Juicy and flavorful Chicken Sausage Meatballs to go with almost any Italian themed sides.
There’s something about meatballs. Perfect for a versatile, easy meal yet also the perfect star to complete a more involved and homestyle dish.
I almost always have meatballs in some form or another in the freezer: turkey meatballs, beef, pork, combinations of the above. I’ve been known to heat some up to serve on top of mac ‘n cheese for an easy dinner. Yet when I have more time I also love cooking them in sauce or roasting them to top a pasta, farro, or quinoa dish.
With as many meatballs as I eat, I was looking for some that would have more pop and flavor-- to have the oomph to stand as the main attraction of a dish and not just a supporting actor.
I tried playing around with different seasonings in beef and turkey: sun dried tomatoes, herbs, garlic, salt. The flavor was there, but they still didn’t steal the show when it came to dinner time.
The Revelation
Then, when defrosting some italian chicken sausage for another dish, I hit me: what if I was able to step up the flavor of the sausage even more in a meatball?
I was on a mission. After de-casing the sausages, I mixed in breadcrumbs, parsley, onion, sun dried tomatoes, eggs, cheese, and garlic.
Without telling Chris (hubby) what I did differently, I served them up for dinner when he got home. After taking a few bites of other things, he took a bite of meatball and immediately exclaimed “Oh man, this is good!” And I knew I had reached my goal.
Serve these beauties on top of butternut squash farro (soon to come) with top it all with crispy parmesan breadcrumbs or go more simple and serve these up with garlicky angel hair pasta.
Cooking Notes:
- I like my meatballs more rustic with larger chunks of onion. It's still finely diced but it doesn't blend in entirely. If you want your meatballs more uniform, grate your onion.
- Use gluten free panko to make these guys gluten free.
Juicy Chicken Sausage Meatballs
Make these delicious and satisfying meatballs in under 50 minutes. Perfect for a weeknight dinner in or dinner party with friends.
Ingredients
- 1 lb Italian chicken sausage, removed from casings; sweet or hot sausage is okay
- ½ c. panko breadcrumbs, use gluten free to make this recipe gluten free
- 1 large egg
- 1 T. finely chopped flat leaf parsley
- 1 small onion, chopped (or about ½ c. chopped onion), Grate your onion if you want your meatballs more uniform
- 2 T. sun dried tomatoes in oil; finely chopped
- ¼ c. grated parmesan cheese
- Cracked black pepper to season
- 1 clove garlic, finely diced
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 T. olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425. In a large bowl, combine the sausage through the salt. Mix well with your hands until thoroughly combined.
- Roll out meatballs into 2 ½ T size balls. Place on a small baking sheet or dinner plate and chill meatballs in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- Heat 2 T oil in a bottomed and ovenproof skillet-- I use cast iron-- over medium to medium high heat. Once oil sputters when flicked with water, add meatballs to the skillet. Saute for 8-10 minutes, turning every 2-3 minutes to brown all the sides and being careful when flipping them to retain their shape.
- Flip meatballs one more time and move skillet to the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until meatballs have clear juice when cut open or have reached 165 degrees with a thermometer.
- Serve warm, over garlic angel hair pasta (linked) or over butternut squash farro (link) with crispy crunchy cheesy breadcrumbs.
Notes
You can chill the meatballs longer -- up to a day -- before cooking
Nutrition Information
Yield
8Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 266Total Fat 16gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 69mgSodium 792mgCarbohydrates 9gFiber 1gSugar 2gProtein 19g
This nutrition breakdown is just an estimate of the nutritional value of this recipe and cannot be taken as facts. The owners of Mae's Menu are not nutritionists or dietitians and therefore cannot be held accountable for this nutrition estimate. Please contact your nutritionist or medical professional for a nutritional breakdown of this food. Furthermore, this food is not intended to prevent, diagnose, cure, or treat any disease.
Lindsey says
Hi! It looks like there is an egg in the photo but not in the recipe. Is that needed here? Thanks!
Mae's Menu says
Yes, it is! The egg should be mixed in with the rest of the ingredients.