
Free: Healthy Freezer Meals Recipe Ebook
Get It NowThis post may contain affiliate links, which help keep this content free. (Full disclosure)
Baked chicken meatballs are one of those foods that work well for many types of meals. Dinner? Definitely. Appetizer? Yep. Snack? Sure, why not? These healthy ground chicken meatballs in creamy sauce are a nice flavor twist to a classic.
And the best part? These are naturally low carb chicken meatballs that you can make using common pantry ingredients! You don’t need any special flours.
Read on to see how easy it is to make chicken meatballs at home…
Can You Use Ground Chicken For Meatballs?
Yes, of course you can! You can do it for any meatball recipe, but be careful not to make them too dry. My Italian-style beef keto low carb meatballs recipe and keto Swedish meatballs actually work great with ground chicken if you want to try it.
But, today I’m sharing a different baked chicken meatballs recipe with creamy sauce instead…
Are Ground Chicken Meatballs Healthy?
Yes, ground chicken meatballs are healthy! They are packed with protein and pretty light on calories.
However, there are a few issues to watch out for if you want to make your oven baked chicken meatballs healthy:
- The binder – Regular meatballs usually use breadcrumbs, which are not really healthy. And definitely not low carb.
- The sauce – No point to have healthy ground chicken meatballs if you load them up in a sauce filled with artificial ingredients!
- The moisture – This isn’t so much an issue with the health aspect, but ground chicken gets dry easily since it’s so lean. So, your recipe and technique needs to account for this.
The good news? This healthy ground chicken meatballs recipe will take care of all 3 of these!
The Trick To Easy Ground Chicken Meatballs Without Breadcrumbs
So, how to make chicken meatballs without breadcrumbs? You just need another binder. Low carb meatball recipes often use low carb flours, like almond flour, but this one uses a common pantry ingredient that doesn’t require buying any specialty flour.
The secret ingredient? Sunflower seeds!
Yes, really. If you grind up sunflower seeds, they make a great replacement for flour or breadcrumbs for low carb chicken meatballs! And, they are naturally low carb, keto friendly, paleo friendly, and even nut-free.
(Don’t worry – I promise your baked chicken meatballs in creamy sauce won’t taste like sunflower seeds!)
It takes just a couple of minutes to blitz sunflower seed kernels in a food processor or high-power blender to make sunflower seed meal. I love that you can do it with such a common ingredient found at any grocery store.
However, if you don’t want to go through the trouble of grinding up the seeds, you can also buy sunflower seed meal here. Or if you aren’t nut-free, almond flour works great as well.
Here is what the ground sunflower seeds look like:
How To Make Chicken Meatballs and Sauce
Once you’ve ground the sunflower seeds, you’re ready to see how to prepare chicken meatballs with them.
How To Prepare Chicken Meatballs
Mix the seed meal with egg, rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper and ground chicken.
PRO TIP: For tender ground chicken meatballs, don’t over-mix the meat! This means stir in the chicken last, and mix only until just combined.
Form the ground chicken mixture into 1-inch balls and place them onto a baking sheet. (You can line it first if you’d like.)
Of course, this is for 1-inch meatballs, so feel free to make them a different size if you want to. The baking time would change if you make them bigger or smaller.
PRO TIP: Work quickly while the ground chicken meat is still cold and use only your fingertips to shape the balls. If possible, use a cookie scoop. All of these things are to avoid warming up the meat, which would result in tougher meatballs.
How To Bake Chicken Meatballs
Now, just pop the ground chicken meatballs in the oven. Check the section below on how long to bake chicken meatballs for more tricks on that!
How To Make Chicken Meatballs With Creamy Sauce
While the meatballs are baking, make the creamy sauce. Simply combine heavy cream, fresh rosemary, ground thyme, minced garlic, sea salt and black pepper in a saucepan. Simmer until the sauce thickens.
The time needed to thicken will vary based on the temperature and size of your saucepan, but usually it’s about 10 to 15 minutes.
How to tell the sauce is done: it will coat the back of a spoon!
How Long To Bake Chicken Meatballs
How long do I bake chicken meatballs? What temperature to bake chicken meatballs? These two questions are related!
I like to use a higher temperature, so that they are done faster and there is less time for moisture to seep out. This healthy ground chicken meatballs recipe bakes at 425 degrees F, for about 10 to 12 minutes.
PRO TIP: Take the meatballs out when they are almost, but not quite, done! If you use a meat thermometer, that’s around 155 degrees F inside.
Wipe off the liquid on the sides of them, then pop them under the broiler for a couple of minutes. This browns them a bit without overcooking them.
How to Make These Easy Chicken Meatballs Paleo
These are already pretty healthy ground chicken meatballs, but some people would question if the heavy cream is healthy enough.
If you want to avoid heavy cream – whether that’s because of what it is, or because you are paleo or dairy free – simply use coconut cream in the sauce as well! The time to thicken might vary a bit, but otherwise it will work just as well.
What To Have With Chicken Meatballs
Keto chicken meatballs in creamy sauce work equally well as an appetizer or an entree!
- Serve them as an entree – They are delicious over zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash!
- Serve them as an appetizer – Just add little appetizer skewers!
More Healthy Chicken Recipes
If you love chicken as much as I do, here are some of my other healthy chicken recipes:
- Greek Chicken Meal Prep Bowls
- Crock Pot Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken
- Low Carb Chicken Piccata
- Coconut Chicken Tenders
Want more? Check out all my low carb chicken recipes here!
More Low Carb Meatball Recipes
Tools To Make Healthy Chicken Meatballs
Tap the links below to see the items used to make this recipe.
- High-power blender or food processor – For grinding the sunflower seeds. If you’d like, you can buy sunflower seed meal like this instead. Or just use almond flour.
- Baking sheet – Anything simple will do. This set has cute handles!
- Small cookie scoop – Works great for forming the meatballs. Touching them with warm hands less means they’ll be more tender.
- Saucepan – For making the creamy sauce with rosemary and garlic
- Appetizer skewer forks – These are great if you’ll be serving your healthy chicken meatballs as appetizers!
Baked Ground Chicken Meatballs Recipe
Healthy Ground Chicken Meatballs in Creamy Sauce
A healthy ground chicken meatballs recipe with common ingredients + no flour! These low carb baked chicken meatballs in creamy sauce with rosemary and garlic make satisfying appetizers or a main dish.
Recipe Video
Tap on the image below to watch the video.Like this video? Subscribe to my YouTube cooking channel for healthy recipes weekly! (Click the bell icon to be notified when I post a new video.)
Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them. Please turn Safari reader mode OFF to view ingredients.
Ground Chicken Meatballs:
Creamy Sauce with Rosemary and Garlic:
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
-
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (218 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. Grease it if using foil.
-
In a high-power blender or food processor, pulse the sunflower seeds until they are a fine "meal" consistency. Be careful not to over-process, or you'll make seed butter.
-
Transfer the sunflower seed meal to a bowl. Whisk in the egg. Stir in the rosemary, garlic, sea salt, and black pepper.
-
Add the ground chicken. Use your hands to mix until just incorporated. Do not over-mix.
-
Form 1-inch (2.5 cm) balls and place onto the lined baking sheet. (A small cookie scoop works well for this.)
-
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until barely cooked through. Switch to broil and broil for 3 more minutes.
-
While the meatballs are baking, make the sauce. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until thick and reduced in volume by half. The sauce should easily coat the back of a spoon. If it becomes too thick, you can thin it out with more cream. Adjust salt to taste.
-
When the meatballs are done, skewer with appetizer forks and drizzle the sauce over them. It comes out to about 3/4 tsp (4 mL) of sauce per meatball. Alternatively, toss the meatballs in the sauce for a meal.
Last Step: Leave A Rating!
Share your recipe picture by tagging @wholesomeyum and hashtag it #wholesomeyum on Instagram - I'd love to see it!
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 5 meatballs with sauce
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
Want to save this recipe?
Create a free account to save your favorite recipes!
Sign Up To Save Recipes© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We'd LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂
52 Comments
Elisa
1This was amazing and so easy to make! It was even a hit with my family that does eat carbs. I served their dinner with risotto and mine with some zoodles.
Lynniepooh2
0You sure won’t get any criticism from me because there has not been one single recipe I have not enjoyed including these chicken meatballs. I am simply amazed at the different spices used to make a blah meal into a mighty creation. These are moist, flavorful and very filling. My sauce didn’t thicken but thats ok cause I can spoon it over some green beans and bring them to life. 6 stars
Elaine Nault
0I don’t have almond flour either, I do have pine nuts or what else do you suggest
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Elaine, Ground pine nuts should work fine.
Elaine Nault
0I don’t have sunflower seeds, what can I use instead?
Jeannie
0Hi, would ground turkey work instead of ground chicken .
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Jeannie, Yes, ground turkey would work just as well!
Tina
0Hello! I’d love to make these while stuck at home in all of this snow; however, I don’t have sunflower seeds…Do you have any other suggestions for what I can use?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Tina, Feel free to use almond flour in the same amount as listed in the recipe for sunflower seed meal.
cindy
0Question: for the sunflower seeds, do we measure 1/2 cup of the whole sunflower seeds, then grind and use, or do we grind first, then measure out 1/2 cup? Thanks.
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Cindy, You’ll want to measure out 1/2 cup of ground sunflower seeds. I hope this helps.
Tina T
0I’ve made these several times. I just love them. I make the meatballs and pop them in a ziploc and freeze them. They heat well in the microwave. I sometimes use different sauces to drizzle. Peanut sauce, tahini sauce etc. Thank you so much for this recipe!
chelsea
0I would like to prep some of this the day before. Should I just roll the meatballs and cook next day? Or can I go ahead and cook ahead of time and make sauce the next day?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Chelsea, They will hold their shape best if you cook them right away.
Perri Lowe
0I love this recipe. I’ve made it twice now and it’s just great. I half the salt both in the meat balls and in the sauce and it’s just right for us. I also use raw sunflower seeds. We use it as part of a “fancy meal” thanks!
Susie
0If using almond flour how much?? 1/2 cup as wel
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Susie, Yes, please use 1/2 cup of almond flour.
Leah
0The meatballs were good but I found the herbs and garlic flavors way too strong.
Wholesome Yum L
0Hi Leah. Glad you liked the meatballs. Feel free to adjust the amount of herbs to your liking.
Debra
0HI. I’m sorry, I don’t want to be negative but I have to say that these tasted awful. All we can taste is sunflower seed and salt. Perhaps I should have used unsalted sunflower seeds but that wouldn’t change how strong the sunflower seed flavor is. Definitely not a fan, sorry.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Debra, Sorry to hear you didn’t like them. I couldn’t taste the sunflower seeds at all, perhaps you needed to grind them up more? It could also be an issue with too much salt if yours were heavily salted. Mine were lightly salted and they were not too salty. You might try these low carb meatballs instead.
Hil
0The meatball mixture came vvry sticky for me and it was hard for me to form the meatballs they were like really really sticky so I’m wondering if you have any suggestions to make them less sticky.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Hil, They have a pretty typical level of stickiness for meatballs. You can oil your hands and that will help.
Marie Stover
0Why is this flagged with a dairy-free option if there is no dairy-free sauce instructions?
Wholesome Yum
0Hi Marie, the instructions are the same for dairy-free. You will add coconut cream at the same time as you would add heavy cream.
Tasha
0Can you mix this all together and put in a crockpot? If so, how long do you suggest?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Tasha, I haven’t made these in a Crock Pot, but yes, I’m sure you could do that!
Marcelle
0I already have sunflower meal. Is it still half a cup?
Wholesome Yum L
0Hi Marcelle, yes, 1/2 cup of sunflower meal should work perfectly.
Leqa Jaffer
0Is that ground chicken thighs or breast?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Leqa, You could use either!
April
0I made these tonight and unfortunately, my sauce never thickened. I kept letting it simmer and it never happened. I would have tried a little corn starch but I didn’t have any. Bummer.
Melody Zomonski
0I made this for dinner tonight and loved it. I didn’t have fresh rosemary so I just used half the amount of dried, but I look forward to using fresh the next time. This recipe is definitely a keeper. Thanks!
Kortney
0What an interesting add to the meatballs. I always stay away from ground chicken because they seem to get rubbery.
Rosa
0Hi, I love the ingredients in this recipe and plan on making it tonight, however stuck home and I don’t have sunflower seed :(. What can I substitute it with? I do have pumpkin seeds?
thanks
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Rosa, Pumpkin seeds will work great!
Susie Ford
0I loved this recipe. So tasty and I learned to use sunflower seeds in a new way! Brilliant! The fresh rosemary really added freshness to this recipe. I will make again and again!
Sarah
0Wow, these are delicious! It’s been forever since I’ve made meatballs, and I love that the sauce can be made dairy free. Yum!
Shadi Hasanzadenemati
0I love sunflower seed and never thought of using it in meatballs. What a great idea!
Karen
0I love the idea of grinding sunflower seeds as a binder for these meatballs. Brilliant idea. These were great for making a double batch and freezing some for next week! Love it!
April
0You would never guess these are low carb. That sauce was soooooo good! Definitely a meal we will have again and again!
Katie
0I’ve made meatballs with ground chicken before, but the idea of using the sunflower seeds to help with consistency is perfect! These were delicious!
Emily
0I love these! It’s so nice when recipes are good for low carb dieters and normal eaters both. I like that I can make this and everyone will like it.
Karyn
0An absolutely delicious recipe.. this one is going on my to make again list. I love that you can use sunflower seeds instead of breadcrumbs.. GENIUS idea
Valentina
0What a beautiful and delicious recipe! I love when a recipe is naturally healthy — and this one was so hearty and satisfying.
Karen
0I have been collecting Keto cracker crumbs, grinding to a fine powder, then throwing into a paper bag in the ‘fridge. Now the paper bag does absorb some of the oils/butters but it also helps to keep the crumbs dry (used to do this all the time with wheat bread and crackers.) It works for breading chicken or fish. Do you think this would be OK for the binder in these meatballs?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Karen, Hard to say for sure without knowing what the keto crackers were made of, but most likely yes, those crumbs should work.
Carrie
0Question. It says to mix ground sunflower seeds with egg and cream. I’m not seeing cream listed for ingredient in meatballs. If this is correct how much? Looks and sounds amazing can’t wait to try.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Carrie, Sorry about the confusion. This was fixed on the recipe card. There is no cream in the meatballs, only the sauce.
Julia Nichols
0There is no cream in the ingredients list in the meat part of recipe yet it is meantioned in the method to combine with the egg? What is the quantity of cream please?
Please note I am not talking about the sauce but the meatballs. Thanks
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Julia, Thanks for noticing! Sorry about that – the cream is in the sauce only, not the meatballs. I updated the instructions to clarify that.
Julia Nichols
0Thank you!