Every so often I hit the jackpot and come across a recipe, that with the very first bite, instantly becomes a family favorite! I actually had my doubts that they would be very good. In my experience, I find that chicken often produces rather dry and flavorless results, but these meatballs? They were anything but! These meatballs are far superior to any ground beef meatballs I have ever made. The addition of chopped capers, and heavy cream not only added a punch of flavor but kept them light and tender and made them utterly delectable to eat. And if that wan’t good enough, they are topped with a tangy lemon, caper, butter sauce that has you mopping up every last, delectable drop at the bottom of your plate with some crusty French bread.
Start by making the meatballs. Place ½ the diced onion, ground chicken, Parmesan cheese, heavy cream, ½ cup seasoned bread crumbs, garlic powder, salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon chopped capers, and an egg, in a large mixing bowl.
Use your hands to combine all the meatball ingredients together. Form chicken into 12 evenly sized meatballs.
TIP: If you’re having trouble forming the meatballs, wet your hands to prevent the mixture from sticking to them.
Place ½ cup seasoned breadcrumbs in a shallow dish.
Roll each meatball in the breadcrumbs to coat them completely.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry meatballs on all sides until browned, about 5-6 minutes. Turn down the heat if the breadcrumbs are getting too dark.
Remove meatballs from the skillet, and keep them warm.
Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan if needed. Add remaining chopped onion to the skillet and cook until translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
Add 2 tablespoons capers to the pan. Stir to combine.
Add white wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits in the bottom of the pan.
Add the chicken broth and bring the mixture to a simmer, cooking for 2-3 minutes to reduce the sauce slightly.
Return meatballs to the skillet and cook for 6-8 minutes, turning and spooning the sauce onto the meatballs as they cook.
Add lemon juice and butter cubes to the skillet.
Stir sauce until butter melts and sauce thickens slightly.
Turn off heat and garnish with freshly chopped parsley.
Spoon sauce over cooked pasta and top with meatballs.
OMG! These tender, flavorful meatballs with the tangy lemon sauce are to die for delicious! This recipe will make an appearance on our table many times in the future. Everyone thinks making meatballs from scratch is difficult, but it’s actually quite quick and easy and they taste a thousand times better than any of the premade frozen varieties at the market. I strongly encourage you to give this recipe a try, you will not be disappointed. I promise!
Serve with a crusty loaf of bread to mop up all the delectable sauce on your plate. If you are looking for an easy to make loaf of sourdough bread give Iesha’s Fabulous Sour Dough Bread recipe a try. This recipe consistently produces excellent results and the easy to follow step-by-step method is perfect for beginners and for more experienced bread bakes as well.
Instead of vegetables on the side, add this Easy To Make, Lemon-Dijon, Gorgonzola, Arugula Salad to round out the meal. The peppery bite from the arugula pairs beautifully with the tangy lemon, caper sauce of the meatballs. Yes, healthy can be delicious! This quick and easy to make, refreshing salad, using a short list of basic ingredients packs a healthy, flavorful punch.
A HUGE shout out to Nicole McLaughlin at Allrecipes.com for providing the inspiration for this absolutely fantastic chicken meatball recipe! I increased the sauce ingredients because everyone was looking to add more of it to their plates. I also added more seasoned breadcrumbs to the meatball mixture because it was too runny and wet making it impossible for me to form the mixture into meatballs. I also substituted heavy cream for the 1/2 & 1/2 which gave the meatballs a velvety, tender crumb we all devoured. And that’s exactly what we did, we devoured this meal! An absolutely outstanding recipe! I highly encourage you to give this one a try.
Chicken Piccata Meatballs
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 1 lb ground chicken
- ¼ small yellow onion, finely diced
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp fresh Parsley, chopped
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp capers, chopped
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ½ cup seasoned breadcrumbs
- olive oil, for frying meatballs
For the sauce:
- ¼ small yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 tbsp capers
- ½ cup white wine
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 6 tbsp cold butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley, for garnish
- cooked pasta such as Spaghetti, Angel Hair, Linguini or Fettuccine
Instructions
- Place ½ the diced onion, ground chicken, Parmesan cheese, heavy cream, ½ cup seasoned bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, egg, chopped capers, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.
- Use your hands to combine all the meatball ingredients together.
- Place ½ cup seasoned breadcrumbs in a shallow dish.
- Form chicken into 12 evenly sized meatballs.
- Roll meatballs in breadcrumbs to coat them completely.
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Fry meatballs on all sides until browned, about 5-6 minutes.
- Remove meatballs from the skillet, and keep them warm.
- Add more olive oil to the pan if needed.
- Add remaining chopped onion to the skillet and cook until translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add 2 tablespoons capers to the pan. Stir to combine.
- Add white wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits in the bottom of the pan.
- Add chicken broth and bring the mixture to a simmer, cooking for 2-3 minutes to reduce the sauce.
- Return meatballs to the skillet and cook for 6-8 minutes, spooning the sauce onto the meatballs as they cook.
- Add butter cubes and lemon juice to the skillet.
- Stir sauce until butter melts and sauce thickens slightly.
- Turn off heat and garnish with freshly chopped parsley.
- Spoon sauce over cooked pasta and top with meatballs.
Did You Make This?
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