All the flavors of classic breaded chicken parmesan, baked right in the oven. These Chicken Parmesan Meatballs cook in marinara sauce, topped with plenty of mozzarella and a crispy breadcrumb topping.
These Chicken Parm Meatballs are like a mashup of two different dinner favorites: meatballs and chicken parmesan. But made easier thanks to the simple assembly style preparation, and an easy hands-off bake in the oven.
Tender chicken meatballs are baked in a store-bought marinara sauce with fresh and shredded mozzarella and crispy panko breadcrumbs to give you that chicken parm vibe without all the work. Serve it simply with garlic bread and a salad for a dinnertime win. Or go classic and serve it with pasta.
Break the Rules for an Easier Dinner
This recipe takes a few smart shortcuts to get dinner on the table faster, while still delivering all the classic chicken parm flavors.
- Instead of breading and frying individual pieces of chicken, it starts with a simple batch of meatballs that are scooped directly into marinara sauce and baked until tender.
- Scooping the meatballs with a cookie scoop directly into the sauce in the baking dish allows you to skip the step of "rolling them" and nobody will be able to tell the difference. Using tools to make dinner prep easier is always a smart move.
- Breadcrumbs mixed with oil are sprinkled on top of the meatballs which crisp up in the oven to help give that breaded feeling in a classic chicken parm, without actually having fry them.
How to Make Baked Chicken Parm Meatballs
The meatball ingredients are all mixed up together in a large bowl. The fastest way to do this is to use your hands. Kind of messy, but definitely the quickest and best way to be sure it has all mixed thoroughly.
As the recipe is written, these meatballs are a little on the larger side of about ¼ cup or 2 ounces of meat. You can make them any size you want, but the time needed to cook them will increase or decrease depending on if you make them bigger or smaller.
Also, using a scoop is the easiest way to portion out meatballs. For this recipe to save time, you don’t even need to roll them in a ball, but instead, scoop out the mixture and put it directly in the marinara sauce.
This is a quick visual overview of the steps needed to make this recipe. If you are looking for the full recipe, keep scrolling!
Step 1: The meatball ingredients are all mixed up together in a large bowl.
Step 2: The fastest way to do this is to use your hands. Kind of messy, but definitely the quickest and best way to be sure it has all mixed thoroughly.
Step 3: Add the marinara to a baking dish. Scoop in the meatballs.
Step 4: Mix together the bread crumb mixture.
Step 5: Add the fresh mozzarella, shredded mozzarella and bread crumbs to the top of the meatballs.
Step 6: Bake until the meatballs are cooked through, top with basil and serve.
Make Ahead Tips
This chicken parm meatball bake can be assembled and refrigerated one day ahead prior to baking and assembled and baked up to 2 days ahead. However, it's best to leave off the breadcrumbs until you bake or reheat them so they don't get soggy.
When you are ready to bake, you'll likely need to add on additional baking time since the dish will be coming from the refrigerator.
And to reheat, place the bread crumbs on and bake in a 400 oven until the meatballs are warmed through and the breadcrumbs are crispy, about 15 minutes or so. An instant-read thermometer will help you to know when the meatballs are warmed through.
More Meatball Recipes:
More Chicken Recipes:
Making this Chicken Parm Meatball recipe? Be sure to leave a comment with a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on your experience! Have a question? Leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can!
PrintFull Recipe
Baked Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
- Prep Time: 00:10
- Cook Time: 00:30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
All the flavors of classic breaded chicken parmesan, baked right in the oven. These Chicken Parmesan Meatballs cook in marinara sauce, topped with plenty of mozzarella and a crispy breadcrumb topping. Serve with garlic bread or pasta!
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs, divided
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning, divided
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt, plus more for seasoning breadcrumbs (see note)
- 1 ½ pounds ground chicken
- 3 cups marinara sauce, divided
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced (see note)
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Ground black pepper
- Chopped fresh basil, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF and place one rack in the lower part of the oven and one in the upper-middle part of the oven.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, ½ cup breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Add in the ground chicken and mix until fully combined.
- Add 2-½ cups of the marinara sauce to a large baking dish (approximately 9x13 inches).
- Scoop ¼ cup portions of the meatball mixture and nestle them into the marinara in the baking dish (you should have 12-14 meatballs). Spoon the remaining ½ cup marinara on top of the meatballs. Add the sliced fresh mozzarella on top of the meatballs. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella over the top.
- In a small bowl, mix together the remaining ½ cup breadcrumbs, remaining 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, olive oil, and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Sprinkle the breadcrumb topping evenly over the meatballs.
- Bake in the preheated oven on the bottom rack for 15 minutes, then move up to the top rack for another 15 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through to a temperature of 165ºF.
- Sprinkle with the fresh basil and serve with garlic bread and salad, or over pasta.
Notes
This recipe was tested using Diamond Crystal coarse kosher salt. If you use Morton's kosher salt or fine salt, decrease the volume by half.
You can use just one type of mozzarella for this dish, but if you have both fresh and pre-shredded, the combination offers a mix of creaminess inside and crispy browning on top.
Why move the baking dish to the top rack? The heat from the top of the oven will bounce down and help crisp up those breadcrumbs.
Katie
Since seeing this recipe, I have made this meatball bake once a week- 3x now! It has all the flavors of chicken parm with half the prep and cook time. I serve it with a simple salad. Meatball Monday is my favorite dinner day now (with enough left over for lunch!)
Susan
Delicious and comforting! Will be making again!
Eileen Lowre
Delish and easy!
Heather
So delicious and easy. The combination of fresh and shredded mozzarella with the herb panko topping makes these extra special. This recipe also gets bonus points for less mess and cleanup since the meatballs cook entirely in the sauce, no browning required.
Emily
Amazing recipe! I doubled it because I knew I would be craving it again soon. The crispies of the Panko really made a nice texture to go with the meatballs. Highly recommend this one for an easy weeknight meal. Do yourself a favor and double the recipe.
Emily willcut
Amazing recipe! I doubled it because I knew I would be craving it again soon. The crispies of the Panko really made a nice texture to go with the meatballs. Highly recommend this one for an easy weeknight meal. Do yourself a favor and double the recipe.