Chicken Parmesan Stuffed Meatballs

Yield: 6 servings
Prep time: 20 mins
Total time: 40 mins

Ingredients

2 lbs ground chicken
½ cup Parmesan cheese
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 onion, chopped
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
½ tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
½ cup milk
1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
½ cup flour (may need more)
2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp paprika
Mozzarella string cheese, cut into chunks (may need about 5-7 cheese sticks)
4 eggs
Kosher salt, black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
Your choice of pasta sauce

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine Panko breadcrumbs and milk. Mix together and set aside. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine ground chicken, Parmesan cheese, parsley, onion, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, garlic, red pepper flakes, paprika, 2 eggs, and milk-soaked breadcrumbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  
3. Begin assembling your meatballs. Take a spoonful of the meat mixture into the palm of your hand and place a piece of cheese in the middle. Roll into a meatball shape, being sure that all the meat completely covers the piece of cheese. Do this until you use all your meat mixture.
4. Prepare your breading station: set up a bowl with the flour, a bowl with the Italian breadcrumbs, and a bowl with the remaining 2 eggs whisked (line the bowls up in this order). For each meatball, roll into the flour, then cover with the egg, and finally roll into the breadcrumbs.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a pan, then brown the meatballs on all sides. Do this in batches until all meatballs are browned. 
6. Place meatballs on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. While meatballs are cooking, warm up your sauce of choice in a saucepan. 
7. Remove meatballs from oven and top with your pasta sauce. Serve immediately (garnish with more parmesan if desired).

Recipe Tips

• This dish is best served with your pasta of choice, such as spaghetti.
• If you want to make a smaller batch of meatballs, half the entire recipe. 
• If you do not want to use string cheese, you can also use fresh mozzarella. Be sure to cut into chunks (about ½-1 inch chunks, depending on how large you make your meatballs).
• Soaking breadcrumbs in milk helps the meatballs remain moist. It is a technique I use for all my meatballs and really makes a big difference in texture.