Honey lemon chicken meatballs are an easy meatball recipe that can be made in less than an hour. Perfect for a quick weeknight recipe these chicken meatballs are covered in a honey lemon sauce that everyone will love.

Recipe Highlights

How they taste: Honey lemon chicken meatballs start with the sauce covering the chicken meatballs. Thickened with a little flour the sauce has a gravy-like texture that’s very silky. Flavored with fresh lemon juice then the honey is adjusted to your personal liking for just the right sweetness. The chicken Meatballs are juicy and seasoned with oregano, garlic and parmesan for the perfect combination of all flavors.
Skill level: You only need experience making a roux for the recipe. If you’re a beginner, it’s a great recipe to introduce yourself because there is no milk involved so the sauce is super forgiving if you don’t know how to manage the heat when making a roux just yet. The ingredients for the meatballs you toss them together then roll the meatballs by hand, super easy!
Storing: Everything will hold extremely well in the fridge for a few days and the sauce can easily be frozen along with the meatballs and will thaw just fine.

Ingredient tips

Chicken: Ground chicken can range in fat percentages but the higher the fat the better. Lean ground chicken will work and there is a little oil added to help with moisture but fat makes the honey lemon chicken meatballs extra juicy. Ground turkey can also work as a swap as well but this isn’t a recipe that pairs well with beef.
Honey: My recommendation is 1-2 tablespoons of honey just to add a touch of sweetness to the sauce. If you like a sweeter sauce you can scale the honey up to 1/4 cup. I have not tested maple or anything else as a replacement. Your favorite honey is best and for a kick you can sub with Mike’s Hot Honey.
Lemon: Lemon juice from fresh squeezed lemon or store-bought lemon juice both work for the recipe. Due to the other ingredients fresh versus store-bought won’t make a difference.

Prep tips

Allow the meatballs to rest a little after mixing the ingredients. Technically, you can roll the meatballs immediately after mixing but allow the meat to work in with the other flavors makes a difference in flavor.
Prep everything before you start cooking. Have all the ingredients measure out because this recipe goes very fast once you get started.
Add the chicken broth first, before adding the lemon juice. You’ll be going from a hot pan to lowering the heat so allow the chicken broth to take the majority of that leftover heat. Add the lemon first will cause it to quickly evaporate and you’ll lose some flavor because there will be less lemon juice in the sauce.

Serving suggestions

Honey lemon chicken meatballs will be delicious served over pasta or something neutral like mashed potatoes or even rice. A bread side dish will also compliment the recipe nicely and these butter swim biscuits will work well with their touch of honey and cinnamon.

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Honey Lemon Chicken Meatballs

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 15

Total Time 45

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings serving

Calories 415 kcal

Ingredients

Chicken meatballs

16 ounce ground chicken
1 large egg
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated parmesan
2 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano (dried)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Sauce

1-2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1-2 tablespoon honey

Garnishing (optional)

lemon zest
freshly chopped parsley

Instructions

In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the chicken meatballs. Cover, then set aside for 15 minutes.
After the 15 minutes, roll the meatballs by hand. Now, place a pan on medium high heat with a little oil then sear the meatballs on 1 or 2 sides. Do not try to cook them all the way through just sear them then remove from the pan.
Once done searing, lower the heat to medium. If there is leftover fat, only add 1 tablespoon but if the pan looks dry add 2 TB of butter. Once the butter has melted, whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minutes. Then, pour in the chicken broth while whisking.
After adding the broth, now add in the lemon juice, soy sauce and honey. Allow the sauce to thicken then lower the heat to low. Add the seared meatballs back in and allow them to cook all the way through while the sauce simmers. Stir occasionally to avoid the sauce sticking to the pan. The meatballs should be done in 10 minutes more or less depending on how thick they are.
Once meatballs are done, turn off the heat and allow to cool. Before serving, garnish with parsley and lemon zest.

Nutrition

Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

Keyword Honey Lemon Chicken Meatballs

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