Chicken Meatballs with Mini Wheel Pasta is a quick and easy weeknight dinner that even the pickiest of eaters will want time and time again.
Not only is this recipe a crowd pleaser, but all you need to add is a vegetable or salad and you have a complete meal that only takes minutes to prepare. You can even make the meatballs and sauce ahead of time and boil the pasta when you’re ready to serve it. So, when you’re ready, all you have to do is toss everything together. I add the tiny mozzarella balls right at the end because when you toss them with the warm pasta and sauce, they melt and become gooey and delicious!
How to Make Chicken Meatballs with Mini Wheel Pasta
- Cook the Pasta: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta 1 minute less than package directions call for. I used mini wheels that were to be cooked for 7 minutes, so I cooked them for 6 minutes. Drain the pasta and set aside.
- Form the Meatballs: Mix the bread crumbs, ground chicken, egg and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl. With wet hands use 1 teaspoon of the ground chicken mixture to roll into each tiny meatball.
- Cook the Meatballs: Heat a large pot with 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Cook the meatballs for 3 minutes turning occasionally. Add the garlic to the meatballs and cook for 1 minute.
- Make the Sauce: Add the tomato sauce, 1 teaspoon salt and basil and continue to cook the meatballs and sauce for 8 minutes over low heat.
- Finish the Pasta: Add the cooked pasta and mozzarella balls to the pot with the sauce and cook until the cheese and pasta are heated through, about 2-3 minutes.
More Meatball Recipes
My kids have always loved meatballs. They’re easy to eat and absolutely delicious. Bonus fun points for serving them with little toothpicks! Here are some of my favorite meatball recipes on Weelicious:
- Cheesy Meatballs
- Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs
- Chicken Teriyaki Meatballs
- Spaghetti and Meatball Muffins
- Meatloaf Meatballs
Mini wheel pasta is the perfect pasta shape to pair with these chicken meatballs. Its small size makes it easy to scoop up with a meatball and its shape allows it to hold onto sauce easily. This pasta shape is also great for adding texture and variety to soups and salads. Most importantly, kids love how fun it looks!
Substitution Tip
If you don’t have mini wheel pasta or can’t find it, no worries! This recipe works great with other similar shaped pasta like penne, rigatoni, or farfalle.
Chicken Meatballs with Mini Wheel Pasta is a delicious, easy and healthy meal that can be enjoyed any night of the week. Let me know what you think in the comments!
Images by Ivan Solis
Chicken Meatballs with Mini Wheel Pasta
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 teaspoons salt, divided
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 28 ounce can tomato sauce
- 8 ounces bocconcini mozzarella mini balls
- 1 pound piccolini or mini-wheel pasta
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil, julienned
Instructions
- Cook the pasta 1 minute less than package directions call for (I used mini wheels that were to be cooked for 7 minutes, so I cooked them for 6 minutes). Drain the pasta and set aside.
- Mix the bread crumbs, ground chicken, egg and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl.
- With wet hands use 1 teaspoon of the ground chicken mixture to roll into each tiny meatball.
- Heat a large pot with 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.
- Cook the meatballs for 3 minutes turning occasionally.
- Add the garlic to the meatballs and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the tomato sauce, 1 tsp salt and basil and continue to cook the meatballs and sauce for 8 minutes over low heat.
- Add the cooked pasta and mozzarella balls to the pot with the sauce and cook until the cheese and pasta are heated through, about 2-3 minutes.
- Serve.
Made this tonight, and we thought it was delicious. Thank you! I made a double batch of meatballs (to freeze), but then realized that I couldn’t fit them all into the pot! I wanted the extra sauce too, so I had to basically just cook the recipe twice. (There might have been a better way, but I couldn’t think of it in a hurry.) Thankfully, the recipe was simple enough that it wasn’t a huge deal.
will this work with turkey?
Its Such a quick and easy meal!! Best part even though quick its healthy and my 5 year old loves it!!
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Great looking recipe however, I would def find an alternative to the canned sauce!! First there’s BPA. Secondly, there is quite a bit of sodium in it as well. Thanks