Chicken Piccata Meatballs
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Chicken Piccata Meatballs in a white wine butter sauce with fresh lemon and capers is a one-pan recipe that takes only 30 minutes to make! It's so good, it will soon become a regular on your weeknight dinner rotation!
For more lemon recipes, try my delicious Chicken Piccata and Pasta, or a big bowl of Lemon Chicken Orzo Pasta for the perfect comfort food.
Why You'll Love It
- 🥣 Restaurant Quality Dish - rich and elegant dish with savory flavors featuring tender meatballs
- 🍋 Delicious Sauce - the luscious lemon-butter sauce with briny capers is out of this world!
- ⏰ 30 Minute Meal - dinner will be ready in less than 30 minutes!
If you're a classic chicken piccata lover, you'll swoon over these Lemon Chicken Piccata Meatballs that elevate ground chicken to a new level.
The bright lemon flavor contrasts with briny capers to make a savory sauce you'll want to eat with a spoon...(but I'm not disclosing how I know that!) 😜
Ingredient Notes
Chicken Meatballs
- ground chicken
- seasonings - salt, black pepper, garlic powder
- fresh lemon juice
- breadcrumbs - plain
- egg - large
- olive oil - extra virgin
Piccata Sauce
- chicken broth
- dry white wine - like chardonnay
- fresh lemon juice
- garlic - minced
- capers - drained
- salted butter
- fresh parsley - optional garnish
How to Make Chicken Piccata Meatballs
1 - Make Meatball Mixture: Add the ground chicken, salt, black pepper, garlic powder and lemon juice to a large bowl. Mix together with a fork until the chicken is evenly seasoned. Stir in the breadcrumbs and egg until well incorporated.
2 - Roll Into 1 inch Balls: Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out portions of the ground chicken mixture into 1 inch balls. Form meatballs by rolling each portion into a tight ball with clean hands. Each meatball should be approximately two tablespoons of the meat mixture.
3 - Brown Meatballs in Pan: Add a little olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the meatballs in the pan in a single layer, cooking for approximately 10 minutes, turning frequently so that the meatballs are golden brown on all sides. Remove them from the pan and set aside.
4 - Make the Sauce: Add the chicken broth, white wine, lemon juice, garlic and capers to the skillet. Bring the sauce to a simmer, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Allow the sauce to simmer for 5-6 minutes, until slightly reduced.
5 - Add Butter: Turn the stovetop down to medium heat. Add the butter to the sauce and whisk until it is fully melted and incorporated into the sauce.
6 - Add Meatballs to Sauce: Return the meatballs to the pan and spoon the sauce over them. Allow them to cook for several more minutes in the simmering sauce, until the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 165 degrees F.
Cooking Tips
- The meatballs should be close to fully cooked before removing them from the skillet. They will cook in the sauce for another several minutes at the end, so if they are slightly under at this step that is fine.
- I recommend fresh-squeezed lemon juice in this recipe, since it is such a big component of the flavor. You will need approximately 1 large lemon for this recipe, but I like to have a second on hand if needed.
- Capers are very salty, so make sure to drain them well or the salt will overcome the flavor of your sauce. You can rinse them prior to adding if desired.
Variations
- Use ground turkey instead of ground chicken.
- Substitute chicken stock for broth to reduce sodium content.
- Add Italian seasoning, parmesan cheese and lemon zest to meatball mixture for even more flavor.
- Garnish with fresh basil instead of parsley if desired.
Recipe FAQs
If you prefer to cook without alcohol, you can use additional chicken broth in its place, although it will change the flavor of the dish.
Green olives are the closest in taste to capers, so they can easily be substituted if desired. Or, you can leave out the capers completely if needed, but it would help to substitute with a vegetable like fresh baby spinach for color and texture.
Serving Suggestions
Try these ideas for side dishes to soak up the delicious caper sauce!
Crusty Bread - cheese stuffed garlic bread, or a crusty baguette
Rice - white rice, brown rice, cauliflower rice, or curry rice salad
Mashed Potatoes - twice baked mashed potatoes, or garlic redskin mashed potatoes
Pasta - angel hair pasta, penne, spaghetti or egg noodles
Side Salad - roasted beet salad, mixed green salad, strawberry pecan salad
Veggies - green beans, roasted broccoli, lemon butter asparagus
Storing Leftovers
Leftovers - store meatballs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Freezing - you can freeze leftovers before or after cooking for up to 2 months in the freezer. Store in an freezer-safe container, or use a sealer to preserve food without freezer burn.
Serving - be sure to thaw frozen food in the refrigerator overnight before cooking as directed.
More Easy Meatball Recipes
You'll love these favorite recipes that are sure to please...
- French Onion Meatballs - tastes just like french onion soup!
- Baked Meatballs and Pasta - comfort food at its best
- Tailgate Meatballs Recipe - great appetizer on Game Day
- Baked Ziti with Meatballs - perfect for taking to a friend in need
- Cheesy Meatball Sliders - everyone's favorite sliders!
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Recipe Card
Chicken Piccata Meatballs
*See notes in blog post for detailed tips, photos and instructions.
Ingredients
Chicken Meatballs
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ⅓ cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
Piccata Sauce
- ½ cup chicken broth
- ½ cup dry white wine (such as chardonnay)
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons garlic (minced)
- 2 Tablespoons capers (drained)
- 3 Tablespoons salted butter
- parsley (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Make Meatball Mixture: Add the ground chicken, salt, black pepper, garlic powder and fresh lemon juice to a large bowl. Mix together with a fork until the chicken is evenly seasoned. Stir in the breadcrumbs and egg until well incorporated.
- Roll Into 1 inch Balls: Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out portions of the ground chicken mixture into 1 inch balls. Form meatballs by rolling each portion into a tight ball with clean hands. Each meatball should be approximately two tablespoons of the meat mixture.
- Brown Meatballs in Pan: Add a little olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the meatballs in the pan in a single layer, cooking for approximately 10 minutes, turning frequently so that the meatballs are golden brown on all sides. Remove them from the pan and set aside.
- Make the Sauce: Add the chicken broth, white wine, lemon juice, garlic and capers to the skillet. Bring the sauce to a simmer, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Allow the sauce to simmer for 5-6 minutes, until slightly reduced.
- Add Butter: Turn the stovetop down to medium heat. Add the butter to the sauce and whisk until it is fully melted and incorporated into the sauce.
- Add Meatballs to Sauce: Return the meatballs to the pan and spoon the sauce over them. Allow them to cook for several more minutes in the simmering sauce, until the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 165 degrees F.
Notes
-
- Yield: 14 to 16 meatballs
- The meatballs should be close to fully cooked before removing them from the skillet. They will cook in the sauce for another several minutes at the end, so if they are slightly under at this step that is fine.
- I recommend fresh-squeezed lemon juice in this recipe, since it is such a big component of the flavor. You will need approximately 1 large lemon for this recipe, but I like to have a second on hand if needed.
- Capers are salty, so make sure to drain them well or the salt will overcome the flavor of your sauce. You can rinse them prior to adding if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is an auto generated estimate.
This does look perfect and something we will enjoy.
The Chicken Piccata meatballs are DELICIOUS! This recipe is my first time using ground chicken (white meat) but it won’t be the last. I didn’t have capers but other than that followed the recipe.
Can you tell me how many meatballs per serving? I may have overlooked that in the recipe. I was able to get 14 meatballs.
14 to 16 meatballs is about right. I tried to make them small enough for everyone to get 4 each. So glad you loved this recipe! The flavor makes me drool. 🙂
Perfect! Thank you for the quick reply.