Over the past couple of years, I’ve been creating all of the fun ways to use buffalo sauce because this one ingredient takes recipes to the next level. Remember my Buffalo Cauliflower Mac and Cheese? How about this Vegetarian Three Cheese White Bean Buffalo Dip? You name it, I’m probably going to add buffalo sauce.
Making these buffalo chicken meatballs was truly a no-brainer. They’re super easy to make with simple ingredients but are juicy, flavorful, and oh-so saucy. I love serving these with fresh carrots and celery (a classic) plus a big drizzle or dunk of that amazing bleu cheese dip. They’re truly the PERFECT little appetizer for game day, parties, or even your weeknight dinner.
The best part? You can easily make them ahead of time, double them, keep them warm at a party, and so much more. Check out the full post for all of my tips and enjoy!
Ingredients in these buffalo chicken meatballs
These incredible buffalo chicken meatballs use just a handful of simple ingredients and are easy to customize to your taste preferences. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Ground chicken: I like to use around 93% lean ground chicken so that the meatballs stay juicy.
- Egg: you’ll need 1 egg to help bind the meatballs.
- Breadcrumbs: some panko breadcrumbs also act as a binder for the meatballs.
- Veggies & herbs: you’ll also mix in finely diced cilantro, a shredded carrot, diced green onion, and minced garlic for flavor.
- Buffalo sauce: we’re both mixing the meatball mixture with buffalo sauce and tossing the cooked meatballs in more sauce! Feel free to use mild, medium, or hot buffalo sauce.
- Seasonings: don’t forget to season with salt & pepper.
- For serving: I like to top the meatballs with more diced green onion and cilantro, then serve them with this incredible Bleu Cheese Yogurt Dip.
Customize your meatballs
Here are some simple ingredients swaps I can recommend for these buffalo chicken meatballs:
- Use chicken or turkey. Both ground chicken and ground turkey will work the same, but I recommend using no leaner than 93% so that they stay juicy.
- Make them gluten free. Feel free to use gluten free panko breadcrumbs or swap the breadcrumbs for 2-3 tablespoons of coconut flour to keep them grain free as well.
- Get extra spicy. if you love spice (and aren’t serving kiddos) feel free to use a spicy buffalo sauce or mix in some of your fav hot sauce to the meatball mixture and topping! You could also add some diced jalapeño to the meatball mixture.
How to make perfect buffalo chicken meatballs
- Make your sauce. Start by making that easy blue cheese dressing / dip. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve the meatballs.
- Prep your pan. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Form the meatballs. Use clean hands to combine all of the meatball ingredients in a large mixing bowl. You should get about 20 2-inch meatballs. Place them on your prepared baking sheet and then bake them up until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees F.
- Toss, garnish & serve. Add your cooked meatballs to a large bowl and toss with extra buffalo sauce so they’re well coated. Garnish with scallions and extra cilantro, then drizzle on the bleu cheese sauce or place it in a bowl so that people can dip the meatballs!
Tip for rolling meatballs
I like to use my hands to easily combine the meatball mixture and shape them into balls, but you could also use a cookie scoop to help grab the mixture. To prevent the buffalo chicken meatball mixture from sticking to your hands, simply keep a small bowl of water nearby to dip your hands in before forming them. So easy!
Can I make them ahead of time?
Absolutely! These buffalo chicken meatballs are perfect for prepping ahead for parties and holiday gatherings.
- From cooked: mix and form the meatballs, then bake them as directed. Once cooked, store them in the fridge for up to 2-3 days until you’re ready to toss them in buffalo sauce and serve them.
- From raw: mix and form the meatballs, then place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Tightly cover the meatballs with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge until you are ready to cook them. You can prep these meatballs 1-2 days ahead of time. Once ready to cook, simply follow the recipe as written.
Keep them warm (great for parties!)
If you want to keep these buffalo chicken meatballs warm, you can simply add the fully cooked meatballs with about ½ cup buffalo sauce to a slow cooker (step 5) and place them on warm so people can serve themselves over a period of time. I love serving with toothpicks!
Team bleu cheese or team ranch?
I personally LOVE these meatballs dipped in this flavorful Bleu Cheese Yogurt Dip, but if you have guests who are team ranch feel free to also serve them with a side of my Healthy Greek Yogurt Ranch Dressing.
Remember to serve with some fresh carrots and celery sticks for a fun appetizer platter! Bonus points if you have some homemade buffalo wings on the side.
Storing tips
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days. simply reheat in a pan on the stovetop, in your slow cooker on low, or in the microwave.
Freezer-friendly buffalo chicken meatballs
There are two super easy ways to freeze these buffalo chicken meatballs (if you’d like):
- Cook first, then freeze: place your cooked meatballs in a freezer-safe, airtight container or bag and freeze them for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy, let the meatballs thaw in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight, and then heat them in a pan on the stovetop until they’re warm. Toss with extra buffalo sauce and serve!
- Freeze before cooking: you can also freeze these meatballs before cooking them! Form your meatballs as instructed, place them on a baking sheet, and put them in the freezer for 1-2 hours. This is called a flash freeze. Then, transfer your frozen meatballs to an airtight, freezer-friendly bag or container and place them in the freezer for up to 3 months. To thaw them, simply place them in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight and then cook them as directed.
More appetizers you’ll love
- Roasted Garlic Tahini Carrot Dip
- Bacon Wrapped Dark Chocolate & Goat Cheese Stuffed Dates
- Ricotta and Pear Crostini with Salty Pumpkin Seed Pistachio Crunch
- Hot Honey & Basil Pepperoni Pizza Dip
- Scallion Jalapeño Popper Stuffed Mushrooms
Get all of my appetizer recipes here!
I hope you love these easy buffalo chicken meatballs! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs with Bleu Cheese Yogurt Dip
Ingredients
- ½ batch bleu cheese yogurt dip
- For the buffalo chicken meatballs:
- 1 pound lean ground chicken (around 93% lean is best)
- 1 egg
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup finely diced cilantro
- 3 tablespoons buffalo sauce (mild, medium or hot!)
- 1 medium carrot, finely shredded
- 2 tablespoons finely diced green onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- For tossing:
- ⅓ cup buffalo sauce
- To garnish:
- Diced green onion
- Diced cilantro
Instructions
- Start by making the bleu cheese yogurt dip. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Preheat the oven: to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Form the meatballs: in a large bowl, add the ground chicken, egg, breadcrumbs, cilantro, buffalo sauce, shredded carrot, diced green onion, garlic and salt and pepper; mix until well combined. Use clean hands to form into 20 meatballs. Place meatballs on the prepared pan and bake for 12-15 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees F.
- Tip for forming meatballs: keep a small bowl of water to dip your hands in before forming each meatball. It makes it so much easier!
- Once meatballs are done, add to a large bowl and gently toss or spoon on ⅓ cup buffalo sauce. Serve immediately and garnish with scallions/cilantro. Feel free to drizzle or dip the meatballs in the bleu cheese yogurt sauce and serve celery and carrot sticks on the side.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on December 16th, 2022, and republished on February 8th, 2024.
I love how buffalo sauce can elevate simple recipes like these meatballs — that Bleu Cheese Yogurt Dip sounds like the perfect lighter twist. I’ve been experimenting with similar flavor combos over at aivideoonline.com and would love to swap ideas with fellow recipe creators.
We LOVE these meatballs in our house. I will double the batch and freeze the second half for a few weeks later. I am lazy and haven’t made the dip but they’re delish with ranch. Oh and they’re SUPER easy to make!
Perfect! These are good with so many dips!
The meatballs turned out incredibly tasty! It was very flavorful + moist and the bleu cheese yogurt dip brought the meatballs to the next level! I didn’t even need to add an additional 1/3 cup of buffalo sauce after I baked the. meatballs as it is so flavorful! For reference, I used Noble Made hot buffalo sauce which adds a nice kick!
So happy to hear that!
I’m surprised there are only 13 5 star reviews on this recipe. These are amazing!! I baked mine for exactly 15 minutes and they turned out perfect. Going to be making these very often!
Right?! They’re so good! Glad you found them and loved them!
I made this recipe for the 2nd time in a couple weeks because we love it!
So happy to hear that!
Hola, Monique! Me gustaría comprar tú libro. Pero quisiera saber si se puede comprar tú libro en español. Y dónde! Gracias. Saludos.
Hi Ana! I’m not sure yet if my cookbook will be translated to Spanish, but I’ll be sure to make an announcement once I know 🙂
The meatballs were great. Will definitely be making again. I don’t like Buffalo sauce so I switched it out with BBQ sauce. Ray’s Sugar Free BBQ Sauce. Dee-lish-us!!! I didn’t think the combo between the BBQ sauce and the Bleu Cheese Dressing tasted very good so I opted out using it. However my wife loved the combo so that was good. Meatballs were incredible Thanks for sharing.
Love that BBQ sauce! Glad these were a hit!
These are the best ever. My husband and I ate the entire pan of meatballs standing up in the kitchen… not even joking.
Haha they truly are SO delish! Glad you both loved them!
Great recipe and easy to follow!
Perfect app or side!
Soo good, made for my husband and I for SuperBowl, with carrots celery and nachos! They were a hit! Next time I might try browning them on all sides in a pan and finishing in the oven for a firmer outside texture.
Going to make a salad with the leftover meatballs on butter lettuce with avocado shredded carrots green onions cilantro and the left over blue cheese sauce!
Thanks Monique for the endless amazing recipes xo!
Love that! Great idea for the leftovers 🙂
These are phenomal! The whole family agreed. I made with ground turkey and gf panko. They’re really moist and completely addictive!
We served with primal kitchen buffalo sauce and the blue cheese sauce linked.
Thank you as always. Your recipes are so tasty and reliable
Perfect! So happy you loved these!
Great recipe, I swapped in GF panko and it worked perfectly. I made them for a potluck and many people commented that they liked them. Will make again. thanks!
Amazing! Glad they were a hit!
We made the chicken meatballs along with the blue cheese dip to bring to a party. It was a great success. Everyone loved it, and the platter was cleared. It was baked at our house, and we arrived about 10–15 minutes later at our destination. People enjoyed them warm and then a little bit at room temperature (while they lasted!). We would definitely recommend them to others, and we will make them time and time again.
I really enjoy your website with the very well-written posts and beautiful photos and videos. Thank you so much!
These are SOO good. I’ve made them twice now and haven’t been able to quit thinking about them since. Can’t wait to make them again.
We used my husband’s game meat instead of chicken and he is in love with these meatballs!! He’s been begging me to make them again. We were a bit low on Buffalo sauce, so we didn’t have quite enough to toss at the end, but it’s for the best since they weren’t too spicy for our 1 yr old to enjoy as well! Personally, I enjoy the occasional Buffalo sauce, but the bleu cheese dip here really sells it for me.
Buffalo sauce elevates meals, so I’ve been coming up with new ways to utilize it for years. My Buffalo Cauliflower Mac and Cheese? phrazle Vegetarian Three Cheese White Bean Buffalo Dip? Buffalo sauce on anything.
I didn’t make the bleu cheese dip, but the meatballs were really super good. Made the recipe as written, but used Franks wing sauce. Everyone loved them. Looking forward to your cookbook! 🤩
Yay! I am so glad you are loving this recipe and it was a hit. Thank you so much ❤️🙂
I didn’t make the bleu cheese dip, but the meatballs were really super good. Made the recipe as written and they came out perfect. Everyone loved them. Looking forward to your cookbook! 🤩
Buffalo chicken meatballs are delicious!!
Not a huge fan of bleu cheese. Any other ideas for a dip dip? 🙂
Hi! Check out my healthy greek yogurt ranch that I linked in the post 🙂
What Buffalo sauce do you use?
Hi! It’s linked right in the list of ingredients in the full blog post 🙂 the brand is The New Primal.
Cant wait to make this soon for me can i use mushroooms i never had buffalo chicken meatballs before perfect for my after office meals love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work
Hi Ramya! I’m not sure how mushrooms would turn out in this recipe, but let me know if you give it a try.