Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Best Buffalo Chicken Meatballs Recipe – These tender and tasty meatballs are easy to make with ground chicken and ranch dressing dip mix, then oven baked and coated with your favorite spicy delicious buffalo wing sauce.
Why We Love These Meatballs
Love buffalo wings, but hate messy fingers? Or maybe you love buffalo wings but you don’t like to eat the fatty skin. Well, these lean mean Buffalo Chicken Meatballs are just the dish for you!
We combine juicy ground chicken with a handful of pantry basics, including the not-so-secret ingredient: Ranch dip mix. Yep, this convenient ready-to-use package has all of the seasonings needed to make meatballs that really bring the bold and delicious buffalo flavor. It pairs great with the tangy buffalo sauce that is brushed over each meatball, so you get the taste of a spicy wing dipped in ranch dressing in every bite. (But don’t let that stop you from serving with a ramekin of ranch or blue cheese dressing on the side, too!
These buffalo meatballs are easy to make, bake up in 20 minutes, and are sure to satisfy everyone at your party!
Ingredients You Need
- Ground chicken – breast meat is the leanest
- Breadcrumbs – unseasoned
- Eggs – large
- Ranch dip mix – a combo of dried buttermilk and seasonings like dried dill, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and parsley
- Celery salt – adds an extra oomph of lightly sweet and savory flavor
- Scallions – green onions divided, to include in meatballs and to garnish on top
- Buffalo wing sauce – your favorite brand of hot sauce
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Set out a large rimmed baking sheet and a large mixing bowl. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
In the bowl, combine the ground chicken and breadcrumbs.
Then add eggs, ranch dip packet, celery salt, and 1/3 cup of scallions.
Mix the meat mixture by hand until very smooth.
Use a 2-tablespoon scoop to portion out balls of the chicken mixture. Gently roll the balls and set them on the baking sheet, 1 inch apart.
Get the Complete (Printable) Buffalo Chicken Meatballs Recipe Below. Enjoy!
Once all the meatballs are rolled and ready, bake them for 15 minutes.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and brush a generous portion of buffalo wing sauce over the top of each meatball.
Then place them back in the oven for an additional 5 minutes.
Finally, brush additional buffalo sauce over the fully baked meatballs and sprinkle the tops with an extra 2 tablespoons of chopped scallions.
Serving Suggestions
Serve the buffalo chicken meatballs with a ramekin of cool and creamy blue cheese and/or ranch dressing. I also suggest having a bounty of fresh-cut celery and carrots on the side, if desired.
If you are having these tasty bites at a casual party, consider serving them with other classic game day snacks to please a crowd! These Mini Chorizo Chili Bowls, Potato Skins Mac and Cheese, and Low Carb Burger Bites are always a big hit.
Frequently Asked Questions
These meatballs are made with traditional breadcrumbs and are therefore not gluten-free. However, you can easily use your favorite GF-friendly breadcrumbs to make this a gluten-free recipe!
The meatballs themselves are not spicy. The level of heat will depend on which buffalo sauce you choose to brush onto the meatballs… Go with your choice of mild, medium, or spicy sauce.
Using eggs and breadcrumbs as binding agents helps to make sure the meatballs will stay fully-formed and tender. Also be sure to gently roll the meat mixture into balls, so as to not make them too dense.
No, there is no need to cover the meatballs while baking.
These buffalo chicken meatballs are great to make ahead, and keep well for several days! Let them cool completely before placing them in an airtight container, and store them in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
Yes, you can! However, I recommend freezing before cooking, if possible. Form the meatballs per the recipe, but flash freeze them right on the baking sheet for 1-2 hours. Then place the frozen meatballs together in a plastic zipper bag. Freeze for up to 2 months. Bake from frozen per the recipe instructions. You will likely want to add about 5 minutes of extra time before brushing on the sauce and baking for the final 5 minutes.
Looking for More Easy Appetizers? Be Sure to Also Try:
- Italian Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
- Sweet n’ Spicy Chicken Lollipop
- Easy Retro Sausage Balls
- Mini Cheese Balls
- Spicy Bacon Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground chicken
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ranch dip mix packet
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 1/3 cup chopped scallions +2 tbs for tops
- 12 ounce buffalo wing sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Set out a large rimmed baking sheet and a large mixing bowl. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl, combine the ground chicken, breadcrumbs, eggs, ranch dip packet, celery salt, and 1/3 cup of scallions. Mix the meat mixture by hand until very smooth.
- Use a 2 tablespoon scoop to portion out balls of chicken mixture. Gently roll the balls and set them on the baking sheet, 1 inch apart.
- Once all the meatballs are rolled and ready, bake the meatballs for 15 minutes.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven and brush a generous portion of buffalo wing sauce over the top of each meatball. Then place them back in the oven for an additional 5 minutes.
- Finally brush additional buffalo sauce over the meatballs and sprinkle the tops with an extra 2 tablespoons of chopped scallions.
Simple, easy and they are full of flavor. These will replace making wings.
Fantastic recipe, thanks for sharing it.
Excellent. I must admit. I made it with 1 pound of chicken and did not half the other ingredients- excellent that way. Fun when a mistake is a winner
I love buffalo sauce but I’m not crazy about wings so I thought these were perfect! I was worried about chicken meatballs being dry, but they turned out nice and juicy. We had them for dinner and everyone requested that I make them again for Super Bowl!
So easy to make and teen approved! I am amking these again for the Super Bowl, great recipe.
These meatballs are perfect for game day! They’re delicious and bursting with flavors!