These buffalo chicken meatballs are tender, spicy, and coated in a buttery buffalo-style sauce with creamy blue cheese flavor in every bite. If you love buffalo wings but want an easier, less messy appetizer, these meatballs are a crowd-friendly option for parties, game day or easy dinners.
Serve them as an appetizer with toothpicks, pile them into sliders, or turn them into dinner with fries and a salad. Either way, this is one of those back-pocket recipes that works for football Sundays, holiday parties, and random Tuesdays when dinner needs a little personality.
Why These Buffalo Chicken Meatballs Work
What’s not to love about meatballs coated in a spicy, buttery hot sauce?
- Leaner Than Traditional Beef Meatballs – Because we use a lean ground chicken rather than ground beef, these are a healthier option compared to regular meatballs.
- Versatile – You can make these delicious buffalo chicken meatballs for any occasion. Great for both football season or a weeknight dinner.
- Great for meal prep – Because they freeze so beautifully, you could make a double batch, add them to a freezer bag and thaw when you’re ready to eat!
- Baked first, sauced second for meatballs that stay together and don’t turn into spicy chicken mush.
- Ground chicken stays tender with breadcrumbs and egg for the right balance of moisture and structure.
- Buffalo + blue cheese = built-in flavor contrast so every bite hits spicy, creamy, tangy, and savory.
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs Ingredients
The simple ingredients of these easy buffalo chicken meatballs can easily be found at your local grocery store if you don’t already have them at home.
- Ground chicken – Lean ground chicken keeps these meatballs lighter than traditional beef meatballs, but it can also be softer and a little trickier to shape.
- Egg – Helps bind everything together so the meatballs hold their shape.
- Italian style bread crumbs – These add structure and help keep the meatballs tender. If your ground chicken seems extra wet, add a little more until the mixture is easy to scoop and roll.
- Coarse kosher salt – Brings out all the flavors.
- Minced dried onion – Adds savory onion flavor without extra moisture.
- Ground black pepper – Gives the meatballs a little background heat.
- Cayenne – Adds extra spice to support the buffalo flavor.
- Buffalo wing sauce – The star of the show for that classic spicy, buttery buffalo flavor.
- Blue cheese dressing – Adds creamy richness and cools down the heat a bit.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Meatballs (Step-by-Step)
These buffalo meatballs couldn’t be easier to make.
- Prepare oven and baking dish. Preheat oven and coat a 9×13 glass baking dish with cooking spray. Ground chicken doesn’t have a lot of fat, so you run the risk of sticking.
- Combine meatball ingredients. In a large mixing bowl combine ground chicken though minced dried onion. With very clean heads or wearing non-powder latex gloves, mix thoroughly.
- Make meatballs. Form meatballs with your hands. Because the amounts of water added to ground chicken vary you may need to add extra breadcrumbs to help bind. You could also use a cookie scoop to make sure they are uniform.
- Bake. Bake until outsides are fully cooked. Meanwhile, combine buffalo wing sauce and blue cheese in a medium sauce pan. Heat and stir over medium heat until combined.
- Toss in sauce. Add meatballs to sauce and simmer. Sprinkle with crumbled blue cheese and serve hot!
What to Serve with Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Just like with regular buffalo wings, these buffalo chicken meatballs would taste great with some carrot sticks or celery sticks. They’d make the perfect appetizer for football Sundays just as is. We also like to serve ours with extra blue cheese sauce or ranch sauce for dipping.
You could also turn these into a main meal. I adore a good meatball sub, and this buffalo chicken meatball recipe is perfect for making one. An excellent weeknight meal or game day snack. Serve with french fries or your favorite side dish.
Chef Tips for Tender Meatballs
This buffalo chicken meatball recipe couldn’t be easier, but I do have some tips to set you up for success.
- Don’t overmix the meat – Ground chicken is delicate; mixing the mixture too aggressively can make the meatballs dense and tough.
- Make uniform sizes – Evenly shaped meatballs cook more evenly and are easier to finish in the sauce without some drying out.
- Use extra breadcrumbs if needed – Ground chicken varies a lot in moisture. If the mixture seems too soft to shape, a little extra breadcrumb helps bind it without changing the flavor much.
- Bake before saucing – Baking helps the meatballs set and makes them easier to simmer in sauce without breaking apart.
Frequently Asked Questions
The key to this is having the correct binder. The breadcrumbs and egg is exactly what we need this for.
Buffalo sauce is made up of three main components. Cayenne pepper hot sauce, melted butter and vinegar with a combination of other seasonings.
This recipe doesn’t require chilling before hand, but chilling does allow the meatballs to hold their shape better.
More Great Meatball Recipes
Whether served as appetizer or dinner, these meatball recipes are all winners!
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken , hand torn into small pieces
- 1 egg , beaten
- 3/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs , or plain with 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon minced dried onion
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 cup Buffalo Wing Sauce
- 2 tablespoons blue cheese dressing , plus more for dipping
- 2 tablespoons blue cheese , crumbled
- Cooking Spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and coat a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. Ground chicken doesn't have a lot of fat, so you run the risk of sticking.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the 1 pound ground chicken, 1 egg, 3/4 cup Italian style bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon minced dried onion, 1/2 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne. With very clean heads or wearing non-powder latex gloves, mix thoroughly.
- Form the meat mixture into 2-inch meatballs with your hands. The mixture will be very sticky, if needed, add 1-2 tablespoons more breadcrumbs to bind.
- Bake the meatballs for 20 minutes, or until outsides are fully cooked and inside registers at 165°F.
- Meanwhile, combine the 1 cup Buffalo Wing Sauce and 2 tablespoons of 2 tablespoons blue cheese dressing in a medium saucepan over low heat or keep warm in a slow cooker or instant pot if serving at a party.
- Add the meatballs to sauce and simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle with the 2 tablespoons blue cheese and serve hot!
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings.
Notes
Nutrition
These meatballs will be on the menu for all our game day get togethers!
I’d make these every night if I could! SO GOOD and easy to make too!