If you love buffalo wings, you'll love these Buffalo Chicken Meatballs inspired by the Meatball Shop Cookbook. It's all the flavor of hot wings in a mini meatball!
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The Saturday before Easter, my entire family got together to celebrate March and April birthdays. We all brought food. My contribution was an apple tart and buffalo chicken meatballs inspired by The Meatball Shop Cookbook.
We got The Meatball Shop Cookbook as an engagement gift from my old neighbor. The cookbook is filled with recipes from the NYC restaurant and goes beyond different kinds of meatballs! There's also recipes for sauces, side dishes, salads, and desserts!
We love buffalo flavored everything, so I knew I had to make this meatball recipe first! Before I even started baking these babies, the boo was salivating and kept asking me questions about what I was cooking (that's when I know he's really excited over food).
At my parents' house, I was able to grab the last cold meatball on the plate and got a playful tug on my hair when my guy found out that he actually ate celery (he has a texture thing about celery and claims he hates it - unless it's in a buffalo chicken meatball, apparently).
The Meatball Shop Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
These meatballs are certainly a party pleaser and don't pack a lot of heat, so everyone can enjoy them! My mom doesn't like a lot of spice, so if she ate them then you know that they're good!
The original cookbook recipe was easy enough, but I made some small adjustments.
- Instead of using regular hot sauce, I used Frank's Buffalo Sauce.
- I also decided to add some crumbled blue cheese into the meatball mixture to add some extra saltiness and a bit of tang.
- I cooked the meatballs in our cast iron skillet instead of a baking pan and wiped it with olive oil instead of vegetable oil.
- When the meatballs were just about done, I lightly brushed the tops of them with buffalo sauce just to add a little more color and flavor.
The Meatball Shop Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 4 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce + more to brush the top of the meatballs, if desired.
- 1 lb. ground chicken
- 1 egg
- 1/2 celery rib minced
- 3/4 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1 tsp. salt
- Blue cheese dressing for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Add the olive oil to a cast iron skillet and wipe with a paper towel, coating the surface of the skillet evenly. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, add the buffalo sauce and butter. Cook over low heat, whisking until the butter has melted and is fully incorporated into the buffalo sauce.
- Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool for about 10 minutes.
- In large mixing bowl, combine the ground chicken, egg, celery, bread crumbs, blue cheese, salt, and hot sauce mixture. Mix everything together by hand.
- Form the meatball mixture into mini meatballs that are about 3/4-inch in size.
- Place balls into the cast iron skillet, making sure they sit snugly together.
- Bake the meatballs for about 20 minutes, or until they're cooked through.
- When the meatballs are just about done, lightly brush them with a little more buffalo sauce, if desired.
- Allow the meatballs to cool slightly before serving.
- Serve with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.
There is a homemade blue cheese dressing recipe in the cookbook that's recommended for dipping. I used bottled blue cheese (it was easier at the time and I didn't have all the ingredients to make the homemade version).
If you wanted to make a full meal out of these meatballs, serve them over a salad or with rolls for sandwiches! These meatballs are kind of like having all the flavor of wings without the mess!
Did you make this Buffalo Chicken Meatballs recipe? Share your pics on Instagram using the hashtag #holokahome. Don’t forget to tag me @holokahome!
