Wingin’ It: Buffalo Chicken Meatballs as the Bills take on the Broncos

Buffalo Rumblings regulars know the drill. But for the new Buffalo Bills fans circling the wagons with us, we’re about more than just football here. Need something exciting for this week’s game day chow line? Wingin’ It brings you a themed recipe for every regular-season and postseason Bills game. Like this one...

I know there’s a famous dish called “Rocky Mountain Oysters” that are famous in Colorado but, yeah... not doing that. These Buffalo Chicken Meatballs are really easy and delicious though. Don’t think about that other thing I just mentioned and focus on how awesome these are instead. Baking them makes this incredibly quick and I went a bit overboard on quantity in case you need a party idea.

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Serves: 15-20 (made 70 meatballs)
Active Time: 20 min
Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

3 lbs ground chicken
3 large eggs
3 Tbsp olive oil
³⁄₄ cup hot sauce
2 ¹⁄₄ cups crushed crackers
1 Tbsp oregano
1 Tbsp basil
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup shaker-style Parmesan cheese

You’ll need: A large mixing bowl, baking sheets, parchment paper

1. Preheat oven to 415ºF; line baking sheets with parchment paper (I used two at a time).
2. Mix all ingredients together thoroughly in large mixing bowl.
3. Roll mixture to form meatballs; place onto parchment paper leaving about 1 inch of space between meatballs. If you’re unsure on how big to make them, about 1 tablespoon or so is a good starting point.
4. Bake for about 20 min, checking internal temperature with a meat thermometer to confirm they’re done (160 degrees for final cooked temp).
5. Repeat until you’ve used all mixture, creating a vast amount of meatballs.

Wingin’ It Tips and Prep Gallery

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Some rapid-fire tips this time:

• Don’t buy 99% lean chicken unless you want dry meatballs. I used mid-90s and even then you want that olive oil in there. Fat can be good.
• This makes a LOT. The quantity is intended to serve as a party or tailgate item. I made every ingredient easy to calculate. Cut everything in one third for one pound of chicken, two thirds for two pounds. The only tough part might be the crackers (it’d be ³⁄₄ cup, 1 ¹⁄₂ cup if you need it)
• Speaking of the crackers I used garlic butter RITZ. The first picture in the gallery is the method I use to crush them. Rather than spend money on a mortar and pestle, you can crush things like crackers with a pint glass and measuring cup. Be careful please. Alternately, you can also place the contents in a zip baggie for a no-mess crush by hand.
• Pro tip: Olive oil is already an ingredient. The meat mixture is very sticky. Coat your hands entirely with olive oil and see what a difference it makes to roll these out. If you’re wearing gloves, keep a small dish of oil nearby to dip your fingers into periodically.
• The second picture is how they looked when done. This was actually my first crack at baking meatballs and let me tell you... I’m not going back. It’s the fastest and easiest way to do it that I’ve found, and if you get the fat right (see above) you don’t sacrifice moisture and texture. BAKE YOUR MEATBALLS!
• This is a home game and you can’t bake at the tailgate unless you have a file cabinet or something handy. Meatballs are great because they can be made ahead of time and refrigerated or even frozen. They’re very forgiving about reheating so bring some foil for your pop-up grill and you’re good to go.
• These were great on their own. Drizzle some wing sauce on ‘em for extra pop or even just a little garlic butter.