Air Fryer Chicken Meatballs (Quick & Easy)
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These Air Fryer Chicken Meatballs are tender, juicy, and full of flavor! They are ready in 10 minutes and make an easy meal or a yummy snack!
Quick and Easy Air Fryer Chicken Meatballs with Parmesan
Air fryer chicken meatballs made with ground chicken, spices, herbs, and parmesan cheese is moist, tender, and so flavorful!
I hardly use my oven to make meatballs after I bought my Air fryer. Whether it’s ground beef meatballs or chicken, I find it easy to make it in the Air fryer than stovetop or the oven. They come out nice and crispy every time.
These meatballs get cooked in 10 minutes. You’ll have to do 2 batches with a pound of ground chicken but it’s faster than the other cooking methods. They come out juicy with great texture and full of flavor, thanks to the spices, herbs and cheese.
These are so easy to make. All you have to do is mix all the ingredients in a bowl and shape them. My kids love to get involved and get their hands dirty in shaping the balls.
They can be served with pasta, zucchini noodles with your favorite sauce for the main meal. I love to serve them with a marinara sauce for an appetizer or as a snack.
Why we love making ground chicken meatballs in the Air Fryer:
- Juicy and flavorful
- Easy to make
- Quick
- Easy weeknight meal, appetizer or a snack
INGREDIENTS
- Ground chicken – white chicken meat or dark chicken meat. I normally use white chicken meat so the ingredients are based on that. If using dark chicken meat you can omit the olive oil.
- Egg
- Bread crumbs – panko or regular. I’ve used both.
- Parmesan cheese – grated.
- Olive oil – white chicken meat tends to dry and using oil helps keep it moist.
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Paprika powder
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Parsley dried – Fresh chopped parsley can be used
Step by Step Process
How To Make Air Fryer Chicken Meatballs
Making meatballs in Air fryer is a breeze. Here’s how to do it:
- Into a large mixing bowl, add ground chicken, egg, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, olive oil and parsley and mix until combined.
- No, take a heaping tablespoon from the chicken mixture and shape it into a ball. Place them in a lined sheet. This makes about 24 balls.
- Preheat the Air fryer to 400F.
- You can line the Air fryer basket with a foil or spray with cooking oil and place the meatballs on it.
- Air fry the meatballs for 10 minutes or until browned flipping halfway.
- Remove and cook the next batch.
- Once all the meatballs are cooked, you can put all together to warm for a few minutes in the Air fryer.
- Serve with marinara sauce.
What Air Fryer to Use
Best Basket Type Air Fryer: Cosori 5.8 quart
Toaster Oven Style Air Fryer: Power Air Fryer
Best Tips
- You can use an aluminum foil to catch grease and for easy clean up.
- Don’t overcrowd the Air fryer. Cook the meatballs in two batches to cook evenly.
- Air fry until they are golden brown or use a meat thermometer and check the internal temperature. The temperature should be 165F.
- After cooking, place the remaining meatballs in the air fryer and warm them for a minute or two, if you prefer.
How To Store and Reheat Air Fryer Meatballs
Store the cooked meatballs in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days.
Reheat them in the microwave.
Air Fryer Frozen Chicken Meatballs
These air fryer meatballs are great for freezing. And makes a great dish for meal prep. I always make them on my meal prep days for their convenience.
You can freeze the Air fried meatballs in a zip lock bag and freeze them for 3 months. Simply thaw them in the fridge overnight and reheat them.
If you’re freezing raw meatballs, place them on parchment paper and freeze. Remove the frozen meatballs and put them in a freezer-friendly bag and freeze them for 3 months.
To Air fry frozen uncooked meatballs from this recipe or from a box,
- Preheat the Air fryer for 400F.
- Air fry them for 12 to15 minutes until they are browned and cooked through. Check the internal tempearure using a meat thermometer if needed.
How Long To Cook Chicken Meatballs In Air Fryer?
A good starting point will be 10 minutes. Check in 1 or 2-minute increments. Mine is done in 10 minutes. Depending on the Air fryer model it might take more time.
If you are cooking frozen meatballs, cook them for 12 to 15 minutes.
What To Serve With Chicken Meatballs
For an appetizer or snack, I like to serve the meatballs with marinara sauce.
As the main meal, I like to serve them with pasta cooked in pasta sauce, or on top of zucchini noodles or cauliflower rice. They are great on salads too, topped with a sauce.
Are Chicken Meatballs Healthy?
Yes, they are. If you want them gluten-free, replace the breadcrumbs with a gluten-free one.
For low-carb or keto chicken meatballs, you can use almond meal instead of panko.
More Air Fryer Recipes You Might Enjoy:
- Air Fryer Garlic Steak Bites
- Crispy and Juicy Air Fryer Chicken Thighs
- Air Fryer Shrimps
- Air Fryer Chicken Nugget
- Air Fryer Crispy Roast Potatoes
- Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes
- Air Fryer Zucchini Chips
If you like this recipe, I’d love it if you can give me a rating and comment! Share it with your family and friends! ❤️
Recipe
Air Fryer Chicken Meatballs With Parmesan
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 egg
- ½ cup breadcrumbs panko or regular
- 3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp parsley (dried) or 2 tbsp fresh
Instructions
- Into a large mixing bowl, mix ground chicken, egg, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, olive oil and parsley until combined.
- Take a heaping tablespoon from the chicken mixture and shape it into a ball. Place them in a parchment lined sheet. This makes about 24 balls.
- Preheat the Air fryer to 400F. You can line the Air fryer basket with foil or spray it with cooking oil and place the meatballs on it.
- Air fry the meatballs for 10 minutes or until browned, flipping halfway. You can use a meat thermometer and check for an internal temperature of 165F.
- Remove and cook the next batch. Once all the meatballs are cooked, you can put all the meatballs in the Air fryer and warm for a few minutes. Serve with marinara sauce.
Notes
- Store – in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days. Reheat in the microwave.
- Freeze – place the meatballs in a parchment-lined sheet and freeze. Put the frozen meatballs in a ziplock bag and freeze them for 3 months.
- To cook from frozen – Air fry them for about 12 minutes until cooked through.
What do you do with the olive oil? It doesn’t tell you in the instuctions. Please and thank you.
Hi Diana, Thanks for catching that. The recipe has been updated. You add the olive oil with the rest of the ingredients.
Hi, would you be able to provide the nutrition facts if we used almond meal instead of panko bread crumbs? Also, would we use half cup almond meal? Thanks!
Hi Amy, Yes, you could substitute 1/2 cup almond meal for bread crumbs. Sorry I don’t have the nutrition info with the almond meal as the recipe card automatically calculates it. You could try this link to calculate the nutrition info.
https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Made these for meal prep for my lunches this week, LOVE them! Great recipe and great for counting macros! Thank you!!
Hi Monica, I’m glad to hear that you liked them. Thank you.
I made this recipe with pasta and basil& tomato sauce, great success! I replaced parmesan cheese with nutritional yeast (milk alergies). Easy to make, fast, really tasty!
Hi Irina, that sounds delicious. I’m glad you liked it.
Thank you for sharing this! Delicious, will become a staple in our home! Newbie here and can’t wait to look thru your other recipes. Thanks again!
Hi Tracy, you’re welcome 🙂 I’m glad you liked it. You’ll find many delicious and easy recipes here.
do i have to put breadcrumbs? i done have at the moment what do i do
Hi John, you can leave that out and the egg too. But note there’ll be a difference in the texture. Let me know if you try it.
Just made these for husband and myself for lunch, had them with spaghetti and bolognese sauce .Plenty left over to have as a snack,will definitely make again.
Thanks Wendy! leftovers are a game changer.