Buffalo Chicken Meatballs | Gluten & Dairy Free

 

Buffalo wings are a delicious American favorite. But if we’re being honest, they are not always easy to eat at a party. It can be challenging to balance your plate while gnawing the meat off the bone and not make a mess of yourself. Buffalo chicken meatballs give you the tasty spicy kick of a buffalo wing in the easier-to-eat form of the humble meatball. These meatballs are versatile. It’s the buffalo sauce that gives them the buffalo taste. You can also use them in pasta or a meatball sub. I think they would be great with a sweet and sour sauce or gravy. 

Meatball recipes have similar essential ingredients. You have the ground meat, seasoning, and a binder. Most of the time the binder is an egg and breadcrumbs. This recipe does contain an egg. But instead of breadcrumbs, I’m using rolled oats and ground flaxseed meal. The reason I'm not using store-bought breadcrumbs is that they aren’t fresh and often contain high amounts of sodium and corn syrup. They can also be problematic if you have a gluten allergy. Rolled oats are not as processed and are a good source of heart-healthy fiber. There are a lot of health benefits to using ground flaxseed. Flaxseed is a good source of fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin D. You could make your own breadcrumbs if you want, but that will add an additional step and time. Using the oats and flaxseed is as convenient as using the premade breadcrumbs. It's healthier and you won't notice the difference in taste. The other health benefit of chicken meatballs versus chicken wings is ground chicken is lower in fat.  

Meatball Ingredients:

1 lb ground chicken

2 Tbsp minced red onion

2 Tbsp chopped parsley

¼ cup rolled oats

¼ cup ground flaxseed meal

1 egg

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp kosher salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

½ tsp smoked paprika 

Ingredients for Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce:

3 Tbsp sour cream

3 Tbsp mayo

2 Tbsp bleu cheese crumbles

Ingredients for Buffalo Sauce: 

1 Tbsp tomato paste and a drizzle of olive oil

2-3 Tbsp butter or margarine

½ cup Franks Redhot sauce

1 Tbsp honey

Directions:

Mix the ingredients of the blue cheese sauce in a small bowl. Refrigerate while you are making the meatballs to chill the sauce and allow the flavors to blend. I avoid dairy. I found a good non-dairy blue cheese that is made by Nuts for Cheese. There are a few different non-dairy sour cream brands, VioLife and Kite Hill are good. If you don't avoid dairy, the same portions will work with regular blue cheese and sour cream.  

Add all of your meatball ingredients to a medium size bowl. Make sure the onion is finely chopped. You don't want large chunks of onion in the meatball because it will not cook all of the way through.

Mix all of the ingredients by hand until they are well combined.  

Start rolling them into small balls in the palm of your hand. You want to make sure they are all around the same size so they will cook evenly. This recipe will make around 12 meatballs. You could make them smaller if you want mini meatballs, but you would need to adjust the cooking time. Place meatballs on a parchment-lined baking sheet. You don't have to use the parchment, but it will make clean-up easier. 

Bake the meatballs in a preheated 350-degree oven for 25 minutes or until the internal temperature is 155 degrees. Since these meatballs are made out of chicken and don't have a lot of fat, be careful to not overcook them or they will dry out. 

While the meatballs are baking, start on the buffalo sauce. Most buffalo sauce contains two ingredients, Franks Original Red Hot Sauce and butter. In this recipe, I added tomato paste and honey. The tomato paste adds a little body to the sauce and the honey adds a touch of sweetness and balances the heat.  

Drizzle a small amount of olive oil into a saucepan and add the tomato paste. Saute the tomato paste until it is fragrant. Sauteing tomato paste brings out the umami flavor. Add in the butter. (Since I avoid dairy, I use a non-dairy buttery spread.) Continue stirring until melted. Add in the hot sauce and honey. Continue stirring until the sauce starts to simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cover the saucepan. Stir occasionally until the sauce thickens.  

After the meatballs have finished baking, gently place the meatballs into a medium-sized bowl. Pour buffalo sauce on top of them and stir until the meatballs are covered in the sauce.  

Place the meatballs on a serving platter with the blue cheese sauce in the center.  Enjoy!

Leave me a comment and let me know how your meatballs turned out.