A healthy alternative to the buffalo chicken craving... baked chicken meatballs with Parmesan, minced celery and a blend of tantalizing spices, topped with Frank's hot sauce, and served with your favorite dressing. (Blue cheese or Ranch)
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lb ground chicken
- 1/4 cup panko crumbs
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan (extra for garnish if desired)
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup onions finely chopped
- 1/4 cup celery finely minced
- 1 clove crushed garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1/3 cup Franks Hot sauce*
- 1/4 cup blue cheese or ranch dressing optional
- finely chopped celery leaf for garnish optional
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 400°F.
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Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray. (Clean up will be a breeze.)
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In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except the butter, hot sauce and the blue cheese dressing.
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Mix until combined. Roll the mixture into 26 round meatballs. ( I use a cookie scoop and then go back and roll each tighter by hand. The cookie scoop helps to keep about an 1/8 cup even mixture to each meatball.)
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Place meatballs onto prepared baking sheet and bake about 25 to 30 minutes until golden.
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Stir the melted butter and hot sauce together. Place the meatballs in a bowl, add the buffalo sauce. Drizzle with dressing of your choice and garnish with celery leaves.
Recipe Notes
*For less heat, reduce the Frank's hot sauce to 1/4 cup.
These are great served as a sandwich with pre-cut cabbage slaw, blue cheese (or ranch) dressing, and topped with fresh grated parmesan or blue cheese crumbles.