FIRECRACKER CHICKEN MEATBALLS


I had been craving something spicy, yet a little sweet too. And what’s more perfect than food that’s actually somewhat healthy (they’re baked!) and still has tons of flavor but isn’t your regular old meatball covered in marinara? FIRECRACKER. SAUCE. 


This recipe is super low maintenance. And if you’re not a fan of chicken meatballs, you can swap it out for any other kind of ground meat you please. But I do feel that chicken would pair the best with the sauce.
And the best part is, you can mix up the meat mixture from the night before and just bake and drizzle them with the sauce right before dinner. These tasty chicken meatballs are going to be the highlight of the table.

You want to *just* combine the ingredients. When making meatballs, the less you work the meat, the better it is. I shaped mine into 3 tablespoon sized balls. It’s totally up to you how big/small you want them. The size I indicated will take about 11-13 minutes in the oven

The sauce is simple too. Since the meatballs are flavored with just enough to keep them moist, the real flavors come from the sauce! All you need is a little hot sauce (I recommend Franks), brown sugar, red pepper flakes, apple cider vinegar, and a pinch of salt. It’s 10 ingredients total if you don’t count the salt and pepper. The sauce is enough to coat all the meatballs with a little leftover for a drizzle before serving. If you’re like me and you live to dip and dunk, double the sauce recipe. You can even serve these firecracker meatballs with a little white rice and broccoli and drizzle the sauce on there.

INGREDIENTS:

MEATBALLS:

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  • 500gms of ground chicken 
  • 4 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1 ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs*
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder

FIRECRACKER SAUCE:

  • ½ cup hot sauce (I recommend Franks)
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (depending on spice preference)

DIRECTIONS:

Position the rack near the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 180*C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

  1. In a saucepan, combine the ingredients of the firecracker sauce over medium high heat, allow to come to a boil, reduce the heat so it simmers. Let simmer for 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the sauce to cool. The sauce will thicken as it cools so don’t worry if it looks thin.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, garlic, salt pepper, eggs, panko, paprika, and onion powder. Use your hands to mix all the ingredients together. It’s easier to tell when he ingredients are combined when using hands. DO NOT OVERMIX, it will result in drier meatballs.
  3. Shape the meat mixture into ball, about 3 tablespoons of meat per ball. You can also do this with an ice cream scoop. Place shaped meatballs on prepared baking sheet. bake for 11-13 minutes or until the meatballs are completely cooked.
  4. Using 2 tablespoon, dip each individual meatball into the sauce. Alternately, you can brush each meatball with the sauce. Place back on the baking sheet and bake for an additional 1-2 minutes. Drizzle or brush with additional sauce as desired.
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