Baked Chicken Meatballs in a Rich Tomato Sauce

Juicy and good Baked Chicken Meatballs made with garlic, basil and tarragon then baked in a easy and flavorful tomato sauce. We love to serve these meatballs with creamy polenta and crusty bread for mopping up the best bits!

Here they are, incredibly good and comforting chicken meatballs baked in the simplest tomato sauce. These are so suited to a weekend dinner with the family choose your favourite sides and enjoy!

Chicken meatballs are much lighter than beef but taste as good and by using the solid mix of meats you can be sure they'll be as juicy too!

The best chicken to use

If you want you can use ground chicken to make these meatballs but we prefer to use a mixture of chicken breasts and chicken thighs that we blitz in the food processor (see step by step photos or the video below to see how we do it).

The reason is that thigh meat is fattier and juicier than breast meat and it'll give you moist, juicy and incredibly good meatballs because let's face it there's nothing worse than a hard dry meatball in a bland tomato sauce!

We've tried this recipe using only thigh meat but the texture wasn't right at all BUT adding in chicken breasts gives them the best texture whilst still keeping all the good flavour!

How to make Baked Chicken Meatballs – step by step

Add chicken breasts and thighs to a food processor and blitz to a course minced texture (photos 1 & 2). You can also use ground chicken and skip this step.

Add the chicken to a large mixing bowl with breadcrumbs, egg, tarragon, parmesan and sea salt. Mix everything together until thoroughly combined (photos 3 & 4).

Roll the chicken mixture into balls using a heaped tbsp for even measure. roll the balls until there are no cracks and have a shine to them. *See tips section for help of forming meatballs.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Add olive oil to a pan/skillet and brown the meatballs on all sides then set aside. You might need to do this in batches (photos 5 & 6).

Keep the skillet on the heat and add the chopped garlic, saute for 1 minutes until fragrant then add the red wine. Reduce by half then add the tomato paste and mix to combine (photos 7 & 8).

Add the chopped tomatoes and water and reduce the sauce for 10 minutes. Pour the sauce into a baking dish big enough to hold all meatballs and top with the meatballs (photos 9 -11).

Bake the meatballs for 25 minutes until the sauce is a rich red colour, bubbling and the meatballs are cooked through. Garnish with basil and parmesan and serve with you favorite sides (photo 12).

Serving suggestions

For us, we love nothing more than smooth and creamy polenta (slow cook polenta not the instant stuff) and crusty bread to mop up all of the sauce but you could also serve these chicken meatballs with potatoes (mashed or roasted), any veggies you like (grilled or roasted) or pasta.

Top tips for making the solid chicken meatballs

• If you don't want to blitz the chicken in a food processor then ground chicken will work fine go for the same weight of ground meat.
• You can add different herbs and spices to the sauce or meatball mixture to change it up.
• When shaping the meatballs use wet hands to stop the meat sticking to you then roll them in the palms of your hands until there are no or few cracks and the meatball takes on a shine.
• Use the highest quality tomatoes you can get your hands on for making the tomato sauce for best flavor and results. Cheaper brands won't taste nice and will give you a watery and bland sauce.
• Leftover meatballs can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days then reheat either on the stove or in the oven until piping hot all the way through. You may need to add a splash of water to the sauce if it has thickened or add them to a fresh sauce.
• You can also freeze these meatballs in suitable containers.

More recipes you might like

• Juicy Italian Meatballs In A Rich Tomato Sauce (Polpette)
• Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs
• Chicken Cacciatore: Pollo alla Cacciatora
• Italian Baked Chicken Thighs
• Pistachio Crusted Chicken with Arugula Salad

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

For the Chicken Meatballs

• 1.6 lbs (750g) Chicken (we use half chicken breasts and half thighs* see notes)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup (60g) breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp fresh tarragon (finely chopped)
• 1 tbsp parmesan (freshly grated)
• Salt and pepper

For the Tomato Sauce

• 1 garlic clove (finely chopped or minced)
• 1/2 cup (125ml) red wine
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 26 oz (800g) canned chopped tomatoes (high quality (2 cans))
• 1 cup water

Method

1. Add chicken breasts and thighs to a food processor and blitz to a course minced texture. You can also use ground chicken and skip this step.

2. Add the chicken to a large mixing bowl with breadcrumbs, egg, tarragon, parmesan and sea salt. Mix everything together until thoroughly combined.

3. Roll the chicken mixture into balls using a heaped tbsp for even measure. Make sure to roll the balls until there are no cracks and have a shine to them. *See tips section for help of forming meatballs.

4. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.

5. Add olive oil to a pan/skillet and brown the meatballs on all sides then set aside. You might need to do this in batches.

6. Keep the skillet on the heat and add the chopped garlic, saute for 1 minutes until fragrant then add the red wine. Reduce by half then add the tomato paste and mix to combine.

7. Add the chopped tomatoes and water and reduce the sauce for 10 minutes. Pour the sauce into a baking dish big enough to hold all meatballs and top with the meatballs.

8. Bake the meatballs for 25 minutes until the sauce is a rich red colour, bubbling and the meatballs are cooked through.

9. Garnish with basil and parmesan and serve with you favorite sides.

Kitchen notes

Top Tips for Making solid Chicken Meatballs

• If you don't want to blitz the chicken in a food processor then ground chicken will work fine go for the same weight of ground meat.
• You can add different herbs and spices to the sauce or meatball mixture to change it up.
• When shaping the meatballs use wet hands to stop the meat sticking to you then roll them in the palms of your hands until there are no or few cracks and the meatball takes on a shine.
• Use the highest quality tomatoes you can get your hands on for making the tomato sauce for best flavor and results. Cheaper brands won't taste nice and will give you a watery and bland sauce.
• Leftover meatballs can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days then reheat either on the stove or in the oven until piping hot all the way through. You may need to add a splash of water to the sauce if it has thickened or add them to a fresh sauce.
• You can also freeze these meatballs in suitable containers.