🍋🧀🎉 These Chicken Piccata Meatballs are a fun twist on the classic Italian dish, featuring tender, juicy chicken meatballs simmered in a bright and tangy lemon-butter sauce with capers. EASY, ready in 30 minutes, and are definitely restaurant-worthy! Since meatballs freeze well, you can double the batch and freeze half.
Easy Chicken Piccata Meatballs Recipe
- Who doesn’t love a good meatball recipe! These aren’t just any meatballs though – they’re inspired by classic chicken piccata. Tender, juicy, and you’ll be tempted to have ‘just one more’!
- Rather than using chicken breasts, to make these homemade chicken meatballs I used ground chicken that I mixed with Italian breadcrumbs, Parmesan, garlic, and an egg.
- After searing the meatballs, I let them bathe in a lemon-butter and garlic sauce similar to traditional chicken piccata. The sauce also includes chicken broth and dry white wine for an extra rich depth of flavor. If you don’t want to use wine, you can use extra broth.
- Garnishing with capers and fresh parsley is the final touch on these easy ground chicken meatballs.
- I also have a One Pan Chicken Piccata and Orzo recipe that went viral on Pinterest and Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata in case you’re a piccata fan!
Ingredients in Lemon Butter Chicken Piccata Meatballs
Meatballs: Ground chicken breast, Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, egg, garlic, onion powder, parsley, salt, pepper are what you’ll want to have on hand. These are pretty standard meatball ingredients. If you’d like to sub ground turkey (or ground pork) for some of the ground chicken, you can.
Sauce: Olive oil, unsalted butter, garlic, low sodium chicken broth, dry white wine (such as a chardonnay, pinot grigio, or sauvignon blanc – use extra chicken broth in lieu of wine if you avoid alcohol), lemon juice, capers, kosher salt, pepper, and fresh parsley.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make Homemade Chicken Meatballs in a Skillet
- Make the meatballs by adding the meatball ingredients to a large bowl, lightly mixing, and scooping into 1 1/2-inch balls. Tips – Use a 2-tablespoon scoop so they’re uniform in size and cook uniformly. Lightly moisten your hands with water or oil before rolling the meatballs to prevent the mixture from sticking.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet, add the meatballs, and cook over medium-high heat to sear and cook through, turning as necessary; set aside. Tip – Cook the meatballs in batches if necessary to get an even golden crust and prevent overcrowding. Overcrowding lowers the overall temperature, leading to steaming instead of browning.
- Make the sauce by adding the olive oil, butter, and then the garlic. Tip – After removing the meatballs, scrape up the browned bits in the pan (do not wipe them out or discard!) when making the sauce they add extra depth of flavor!
- Stir in the broth, wine, lemon juice, capers, salt, pepper, whisk and simmer for 5 minutes over medium heat, add the meatballs and cook and flip for another 3 minute to absorb the flavor of the piccata sauce. If you want more lemon flavor, use a bit of lemon zest.
- Taste the sauce, season additionally if desired, garnish with fresh herbs, and serve!
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for step-by-step photos and process shots of the cooking process.
what to serve with chicken meatball recipe
Chicken Piccata Meatballs
🍋🧀🎉 A fun twist on the classic Italian dish, featuring tender, juicy chicken meatballs simmered in a bright and tangy lemon-butter sauce with capers. EASY, ready in 30 minutes, and are restaurant-worthy! Meatballs freeze well, so you can make a double batch and freeze half.
Equipment
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 pound ground chicken, ground turkey may be substituted
- ½ cup breadcrumbs, I use Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, use your favorite breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, or as needed for sauteeing
Lemon Butter Sauce
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced and to taste (if you love garlic, use more)
- 1 cup chicken broth, reduced sodium or regular broth may be used, noting to adjust salt
- ⅓ cup dry white wine, chardonnay, pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc; or use 1/3 cup broth instead if you want to avoid cooking with wine
- ¼ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
- ½ teaspoon salt, or more to taste (depends of if you used reduced sodium broth and overall preference for saltiness)
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- Fresh parsley, finely minced for garnishing (optional)
Instructions
- Meatballs – To a large bowl, add all the ingredients, lightly mix with a wooden spoon or clean hands. Do not overmix or overwork or meatballs will be tougher.
- Using a 2-tablespoon scoop, form meatballs that are about 1 1/2-inch in diameter each. Roll each meatball between your hands to smooth it. Tip – Lightly moisten your hands with a bit of oil or water to prevent sticking.
- To a large skillet, add the olive oil, and cook meatballs over medium-high heat for about 6-8 minutes, or until golden on the outside and have cooked through in the interior. Turn frequently to ensure even cooking. Tip – Do not overcrowd the meatballs in your skillet and cook them in batches, if necessary. Overcrowding will reduce the overall temperature in the skillet and the meatballs will steam, rather than sear, and you won't get that lovely golden browned crust on them.
- Remove the cooked meatballs to a plate and set aside while you make the sauce.
- Lemon Butter Sauce – Don't wipe out the skillet. Tip – The browned bits from the meatballs have tons of flavor so just leave them be. Add the oil, butter, and heat to melt the butter, using a wooden spoon to help encourage it to melt and in the process, scraping up the browned bits.
- Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant; stir constantly.
- Add the chicken broth, wine, lemon juice, capers, salt, pepper, bring to a gentle simmer, and simmer for about 3-4 minutes uncovered, or until the sauce reduces slightly.
- Add the meatballs back into the skillet, toss and flip in the sauce to evenly coat, including spooning some of the sauce over the tops of the meatballs; and simmer for about 2-3 minutes or until rewarmed and the meatballs have absorbed some of the sauce.
- Taste the sauce and make any necessary flavor adjustments, i.e. more salt, pepper, red pepper flakes if you prefer a bit of heat, extra wine/broth if you want more sauce volume, extra lemon juice, etc.
- Optionally (but recommended) garnish with fresh parsley and serve immediately.
Notes
Storage: Meatballs and sauce will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat in gently in microwave as desired. Meatballs freeze well so you can make a double batch, if desired, and freeze for a rainy day.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 534cal, Carbohydrates: 15g, Protein: 32g, Fat: 37g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Monounsaturated Fat: 19g, Trans Fat: 0.3g, Cholesterol: 345mg, Sodium: 1567mg, Potassium: 792mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 738IU, Vitamin C: 10mg, Calcium: 142mg, Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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delicious
Thanks so much, Jayne!