Marry Me Chicken Meatballs
Creamy Marry Me Chicken Meatballs is an all-in-one skillet dinner made with homemade chicken meatballs simmered in a creamy sauce with sun dried tomatoes and pasta!
A 35-MINUTE MEAL
These Marry Me Chicken Meatballs bring together those familiar Marry Me Chicken flavors of chicken, herbs, sun-dried tomatoes all cooked in a velvety cream sauce. It is a simple meal without any of the extra fuss. It is such a fun and elevated way to make meatballs! Everything cooks in one skillet, so you know I love that – less dirty dishes! The easier the better, right?!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
I have not tested this recipe in a slow cooker so it would be an experiment on your part. This is such a fast and easy recipe to make on the stove top that you might be making more work and dirty dishes for your self by making it in a slow cooker.
I don’t see why you couldn’t do it though. You would want to brown the meatballs first in a skillet. Also, you have to be careful about heavy cream in a crock pot because it can curdle so you could possibly slow cook the meatballs in broth, tomato paste and sun-dried tomatoes. You may need more broth to cover the meatballs. Add the heavy creamy during the last 30 minutes of cooking so it doesn’t curdle. Adding more broth might make the sauce more thin so you may have to add a cornstarch slurry at the end and turn on high. I can’t give you a cooking time as I haven’t tested it so you would have to play that by ear and make sure the meatballs reach an internal temperature of 165F degrees.
If the sauce thickens too much, add in a little broth at a time to get it to the consistency you prefer.
You can serve them all by themself, or you can serve them with pasta if you want a heartier meal. As you can see in my photos, I served with orzo pasta. You could also try serving them over linguine or rotini, or with a side of creamy mashed potatoes, roasted broccoli or zucchini, spooned over rice or quinoa, or with a salad and some garlic bread to soak up the sauce.
Light hands make juicy meatballs. If you mess with the gouger chicken too much by over mixing it, the texture turns dense and rubbery. I usually roll them gently, just enough so they hold together.
Keep your hands damp while shaping the meatballs. A little water on your palms helps the meat mixture not stick, especially with chicken. It also gives smoother meatballs.
Browning works best when each meatball has space. If the pan is too full, they steam instead of brown so brown them in batches.
Store leftovers up to 4 days in the fridge. Reheat gently on the stove with a splash of broth or cream. If the sauce thickens overnight, loosen it with broth.
This is not freezer-friendly because the cream sauce can separate.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- ground chicken– Swap chicken for ground turkey.
- Italian seasoned breadcrumbs – you could use panko breadcrumbs if you prefer.
- egg – this acts as a binder to help the meatballs hold their shape.
- dried parsley, dried basil and garlic powder
- grated Italian cheese mix or parmesan – you can use grated or shredded here. They both work. You can freshly shred the cheese or just use grated cheese in the green bottle.
- sun dried tomatoes – all the marry me chicken recipes use sun dried tomatoes in the recipe. It is the one thing that sets it apart from other creamy chicken recipes. You don’t necessarily have to eat them (just pick them out before serving) but I really recommend adding them for the flavor they give the dish.
- chicken broth – if you are at all concerned that this might be too salty for you, I would recommend using low or no sodium chicken broth (you can always add salt at the end if you feel it needs some.)
- heavy cream – Use half cream and half evaporated milk for a lighter version. Make it dairy free with coconut cream and dairy free parmesan. You can use milk instead of heavy cream, but the sauce won’t be as thick. Add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch mixed into the broth before simmering to thicken the sauce up if using milk.
- tomato paste – this really adds depth to the sauce. You can buy the kind in the can or the kind that you squeeze out from a tube.
- baby spinach – Don’t like spinach, just leave it out.
- fresh basil – again, this s another ingredient that is used in all the marry me chicken recipes so I do think it is integral but you can skip it if you really don’t like the flavor.
HOW TO MAKE MARRY ME CHICKEN MEATBALLS:
Combine the chicken, breadcrumbs, egg, herbs, garlic powder in a mixing bowl. Stir until everything is evenly blended.
Roll the mixture into small meatballs and place them on a plate. Add olive oil to a wide skillet over medium to medium high heat. Add the meatballs and cook until they get a nice golden crust.
Once browned, take the meatballs out of the pan and set aside. Pour the chicken broth into the skillet with the sun-dried tomatoes, and tomato paste stir to dissolve the browned bits stuck to the bottom. Return the meatballs to the skillet. Then stir in the heavy cream and spinach and reduce the heat and simmer until the meatballs are fully cooked (internal temperature of meatballs should be 165F degrees when fully cooked.)
Finish with fresh basil and adjust seasoning.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Marry Me Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 ½ pounds ground chicken
- ½ cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- pinch of salt and pepper
- ½ cup grated or shredded Italian cheese mix or parmesan
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
Sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth (can use low or no sodium)
- ½ cup sun dried tomatoes, drained and sliced
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup baby spinach
- fresh basil, chopped
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Combine 1 1/2 pounds ground chicken, 1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, 1 egg, 1 Tablespoon dried parsley, 1 teaspoon dried basil, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, pinch of salt and pepper and 1/2 cup grated or shredded Italian cheese mix or parmesan in a mixing bowl. Stir until everything is evenly blended.
- Roll the mixture into small meatballs and place them on a plate.
- Add 1 Tablespoon olive oil to a wide skillet over medium to medium high heat. Allow it to heat up for a minute. Then add the meatballs and cook until they get a nice golden crust around the outside (turning as necessary to brown the sides.)NOTE: Do not overcrowd the pan or the meatballs will just steam and not brown. You may need to do this in batches to achieve this. Add more oil as necessary.
- Once browned, lift the meatballs out of the pan and set aside. NOTE: You aren't cooking them all the way through, you are just browning the outside.
- Pour 1 cup chicken broth with 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, drained and sliced and 1 Tablespoon tomato paste stir to combine and gently scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom. Return the meatballs to the skillet.
- Stir in 1 cup heavy cream and 1 cup baby spinach. Reduce the heat and let everything gently simmer until the meatballs are fully cooked (meatballs should reach an internal temperature of 165F degrees when fully cooked.)
- When done, top with fresh basil, chopped and taste to see if any additional salt and pepper are needed (to your liking.)
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- This recipe makes approximately 20 meatballs.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
hi can you cook the meat balls before hand and make the sauce the following day.
I don’t see why not 🙂
Quick, delicious and pretty darn good.