When I first made these for Kenya, he wasn’t quite sure what to make of them. Was he supposed to play with them, eat them, toss them on the ground (usually all of the above when it comes to babies and their food). At 11 months, he was just getting introduced to foods HE can hold and put in his mouth.
The second time he tried them, I also offered them to his friend Mateo who was totally into the culinary treat. He popped them in his mouth life cheerios. Next thing you knew we were all eating them, grown ups included. I may even serve them for my next dinner party on an appetizer tray.

Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound ground chicken
- 1 egg yolk, beaten
- 1/3 cup baby oatmeal cereal*
- 1 ounce Chedder, Colby or Parmesan Cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon Dried Basil and Oregano
- Olive Oil, for pan frying
- *You can also use plain breadcrumbs instead of baby oatmeal cereal.
Instructions
- In a bowl mix all ingredients until combined.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour or more.
- Roll small meatballs and place on a parchment lined plate.
- In a sauté pan, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat.
- Pan sear meatballs until just golden, about 5 minutes, turning once or twice.
- Cool on a paper towel lined plate and serve.
- To Freeze: After step 3, place raw meatballs in the freezer and freeze for 1 hour. Remove and place in a ziploc bag, label and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready, defrost in fridge for 24 hours and follow steps 4-6.
Got it fixed now. Ingredients should show up now.
Trying to make these, but the list of ingredients does not show up on the page…. Am I missing something?
[…] Chicken Meatballs. With these I omitted the oil for frying and baked them at 350, for 20 minutes, covered in foil. They are great to batch cook and freeze. (be sure to let cool first then freeze them flat before adding to a ziplock bag to prevent them from sticking together. […]
Has anybody tried this and not let the meatballs sit in refrigerator for an hour before cooking?
I wish my food came out as pretty as your pics : ) I think I had the skillet too hot, they browned quickly but I had to finish them in the oven. Regardless of my mistakes, my son loved these meatballs. I’m glad that he left leftovers, and I will definitely make this again. Oh. I forgot to say I added shredded zucchini and an Italian spice blend.
I boiled mine in a pot of water.
Any suggestions on baking instead of frying?
[…] found this great recipe for chicken meatballs and decided to make several modifications to it. I love […]
The egg helps to sort of “glue” everything together so I think the ground flax + water egg substitute would probably be the best option!
How could I replace the egg yolk in this? Egg replacer I don’t htink would work.
I think that would work! They might be slightly rubbery after reheating them in the microwave, but I think freezing them after cooking would be okay.
We like to have some things like this on hand for quick lunches. Would it work to bake them and then freeze them (heating them for a few seconds in the microwave when needed)?
I grated in some zucchini for some veggie content plus just a pinch of salt and they turned out great!!!
The oil is for when you’re cooking them in the pan!
I made these with parmesan cheese and the flavor was delicious! However, I doubled the recipe so I used 4 TB of oil in the meat mixture and they turned out kind of greasy. Are the 2 TB oil supposed to go in the meat? Thanks!
These meatballs are delicious! My 11 month old is a picky eater these days and she gobbled up 3 of them no problem. Thanks for the recipe!
I have tried this recipe twice. The first time it came out great! My kids gobbled them up, but the second round I didn’t have as good of luck. The stuck to the pan and kept falling apart:-(
I believe the 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil are added to the meatball mix. The 1 tablespoon used to brown them is in addition to what the recipe calls for.
Hi. The recipe asks for 2 tbs of olive oil. But only 1tbs is used for frying. Does the second one suppose to be added to the chicken mixture?
I used ground turkey and put some onions and garlic.
Also, my child has a milk protein allergy and I made the meatballs with soy cheese. The cheese melted really well and tasted great in this recipe.
I made these meatballs with ground turkey and baked them as you suggested (350 covered for 20min). Delicious! My month old loved them!
Spaghetti and sauce 🙂 with some roasted veggies or salad
What do you typically serve these with? They look delicious. We might give them a try this week. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m sure they would work great with ground turkey! let me know how they taste 🙂
Have you tried these with ground turkey? Ground chicken is hard to find where I live 🙁
They can definitely be baked!! So easy and healthy! Put in an oven at 350 for 20 minutes having the meatballs covered with foil.
Can these be baked? I made these once already and my 8 month old LOVES them!