says “barely done.” Does that mean almost done or close to raw?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Rachel, it means almost done. Hope this helps!
Francia
0How many meatballs are in a serving?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Francia, The nutrition info is for 4 meatballs, about 1″ to 1.5″ in diameter. Hope this helps!
Caroline D'Elia
0I had run out of greaseproof paper and was worried that the rather sloppy meatball mixture would really stick badly to the baking pan, so I microwaved them in two to three batches until pale looking and half cooked for a couple of minutes on each side and finished cooking them in an ovenproof dish until slightly browned . This worked well, and they didn’t stick to the base this way, and when I make them again I’ll do it this way again. I added some Italian mixed herbs. The meatballs were tasty although a weany bit on the dry side and they really need some sort of sauce to make them more palatable.. We ate them with soured cream and fresh tomato salsa as this is what we happened to have in the fridge and this combination worked well. I was thinking that if they weren’t eaten up then the dog can eat them for breakfast, However, they were a hit and we only had four meatballs left over to save for the dog’s breakfast.. I’d give this meatball recipe 9 stars out of 10.
Maya
0Thank you for the feedback, Caroline! The meat would dry out in the microwave more than it would in the oven, but it’s a good compromise to partially bake them if you don’t have parchment paper. Foil that is greased well would probably also work. I do usually serve these with blue cheese dressing (as shown in the picture), or you can drizzle more of the cayenne pepper sauce and olive oil mixture on top of them if you want more moisture and don’t mind the extra heat. They’ll definitely work with any herbs that you like – Italian herbs sounds delicious. I’m glad you liked these and am so happy that you came by to share how the recipe went for you. Thank you so much!