Rustic Chicken Piccata Meatballs
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A new twist on the traditional chicken piccata! These chicken piccata meatballs are made with ground chicken and nuzzled in a rich lemon butter sauce. Serve it over pasta, quinoa, or with crusty bread on the side.
Oh sweet golden glory!
Chicken piccata meatballs are a REAL thing. They’re tender, seared chicken meatballs rolling around in a creamy, buttery lemon sauce speckled with capers and sprinkled with parsley to finish. The garlic is there. The meatballs are melt-in-your-mouth delicious. But for real though, that sauce. There may have been a moment (or two) of weakness where I slurped it with a spoon, straight from the skillet because it’s LEMON BUTTER sauce, and it’s so gosh darn good. But then there was also a moment when I went in with a wedge of crust bread. 🤷🏻♀️
Can you tell I’m still trying to cling to the last of winter comfort food while progressively venturing into springtime flavors? Is it blatantly obvious, I can’t make up my mind at this point? These chicken piccata meatballs are exactly that. Bright, beautiful flavors that are balanced.
Warm and comforting like a hearty winter meal should be.
Holy guacamole! I’ve shared a ton of meatball recipes with you guys over the last 4 years. And I have to say, you guys have a place in your heart for chicken meatballs the way I do. Especially the firecracker meatballs! They’re always popular around Super Bowl time! A little sumthin’ for winter (try the Swedish meatballs) and then some for spring, like these chicken piccata meatballs. Before you know it, there’s a meatball recipe for every month out of the year.
And these are extra special because I can serve them over egg noodles for when I want a real weekend treat or with a side salad for days when I’m watching the carbs. And wasn’t there something called a ‘zoodle’ not too long ago? Are they out? Because that was quick. I mean, just five minutes ago errrrbody was getting a spiralizer and then all of a sudden the internet decided they didn’t make the cut this year.
The base for today’s chicken piccata meatball recipe is my go-to chicken meatball recipe I’ve been using for years. I’ll tweak it a little here and there to suit the flavors in the sauce.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE THE CHICKEN PICATTA MEATBALLS?
- ground chicken (or turkey)
- panko breadcrumbs
- parmesan cheese (yas!)
- an egg
- garlic (because we heart it)
TIP: combine everything but the meat in a bowl first so you can ensure even mixing without overworking the meat. Once you add the meat, mix until it’s just combined. This way, you always end up with a tender meatball. When you overwork the meat, you almost always end up with dry meatballs. And I’ll be honest, there are times I throw it all in a bowl and call it a day too, but I almost always end up regretting it. The texture is so much better when you take an extra minute to do it right.
HOW TO PORTION CHICKEN PICATTA MEATBALLS:
Once you’ve made the meatball mixture, just divide them into 20-22 portions. I use a medium cookie scoop (affiliate link) so that all the meatballs are the same size. This also cuts out the guesswork because they cook in the same amount of time. We’ll sear them in a hot skillet, so they develop color. Then, we’ll let them finish cooking in the piccata sauce. This allows them to soak up all that lemon butter flavor.
WHAT DO WE NEED FOR THE CHICKEN PICATTA MEATBALLS SAUCE:
- chicken stock (or broth)
- all-purpose flour
- lemon juice
- capers
- minced garlic
- knob of butter
WHY DO WE USE FLOUR IN THE CHICKEN PICATTA MEATBALLS SAUCE:
We’re using just a tiny bit so we can cut back on the butter a little. Normally to thicken the amount of chicken broth we’re using, you’d need way more than three tablespoons for butter. And those of us that are still hitting the treadmill hard need to save those butter calories for other things like peanut butter stuffed dates! Gah. It’s a gloopy-gloppy addiction. You have to try it.
And basically, what I’m trying to get at is that chicken piccata meatballs are the new way to eat chicken piccata. Listen, I don’t know about you, but I’ve always hated dredging chicken cutlets in flour.
- because who has the time to make cutlets
- because I hate dredging things in flour
So if you fall into one or both of those categories, as I do, my friend, these chicken piccata meatballs are for you.
Seared tender meatballs in golden sunshine sauce.
Rustic Chicken Piccata Meatballs
A new twist on the traditional chicken piccata! These chicken piccata meatballs are made with ground chicken and nuzzled in a rich lemon butter sauce. Serve it over pasta, quinoa, or with crusty bread on the side.
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup chopped parsley (plus more)
- 1 1/4 pounds ground chicken (or turkey)
- 1 teaspoon salt + 1/2 teaspoon pepp
Sauce:
- 4 tablespoons cold butter, cubed
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (scant)
- 1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 cup capers (plus 2 tsp caper brine)
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- MEATBALLS: In a medium bowl, using a fork, mix together all the ingredients except the ground chicken. When the ingredients are combined, add the ground chicken and mix until *just* combined. Just be sure you don't overwork the meat. Roll into 20-22 meatballs using a cookie scoop (affiliate link) or about 1 1/2 tablespoons each.
- SEAR: Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drizzle in a little oil. Add the meatballs to the skillet but do not overcrowd. Cook in batches if they don't all fit. Sear the meatballs for 4-5 minutes, flipping to brown all sides evenly. We'll finish cooking the meatballs through in the sauce later. Remove meatballs to a plate.
- SAUCE: Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the skillet along with the garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the flour and whisk. Once the flour cooks for 30 seconds, slowly drizzle in the chicken broth with one hand while you continue to whisk with the other hand. Add the caper brine, capers, lemon juice, and allow the sauce to gain a simmer. Then add the meatballs reduce the heat to medium and let thicken, about 5-7 minutes. Lower the heat to low, add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and allow them to slowly melt into the sauce as you stir. The butter will help thicken the sauce further. Serve with additional chopped parsley on top if desired.
Notes
- The sauce will thicken as it sits so I'd advise keeping a little additional broth on hand if you don't plan on serving this right away. Serve over egg noodles, zoodles, quinoa, rice, or with crusty bread!
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38 Comments on “Rustic Chicken Piccata Meatballs”
Hi,
Your recipes look amazing. Wanna try this but what to alternate for capers? I don’t know if they’re readily available in my part of the world.
You can use a few green olives that you just chop up finely or you can simply omit them from the recipe 🙂
My family loved this. Followed the recipe exactly except I didn’t get fresh parsley, used a reduced amount of dried parsley. Paired it with linguini. Delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
These were fantastic! Everybody loved them. The sauce is crazy good – glad I doubled it!
Wow! These were so delicious. To make it even easier, I did the meatballs in my air fryer for 8 min at 390. I used a cookie scoop to portion them so they cooked evenly.
Thank you for yet another 5 star recipe!
Fantastic! I made them exactly as is and I couldn’t be happier. I took the advice from TwirlyGirly and chilled the meatball mixture before forming them, and I think it definitely helped to keep their shape when cooking. I served the meatballs over some penne.
This is a fabulous dish!
I have three suggestions:
1). Buy an electric meat grinder. In my area, ground chicken is 4.99/lb. but I can buy boneless/skinless chicken breasts and thighs on sale for 1.99 or less on sale. The meatballs taste best using a combo of light & dark meat; the preground chicken is only white. I purchased a Gourmia GMG525 on Amazon for 50.00 and it will pay for itself in just 3 months grinding the chicken for this recipe!
2). Use a #10 cookie scoop to portion the mixture onto a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate for one hour. This will firm up the mixture and then when you pick up each portion to roll it into a nice ball it won’t stick to your hands! (The balls also will stay more round when you brown them).
3). I like to use a vegetable peeler to remove just the yellow part of the skin of a second lemon in vertical strips. Then I stack 3-4 strips at a time and cut them into julienne strips about 1/8″ wide. I add these to the sauce to give it a nice, bright, lemon flavor (in addition to the lemon juice in the recipe). Those thin yellow strips look pretty, too!
GREAT RECIPE!!!!
My husband makes me make this for him at least a few times a month! This is a great party idea as well because you can make it in a large tray, freeze immediately and then bake when youre ready to serve guests. tastes even better the next day.
Great recipe, I am a huge fan of chicken Picatta! I have been boiling orzo pasta in chicken broth or stock 2 cups stock or broth, 1 cup water and 1.5c orzo. (Estimate you can use more or less of each I uaually use what is left in a carton of the broth/stock) The liquid is absorbed by the pasta and makes a nice side for this dish and you can add some parmesan to add extra yum . I usually use unsalted or low salt stock/broth and add salt to taste.
Wow these were really good but not nearly enough sauce for the number of meatballs especially if you’re having this over pasta. Next time I will definitely double the sauce while keeping butter to 4 tbs.
These are delish! Saved this page straight to my desktop! Thank you!!!
Do you have the nutritional breakdown for this recipe? My one concern is the amount of the butter. Can’t wait to try it, but I may just have my portion with very little sauce.
These are delicious! I have made this recipe a number of times without changing anything. Equally good with spaghetti or spaghetti squash.
The first time I saw this recipe I knew it was a keeper. The first time I doubled it, freezing half (uncooked) for a later date. I paired them with zucchini noodles…delicious. The second time I took the raw meatballs out of the freezer and cooked them from frozen following the recipe. That time I served them as an app. They were a huge hit. Tonight I quadruple the recipe serving 50 for dinner and freezing 100?. They will come in so handy ‘this holiday season. I either have 2 dinners or apps on the fly. Thank you! Thank you!❤️
What a great idea! And thank you for letting me know the meatballs freeze well, I’m sure others will appreciate this info as well 🙂
I made this for my husband and me. It was delicious and I am excited to make it soon for company.
Not only has this become one of my go-to dinners, but it also makes amazing leftovers for “luxurious” desk lunches at the office. Thank you!
Made these a couple of nights ago minus the capers/brine and sub dried parsley. Amazing! The sauce is so good. We ate it on egg noodles. My hubby made sure to tell me 3 different times that this recipe was a keeper!
Made this today for Sunday dinner. I wanted to take a pic but it was to good to stop eating. I doubled the meatballs and froze half for another time. I served it on a bed of zucchini noodles. Definitely a keeper! Thank you!
Absolutely delicious! I followed the recipe exactly, which I don’t normally do! It was great! My whole family loved it!
I’ll be making this tomorrow, it sounds terrific. One small quibble, though: why do we refer to the Italian cheese with a French word “Parmesan,” when the actual name is Parmiggiano? Of course, it’s not just in this recipe, but all over the place. It just makes no sense to me. I know parmesan is in common usage, but it’s inaccurate.
Would it make a difference if I leave out the capers? Not a fan of capers… Thanks.
You can leave them out if you’d like!
OhMyGod!!! This recipe is amazing! I just threw them together a moment ago as a trial for a dinner party I’m hosting. I literally just ate the entire prepared portion!!!! I’m using them as an appetizer with grilled garlic toast to suck up every bit of yumminess. As an appetizer and because I’m lazy, I did everything in a cast iron pan. Sauteed meatballs, exact ingredients, then combined exact sauce ingredients together with more flour for thicker sauce and poured over meatballs and simmered in the same skillet. If you are a chicken piccatta fan, this recipe is a MUST HAVE!! Thank you for sharing.
Hi- I am making the piccata chicken meatball recipe and was scrolling thru the directions and noticed the pic you have of the ingredients in the bowl for the meatball before adding the chicken…there is a dried ingredient next to the salt and pepper. I rechecked the recipe to make sure I didn’t leave anything out and couldn’t find what that might be. Let me know if that was something I was suppose to add. They are simmering now and smell wonderful. Thanks!
I am going to make this because I love chicken piccata, but will lessen the broth by 1/4 cup and use 1/4 cup white wine.
This was absolutely fabulous! Always looking for a great new recipe! Just had dinner and my husband and I are already arguing over who gets the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
Love this recipe. Have made us multiple times and it doesn’t disappoint!
I cannot tell you what a big hit this was with my family! My daughter asked for leftovers as her snack when she got home today. It was delicious! Wonderful recipe, thank you!
This recipe quickly became a favorite in my house. I’ve made it 6 or 7 times. Usually I serve it with half spaghetti/half zoodles, but last night I tossed steamed broccoli through the sauce and hubby said it was the best brocolli he had ever had.
Appreciate the tip on mixing the i ingredients.
Thanks for being such a consistent source of yummy, easy recipes!
Absolutely loved this dish! Such a creative interpretation of chicken piccata. I made them a week ahead, froze them in their precooked state, thawed them overnight in the fridge the day before I pan seared them and made the sauce. I finished them in a 350 degree oven, in a covered casserole dish, in their sauce. Such a flavorful dish. Highly recommended. Perhaps the only change I would make would be to thicken the sauce with less butter next time, but my sense is that seeming excess has more to do with my final cooking method rather than the recipe.
I absolutely loved these. The only change I made was to substitute basil for the parsley, both in the meatball and sprinkled on top. The sauce was delicious. I can’t wait for the leftovers tomorrow.
Absolutely fabulous!! The sauce is beyond scrumptious! I also like the tip to mix the other ingredients first before adding the ground chicken. Great idea. 5 stars all the way!
Made these tonight. They were fabulous.
Family loved it. They almost liked it better as leftovers as the flavors built in the meatballs.
I found this recipe by accident. I was looking for a recipe with spring peas and cous cous which I found on this site. One of my boyfriend’s favorite meals that I make him is chicken piccata. When I saw that this recipe used the same ingredients except ground chicken instead of chicken breasts I decided to try it. I followed the directions exactly except I used unsalted butter and I skipped the caper brine. Just the brine not the capers. It was so delicious and looked just like the recipe photo! It has replaced my chicken piccata recipe! My boyfriend asked me what was I going to do with the leftovers. This is a man who never eats leftovers! He also asked me if I can make a batch and freeze them! I served them over brown rice. I will try the peas & cous cous next.
I have shared this recipe with 2 of my best friends and they agree it is fantastic! The flavors are amazing and they are so easy to make. I am leaving a second comment because when I made them for the buys as a snack, I added some slightly browned pine nuts just for a twist since I was serving as appetizers. I also doubled it to make more…WOW. You have such wonderful recipes thank you so very much.
Made them two nights ago and they were as delicious as I knew they would be. Always looking for a new way to have chicken in the daily routine. The hunny loved them so much he asked me to make them for the guys as a snack. I plan to try them as an appetizer by making the balls a little smaller like a swedish meatball so they can eat them with tooth picks. Will let you know how it comes out. Its the flavor ladies and gents, just absolutely delightful!
Came out fantastic. Only things I did different was to deep-fry the meatballs (after freezing for 30 in deep freeze) and only cooking my x-wide egg noodles for 7 minutes and finishing them in the piccata so they soaked up that wonderful flavor!
Thank you, this was a winner.