Chili Chicken Meatballs are a delicious, low carb dinner. Packed with protein, paleo / Whole30 friendly and great for meal prepping – you have to try them!
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I’m not gonna lie. I didn’t think chicken meatballs could be THIS good. Sometimes when you cook with ground chicken it can be dry and bland.
But these Chili Chicken Meatballs are ANYTHING but that. Moist, flavorful and super easy to make – they’re one of my new favorite meals to whip up!
Although.. they’re great for more than just a meal. You can serve them as an appetizer.. as a snack.. they’re great no matter what and even better if you serve them with Healthy Cilantro Lime Sauce!
These meatballs are also AMAZING for meal prepping! (So are these Greek Turkey Meatballs, Buffalo Chicken Meatballs, or Caprese Meatballs if you’re looking for another fun meatball recipe!)
They stay so well in the fridge, and when you pair them with our crispy potatoes and some veggies.. SO GOOD.
My favorite way to eat them is probably on top of a salad. I serve them with cilantro sauce or the buffalo sauce in this post.
Ingredients for Chili Chicken Meatballs:
To make these healthy chicken meatballs, you’ll need:
- ground chicken
- an egg
- almond flour
- coconut flour
- onion
- cilantro
- spices: chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, paprika, salt, pepper
- olive oil
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded box.
How to make healthy chicken meatballs:
Making chili chicken meatballs is super easy.
- Simply mix all ingredients together
- Roll into balls
- Bake!
When they come out of the oven they’ll look like this. Crispy exterior and perfectly golden brown!
How to serve chicken meatballs:
- Straight up – These are great as is! You can totally eat them plain. They’d even make a fun appetizer
- With sauce – This Cilantro Lime Sauce is perfect for dipping these in!
- Over a salad – I love these over a spinach salad with dressing!
- With sides – These are great for meal prepping and serving alongside crispy potatoes or your other favorite roasted veggies.
The other thing that we LOVE about these meatballs is that they’re paleo and whole30 friendly! Which means they’re dairy free, gluten free, and sugar free!
How to store chicken meatballs:
Refrigerator: You can store these chicken meatballs in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Freezing: These meatballs freeze great! Pop the in a reusable bag and defrost as needed in the microwave or toaster oven.
Substitutions for this recipe:
These meatballs are pretty versatile. Here are a few ways you can customize them!
Almond Flour – Almond flour and almond meal are the same thing. If you need to make these meatballs nut free you can sub the nut flour with whole wheat breadcrumbs but they will not be whole30/paleo
Chicken – I used 99% fat free ground chicken in this recipe, you can also use 93/7 if you prefer. Ground turkey or ground beef will work in this recipe or you can try our Ground Beef Meatball Recipe or Healthy Turkey Meatballs. We also have a regular Chicken Meatballs Recipe.
Cilantro– If you don’t like cilantro – just skip it! These are delicious with or without it
Other healthy chicken recipes:
- Apple Chicken Breakfast Sausage
- Healthy White Chicken Chili
- Healthy Orange Chicken
- Greek Chicken Spaghetti Squash Bake
- Slow Cooker Chicken Stew
- Lemon Chicken Soup
Love chicken? Check out our favorite healthy chicken breast recipes!
Chili Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken (I use 99% fat free)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup onion finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro (optional)
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees+ prepare a parchment lined baking sheet
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredient to form batter.
- Roll meatballs into 1 ½ inch balls.
- Place on a lined baking sheet (they can be pretty close together because they don’t spread!)
- Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thanks lady!! They were super yummy!
Allison says
These were SOOO good and so easy to make! Will definitely be a lunch prep staple in my house. I even messaged and asked what to use because I didn’t have coconut flour and Liz got back to me super quick. Highly recommend!!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked them, Allison! And glad the substitutions worked for you!
Katie says
Hi – I don’t have coconut flour, can double the almond flour?
Thanks!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Hi – I haven’t tried this but I think it would work! Let me know if you try it!
Sam says
THESE ARE AMAZING! They’re so quick and easy to make and punch so much flavor. I made for a party but I am excited to do these as a meal prep for WW!!!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Glad you liked them, Sam! They’re one of my favorites too!
Laura Green says
These are packed with flavor and so simple and quick to make for dinner after a long day at work. I made with a side of brussels. Thanks for an easy healthy meal idea. .
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked them, Laura!
Michaela M. says
Love these! I have made these in addition to the buffalo turkey meatballs, and freeze them and eat them with various sides like rice and quinoa and veggies. I would say these are just as diverse as the turkey meatballs. I would say these would be better with more veggie sides because they don’t have as much veggies in the actual recipe if you’re thinking about pairing them and creating a balanced meal. These would also be awesome for kids lunches because you adjust the spiciness and pair them with veggies and fruit the kids would like.
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you like them, Michaela. You definitely can do so much with these! Glad you’re getting creative with them!
Kim says
Made these meatballs with some extra turkey meat and was not disappointed! I also made it a little (a lot) extra spicy! They’re so full of flavor and I love that they’re different from traditional meatballs. Highly recommend!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked them Kim! The spicier the better 🙂
Abby says
This recipe was so good! Since my hubby and I are still WFH I love making these for a delicious protein filled snack for middle of the day. And it does with so many things. Will be making this recipe again!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thank you so much!! We love to have these on hand for snacks too 🙂
Ashley Parks says
This is a meal prep staple for me! Not only do they taste great but they are quick and easy to make for lunches! I typically serve them with sweet potatoes and spinach!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thank you so much Ashley!!
Katrina says
My family and I really enjoyed these! Super easy to make and had a lot of flavor! Next time I will double the recipe!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked them!