These spicy chicken meatballs are high on my favorites list. The hot honey butter glaze is out of this world, and the meatballs are juicy and extra delicious thanks to a handful of spices. These are inspired by our popular meatball recipe, so you know they will be juicy and super tender, just like the original. For more recipes like this, look at our tender turkey meatballs in a tomato basil sauce or these slow cooker chicken meatballs.
Key Ingredients
Hot Honey Glaze: It’s easy and made with butter, honey, your favorite hot sauce, and a pinch of salt. I love vinegary styles of hot sauce, like Tabasco or Crystal’s hot sauce. Ground Chicken: If you can find it, grab a package of ground chicken with some fat (look for 7% to 10% fat). The extra fat keeps our meatballs juicy and tender. Breadcrumbs: I add breadcrumbs for texture. I also love substituting them for crushed saltine crackers like we do for this meatloaf. Milk: Adds moisture and tenderizes the ground chicken, making our meatballs juicy and tender once cooked. Egg: Adds more moisture and helps the mixture firm up once cooked. Parmesan: My secret ingredient for the best meatballs! Parmigiano-Reggiano adds flavor and salt to our mixture. I’m pretty generous with it. Spices, salt, and pepper: I love turning these into spiced chicken meatballs with garlic powder, onion powder, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, oregano, pepper, and salt. The combination is amazing!
How to Make Hot Honey Chicken Meatballs
These sweet and spicy chicken meatballs are super simple to make. You’ll mix everything except for the ground chicken. Then, use a fork to stir the chicken into the breadcrumb mixture. Doing this prevents over-mixing the chicken, which can make our meatballs mushy. I cook my meatballs in a skillet on the stove and love how this method adds a caramelized exterior. You can bake them if you’d like. Use my baking tips in this meatball recipe for guidance. Then, there’s that hot honey butter. It’s simple and so good! To make it, I heat butter, honey, a pinch of salt, and hot sauce together. As they heat, the butter melts into the honey and hot sauce, making a lovely sauce. Then, as you toss it with the chicken meatballs, it turns into a sweet and spicy glaze. If you need to substitute for honey, try maple, golden, or brown sugar. 1/2 cup (35g) panko breadcrumbs or homemade breadcrumbs 1/3 cup milk, dairy or non-dairy 1 large egg 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated, 1/2 ounce 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 2 tablespoons high-heat cooking oil like grape seed or avocado oil 1 tablespoon honey 1 tablespoon hot sauce, or more to taste, we like Crystal or Tabasco Pinch of salt 2Add the ground chicken, and use a fork or your fingers to gently mix everything until combined. Try not to overmix for the most tender meatballs. 3Wet your hands and form the mixture into 1 ½-inch balls (about 1 ½ tablespoons each). A medium cookie scoop helps portion out the meatballs. The mixture is on the softer side, so don’t worry if you have difficulty making perfect balls. Since we want tender and juicy meatballs, we add more bread crumbs and milk, making the mixture less firm. Even though this causes less-than-perfect round meatballs, the texture of the interior is better. 4Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the bottom of a wide Dutch oven or nonstick pan over medium heat. 5Place the meatballs in the hot oil and cook until they are cooked through, the outsides are browned, and they register 165°F in the middle on an instant-read thermometer, about 15 minutes. Depending on the shape or size of the pot, this might need to be done in two batches. 6Make the hot honey butter. Combine the hot sauce, butter, salt, and honey in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Swirl the pan until the butter melts into the hot sauce and honey. 7Pour the sauce over the cooked meatballs, and then serve.
