ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

How to Make Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Updated on April 5, 2018
Justin P Richards profile image

I have been cooking for years and hosted a cooking podcast called "Kinds of Cooking." I love baking bread and cooking just about anything.

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs, the party favorite you never knew existed!
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs, the party favorite you never knew existed!

Chicken Meatballs

Recently my wife and I have been eating less meat. We generally only eat meat on the weekends and it is more of a treat to us that an everyday or every meal staple in our diet.

The problem is, when we decided to do this, I had previously purchased a lot, and I mean a lot, of chicken when it was on sale. So our freezer was packed with chicken breasts, boneless chicken thighs, bone-in chicken thighs and chicken wings. It was crazy. Thankfully my meat buying was pretty limited to chicken, so I didn't have an excess of other random meats also taking up space in the freezer.

The second problem I have had is that it's been cold here in Pennsylvania. This winter started early November 2017 and is still going strong early April 2018. Normally I would bust out my BBQ/Smoker and smoke some wings or chicken thighs and be done with it over a few weekends. But with the extended cold I have not been in the mood for spending excessive amounts of time outside.

Lastly, I have had people over a few times in the past month and needed to make some finger food. I like being creative so I started looking for ideas. After a little bit of searching I came across chicken meatballs. I had never heard of and never made chicken meatballs, but with pounds and pounds of chicken I was ready for the experiment.

Have you ever made Chicken Meatballs?

See results

The ingredientsfor success!

Doing it from Scratch

As you may have noted above, I have a lot of chicken. You make have also noted that I did not mention that I had a lot of ground chicken. That's because I didn't and don't. But fate was kind to me. I had recently come into possession (I bought) of a kitchen aid meat grinder, so now was the time to put it to use and turn all that regular chicken into meatball chicken!

As you can see from the picture above I cut up about two pounds of chicken (consisting of chicken breasts and thighs) for use in this recipe. Chicken breast is my least favorite cut of chicken, so I used it here just to get rid of it. I trimmed off most of the skin from the thighs and most of the fat as well.

I have done this two ways now, simply grind the chicken and then add the spices and also adding everything together and grinding all at once, which effectively mixes in the spices as well. I prefer the latter method and that is the one I am showcasing in this article.

After mixing the chicken and spices together it's time for the grinder!

Chicken mixed with the spices, ready to grind!
Chicken mixed with the spices, ready to grind!

Meat Grinder

In the video above I show how the meat grinder is in action. I was told by many people that for large jobs the kitchen aid meat grinder might be a little laborious, and I can see why. But for smaller jobs like this it is perfect! I have nothing but good things to say about using it and will continue to use it in the future!

Now, this is obviously a step that is not needed in making your meatballs. You can make your life easier by just buying ground chicken at the store. The difference is in the price. I got all my chicken for .99 or less a pound. Pre-ground chicken will never be at that price.

With the meat grinder paid for, I will make sure to get as much use and money out of it as possible!

Add the last two ingredients and mix!
Add the last two ingredients and mix!

After everything is ground, we will add the last two ingredients. While you could probably add the egg and bread crumbs before grinding, I prefer to do it after. I feel like I got a better mix that way.

Once everything is done start making meatballs! I think I made about 20 large meatballs for this but you could do more at a smaller size or less at a larger size. I prepped mine the day before cooking so they went into the fridge overnight (I suggest this - prep the meatballs the night before and you'll have everything ready when it's cooking time).

Prep the meatballs the night before!
Prep the meatballs the night before!
Next up the sauce!
Next up the sauce!

Let's get the sauce ready!

Now that it's cooking time you need to prep your sauce. I went heavy on buffalo sauce and hotness, but you don't have too. In all honesty though, my next try with these will be even heavier on the buffalo sauce and less with other ingredients.

For this use a mixture of spices you will like. I used Franks Red Hot Wing Sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, garlic powder, salt, pepper and red chili flakes.

Combine all these in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce heat to a simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes then remove from heat and allow to cool. Next time I might reduce the amount of sugar used in the sauce, but after cooling for about 30 minutes it starts to thicken and I could almost spoon it directly into my mouth. It really is that good. The only reason I will change it next time is to make sure it has move buffalo flavor and hotness!

With the sauce cooled it is time to cook. You can probably find similar recipes that will have you bake in the oven, but if you want really great flavor, do it on the stove top in a cast iron skillet. Place the meatballs in the skillet and cook on medium high temp, as they are cooking, slather the sauce all over them. Continuously, and carefully, turn them to make sure the cook evenly! Make sure they get to 165 degrees F to be cooked completely.


Start Cooking!
Start Cooking!
Start Slathering!
Start Slathering!

I love the video above. There is something just so soothing about cooking with cast iron.

Once everything is cooked serve these with some celery, carrots and blue cheese! They are really pretty amazing. I made two batches and they were destroyed. If had know I would have made more!

The best part is that this can be versatile. Serve them as finger food like I did, or making make a buffalo chicken meatball sandwich? Maybe even a salad topped with blue cheese dressing? Do you have any other ideas for it? Let me know in the comments. I will continue to experiment with this recipe. It was truly a crowd pleaser and if you go the route of buying the chicken pre-ground it is very easy to make!

Rate My Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

5 stars from 1 rating of Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Cook Time

Prep time: 1 hour 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Ready in: 1 hour 45 min
Yields: 20 large meatballs

Ingredients - Meatballs

  • 2 pounds chicken, ground
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • 3 TBS garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 2 eggs
  • For the Sauce For the Sauce
  • 1 cup Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 cup Wing Sauce or Hot Sauce
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 2 TBS Apple Cider Vinegar

Instructions

  1. Start by prepping your Meatballs. Add all the top ingredients to a large bowl (chicken, bread crumbs, garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper, onion powder, paprika and eggs) and mix throughly.
  2. Separate into 20 large meatballs. If prepping the night before place in the fridge until ready to cook.
  3. About an hour before cooking, add all the ingredients for sauce to a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
  4. Place meatballs in a preheated (medium high) large cast iron skillet. Brush with sauce and cook. Turn and and continue to burst with sauce until the sauce is gone and the meatballs are cooked (internal temp to 165 degrees F).
  5. Serve with celery, carrots and blue cheese and reap the praise of your friends and family.
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)