These marry me chicken meatballs are tender, juicy, and perfectly seasoned. They're baked to golden perfection and then served with gluten-free pasta in a rich, creamy, sun-dried tomato sauce. The perfect dinner!
When it comes to pasta, there's nothing I love more than the flavors you find in classic Italian marry me dishes. I love serving marry me shrimp pasta and marry me chicken pasta to family and friends because it's so easy and so delicious.
My new entry into my rotation is this marry me chicken meatballs recipe. It uses delicious Springer Mountain Farms meatballs and an easy sauce. That means my family and friends get a great meal, and I'm in and out of the kitchen quickly.
Why You'll Love These Easy Marry Me Chicken Meatballs
- Simple Ingredients: Everything used in this recipe can be found in your kitchen or at your local grocery store.
- Easy to Make: This recipe is quick and easy, with no hoops or complicated steps.
- Rich and Creamy: The sun-dried tomato sauce is rich, creamy, cheese, and full of flavor.
- Versatile: Serve these meatballs with pasta for dinner or on a plate at potlucks!
Marry Me Chicken Meatballs Video
Ingredients
Chicken
- Ground Chicken: I prefer Springer Mountain Farms ground chicken. The company uses no animal by-products in their feed, no hormones, and no antibiotics ever.
- Gluten-Free Breadcrumbs: Gluten-free breadcrumbs hold the meatballs together and help them retain their moisture.
- Egg: Adding and egg helps bind the meatballs together and adds more moisture.
- Seasonings: A blend of smoked paprika, basil, Italian seasoning, and sun-dried tomato seasoning gives the meatballs rich, deep flavor.
Sauce
- Gluten-Free Pasta: I prefer penne for its shape and texture.
- Tomato Paste: Tomato paste helps give the sauce body and adds deep tomato flavor.
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes: Sun-dried tomatoes have more concentrated tomato flavor than regular tomatoes.
- Spinach: Spinach adds color, flavor, and health benefits.
- Aromatics: Minced onion, garlic, and dried shallots add a classic aromatic flavor to the sauce.
- Heavy Cream and Chicken Broth: These work together to create a rich, creamy sauce with the perfect consistency.
- Parmesan Cheese: Parmesan adds a nutty, robust cheese flavor to the sauce.
- Gluten-Free Flour: Gluten-free flour helps thicken the sauce.
- Seasonings: A blend of Italian seasoning, sweet smoked paprika, and dried basil gives the sauce a classic Italian flavor.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for a full list of ingredients and their exact amounts.
Flavor Variations
- Meatballs: You can also make beef, pork, Italian sausage, or even turkey meatballs for this recipe.
- Pasta: I prefer penne, but any short, textured noodle will work.
- Spicy: Add a bit of red pepper for a spicy kick.
- Dairy-Free: Use plant-based milk, butter, and cheese for dairy-free marry me chicken meatballs.
How to Make Marry Me Chicken Meatballs
Meatballs
1: Combine all the meatball ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
2: Place the meatballs 1.5 inches apart on a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake them at 400 degrees for 7 minutes.
Sauce
1: Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box for al dente. Then, drain it and set aside.
2: Saute the garlic, onion, shallots, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, and seasonings in butter and sun-dried tomato oil until fragrant. Then, add the flour and stir well.
3: Add the chicken broth, heavy cream, and spinach to the pan and cook until the sauce begins to thicken.
4: Add the parmesan cheese and stir until melted. Then, add the meatballs and simmer on low until creamy.
5: Serve the meatballs on skewers as an appetizer, or gently stir in the noodles, garnish with basil, and enjoy.
Hint
Cook the vegetables on medium heat so the onions, garlic, and shallots get soft and aromatic without burning or browning.
Storage
Refrigerate these marry me chicken meatballs for up to 3 days in an air-tight container. Because they're made with cream sauce, I don't recommend freezing them.
To reheat the meatballs, cook them in a saucepan over medium-low heat until heated through or microwave them at 30-second intervals.
What to Serve with Marry Me Chicken Meatball Pasta
This is a hearty, complete meal, so I recommend keeping things light with some garlic bread or a simple salad.
Lighter desserts work better with this hearty meal, so try cookies like pretzel chocolate chip cookies, Reese's peanut butter cookies, or Italian rainbow cookies.
Tips for the Best Marry Me Italian Chicken Meatball Recipe
- Use food-safe gloves coated with olive oil to easily mix the meatball ingredients.
- Be sure to give the meatballs plenty of room so the air can circulate around them while they bake.
- DO NOT let your cream sauce come to a boil. It will break. Keep the sauce at a low simmer.
- Cook the pasta to al dente or even a bit less. This ensures that the heat from the sauce doesn't overcook the pasta and make it mushy.
- To avoid dry meatballs, mix them meat and other ingredients until combined, then stop.
More Delicious Pasta Recipes
- Steak Pasta Alfredo
- Chicken and Sausage Pasta
- Past and Pork Chops
- Jerk Shrimp Pasta
- Chicken Bacon Mushroom Pasta
- Cajun Creamy Shrimp Pasta
- Buffalo Chicken Pasta
- Pasta with Chorizo and Chicken
- Saint Joseph's Day Pasta
- Creamy Chicken Vodka Pasta
- Chicken Garlic Parmesan Pasta
- Blackened Chicken Alfredo
Frequently Asked Questions
Dry meatballs are most often the result of overmixing. Similarly to dough, if you overmix ground meat, it will get tough and dry. This is because working the meat too much activates the proteins. Once activated, they contract too much during cooking, squeezing the moisture out of the meatballs.
Cream sauce can be touchy. You cannot let it come to a boil. It's important to keep the sauce at a low simmer so the ingredients cook but the sauce doesn't break.
They key to perfectly cooked pasta added to sauce is cooking it to al dente or a little less. Keeping the pasta on the firm side ensures that the heat from the sauce doesn't overcook it and make it mushy.
Related
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📖 Recipe
Marry Me Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
Chicken Meatballs
- 1 lb Ground Chicken
- 1 teaspoon sun-dried tomato seasoning
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon basil
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ cup gluten-free breadcrumbs 1 - 2 tablespoon more if the mixture is too wet
- 1 egg large, lightly beaten
Pasta Sauce
- 12 oz gluten-free penne
- 2 ½ tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes diced
- 1 ½ tablespoon sun-dried tomato oil from the jar
- 2 cups spinach diced
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 2 tablespoon onion minced
- 2 tablespoon dried shallots
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup parmesan cheese shredded
- 2 tablespoon gluten-free flour
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- ⅓ teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ tsp basil
- Chopped basil for garnish
Instructions
Meatballs
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and lightly oil a baking sheet with a pastry brush.
- Mix the meatball ingredients in a bowl until combined.
- Place the meatballs 1.5 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes. Set aside.
Pasta Sauce
- Boil the pasta according to the directions on the box for al dente. Then, drain it and set it aside.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the minced garlic, minced onion, shallots, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, paprika, salt, and dry basil in the butter and sun-dried tomato oil.
- Add the chicken broth, heavy cream, and spinach. Stir well and cook until the sauce begins to thicken. Then, add the parmesan and stir until melted.
- Add the meatballs and simmer the sauce on medium-low until creamy.
- Either serve the meatballs on skewers or gently mix the pasta into the meatballs and sauce, garnish with fresh basil, and enjoy!
Anonymous says
This worked exactly as written, thanks!
Sonja says
Not sure I want to marry (again), so I won't share these chicken meatballs clearly, but they were so delicious that I want them all to myself anyway. I'm greedy like that.
NKendrick says
hahaha!! Same girl...same lol