Chicken meatballs recipe that are baked and have a hint of spices and masala for your picky toddler or kids!
Toddlers can be notoriously picky eaters and it may amaze you how a lovely 9-10 month old who gobbled up any mush you served her can suddenly turn into this spoon-grabbing, projectile spitting toddler in 3 short months. Well, that’s what happened to me anyway.
I introduced chicken and fish to LilS around month 13 and they are part of the weekly meal plan around 3 times. Chicken is an easy meat to cook for toddlers and meatballs are just perfect if you want a make-ahead, freezer-friendly recipe for your kids.
What I love about this chicken meatball recipe is that they’re baked and not fried, yet they turn out soft and perfectly flavoured. On the topic of flavour, I used the base chicken meatballs recipe from Pinch of Yum and added my own Indian touch to them in the form of spice powders and turmeric. Resulting chicken meatballs are totally amazeballs!
They are a freezer-friendly food I always have in stock. They go into spaghetti, fried rice, and rice porridge with ease. The base recipe is also customisable so go ahead and add some shredded vegetables (I’ve tried carrots and cabbage with success) or almond flour, or anything else you’d like to experiment with.
By the way, these chicken meatballs are not just for kids, they totally work for adults too. I often steal 3-4 and add to my meal. Lightly panfrying them in coconut oil makes them taste amazing and like you just baked them up. You can also use an air fryer to warm and crisp up the meatballs a bit before serving.
Find more toddler recipes here.
Also check out butter chicken recipe, easy chicken fry, chicken dum biryani recipe.
Chicken Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients
- 350 grams minced chicken I use free-range, hormone-free chicken from Sasha’s Fine Foods
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs I make my own – please see notes below
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- black pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 200C
- Add all ingredients into a large bowl
- Bring together gently with wert fingertips
- Make into balls and place on a greased baking tray (I spray or spread generously with olive oil)
- Bake for 15-20 minutes
- The bottom may be darker than the top and that’s fine. Remove and cool completely before freezing, if you choose to do so
Notes
- The meatballs can also be made with minced turkey
- Adjust all seasoning to taste
- To reheat frozen meatballs, thaw for 30 minutes and pan fry with a few drops of oil. I find that microwaving makes them dry and rubbery so avoid this. You can also directly add frozen meatballs to pasta sauce while cooking. I also do the same with rice porridge.
- I have made variations with shredded vegetables added like carrot, cabbage, broccoli, etc. A great way to sneak in vegetables!
- You can use freshly minced onion and garlic too but that would add more moisture to the chicken mix so compensate with more breadcrumbs as needed
Step by Step Chicken Meatballs Recipe
First step is to pre-heat oven to 200C / 400F. How to pre-heat oven.
To make the breadcrumbs at home, toast bread in a pan until slightly crispy
Cool and powder in a blender or spice jar. Set aside.
I use Parmesan blocks and grate them as needed but you can also buy grated parmesan for this chicken meatballs recipe. Easy.
Place minced chicken (leave at room temperature for a few hours if frozen to thaw). breadcrumbs, and parmesan in a wide bow. With clean hands, give everything a good mix to combine.
Now add onion powder, garlic powder, turmeric powder, pepper, salt, and garam masala.
Mix again with fingertips until everything comes together nicely.
Make bite-sized balls (the size is up to you, I make them pretty small so I can portion control easily for my daughter) and place on a baking tray greased with olive oil.
Bake in pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes or nicely browned overall.
Serve warm or cool completely before refrigerating or freezing.
Gonna try this for my toddler! Looks yum! But i dint see the egg in the mixing bowl or in the instructions though it was mentioned in the ingredient list?
i must have missed the picture. you do need to add the egg
i love chicken dear and you know i also love this recipe awesome