Sheet Pan Chicken Meatballs Recipe with Goat Cheese
Simple, flavorful chicken meatballs with a middle eastern flare get stuffed with goat cheese and roasted on a sheet pan with bell peppers and red onion. The whole dish can be made from start-to-finish in less than 30 minutes. Perfect for busy weeknights and lazy weekends alike!
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 316kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 bell peppers red, orange, or yellow, cut into ½" pieces
- 1 medium red onion cut into ½" pieces
- 2 lbs ground chicken or turkey
- 2 large eggs whisked
- 1 cup breadcrumbs plain or seasoned
- ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
- 1 ½ tsp za'atar
- 1 tsp sumac
- 1 tsp granulated garlic
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt divided
- zest of 1 lemon
- 2 oz goat cheese plus more for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450F. Drizzle olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet, then place chopped red onion and bell peppers on top. Sprinkle with ½ tsp kosher salt, then toss to thoroughly coat.
- In a large mixing bowl, add ground chicken, eggs, breadcrumbs, parsley, za'atar, sumac, garlic, remaining salt, and lemon zest. Gently stir until will mixed.
- Use a ¼ cup cookie scoop to portion out meatballs. Take 1 level scoop of chicken meatball mixture and place in your hand. Add about ½ tsp of goat cheese right on top in the center. Scoop out another level ¼ cup of chicken and place directly on top of goat cheese. Use your hands to form the meatball and seal it around the cheese. Place on prepared baking sheet with veggies. Repeat with remaining chicken and goat cheese until all meatballs are formed. 2 lbs of ground chicken should yield approximately 16 meatballs.
- Cook for 13-15 minutes, or until an internal temperature of 165F is reached. Serve meatballs with roasted vegetables immediately, adding extra crumbled goat cheese on top as wanted.
Notes
- Substitutes for chicken: ground turkey or ground lamb work well with the za'atar and sumac! You can use ground beef or ground pork, but the flavor profile will be quite different.
- Breadcrumbs: I do not recommend using panko breadcrumbs in meatballs. The texture is too coarse. Instead, if you don't have dried plain or seasoned breadcrumbs (either is fine here!), try making your own with a few pieces of store-bought bread in a food processor.
- To cook meatballs on stovetop: heat a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Cook meatballs 1-2 minutes per side until evenly browned on all sides, about 8-10 minutes total.
- Cheese: feta can easily be substituted in place of goat cheese
- To freeze: allow cooked meatballs to cool completely to room temperature. Transfer to an airtight, freezer-safe container then freeze. Meatballs will keep for up to 3 months in a freezer.
- To defrost: either allow meatballs to thaw in a refrigerator overnight or place on a microwave safe plate and heat in 30 second intervals until fully defrosted (about 1 minute).
Nutrition
Serving: 2meatballs | Calories: 316kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 147mg | Sodium: 650mg | Potassium: 733mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1237IU | Vitamin C: 42mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 2mg
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