Our crispy Buffalo Chicken Meatballs have all the things you LOVE about Buffalo Chicken Wings wrapped up together in a crispy meatball that will be the star of your game day celebration. Minimal meatball ingredients and a store-bought buffalo sauce are all that stand between you and a winning platter of game-day-worthy meatballs!
What do Buffalo Chicken Meatballs taste like?
Our Buffalo Chicken Meatballs are stuffed with tender carrots and celery - the typical accouterments of a killer hot wing platter, then they are rolled in cornstarch and fried in peanut oil. The end result is a chicken meatball that is crispy on the exterior, tender on the inside, and full of flavor.
Who even needs the actual wings anymore?!
What are you waiting for? Grab your Buffalo sauce and your ranch, and let’s get ready for game day!
To host an unforgettable Super Bowl party, you don't have to be a football-crazed family. You don't even have to know which teams are playing! There are plenty of reasons to enjoy Super Bowl Sunday, from the commercials to the halftime performance.
No matter what happens in the actual game, a fantastic spread is the best way to ensure everyone has a good time on Super Bowl Sunday.
Easy meatball recipes for game day and beyond.
While these Buffalo Chicken Meatballs are delicious, they do require being fried in hot peanut oil which can be a more intimidating preparation process. But don’t worry! We have you covered; here are some other meatball recipe options for your Super Bowl menu if you are not a fan of deep frying.
Sheet Pan Meatballs
Any way you plan to serve these meatballs is a good way to serve them!
As-is they are great just drenched in sauce, obviously with pasta, but probably my favorite is on hoagie rolls as a meatball sub sandwich!
Korean BBQ Meatballs
These pan-seared Korean BBQ Meatballs are spicy and sweet simultaneously which is always a winning combination at our house!
One-Pan Baked Chicken Meatballs & Sauce
I created these devilishly simple chicken meatballs for the California Grown blog recently and I have to say - we most often eat them straight out of the baking dish!
They bake in the oven right along with the sauce ingredients which means every bite is a flavor bomb express!
Now that we have fully covered the topic of meatballs - let's discuss game day planning, shall we?!
Download the FREE Golden State Game Day Eats Ebook!
We created the recipes in this Ebook with our friends at California Grown and Visit California for some delicious pre-game fun!
Meet the Golden State Game Day Eats Ebook Authors
Sarah Gim, founder of The Delicious Life
This Mess Is Ours blogger Meg van der Kruik
A Girl Defloured author Alison Needham
K.C. Cornwell, social and digital director at California Grown and creator of the G-Free Foodie blog.
Go to Visit California’s website for details on how you can enter to win a California Prize Pack plus grab this FREE, downloadable Ebook that is filled with Golden State Game Day snacks and cocktail recipes!
Are you into listening to podcasts?
I recently chatted with the host of the California Now podcast, Soterios Johnson, all about how to pre-game California style!
We shared party-planning tips for game-day gatherings and I broke down some of the recipes we contributed to the eBook. It was so much fun, you can click here to listen!
Here is our game day recipe line up!
Whether you make one of these recipes or ALL of them, you are sure to have one delicious Super Bowl party! Don't just sequester these recipes to game day though, they are great for any day you want to celebrate California Grown produce.
So Cal Citrus Sangria
This delicious SoCal Citrus Sangria starts with fan-favorite California Zinfandel.
The boldness of the wine can stand up to the bright, zesty citrus flavors. We add a splash of honey for just enough sweetness and balance.
Healthy Cheese Board
Creator of TasteSpotting & author of The Delicious Life blog, Sarah Gim has definitely perfected the art of foodporn. Here, she reveals her expert tips on how to create an incredible California-Style Cheese Board that will feed a crowd. Plus she shares which wines to pair with it!
Loaded Sweet Potato Fry Nachos
These Loaded Sweet Potato Nacho Fries from A Girl Defloured start with from-scratch, spicy roasted California sweet potatoes. Piled high with California olives, Real California Jack Cheese and Cotija cheese, chipotle crema, shredded lettuce, pickled red onions and jalapenos, cherry tomatoes, green onions, and cilantro, these nacho fries are best eaten with a fork.
Serve with a chilled California Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc – and a lot of napkins.
Spicy Cojita Cheese Popcorn
Our favorite cheesy spicy popcorn seasoning! If you’ve never tried Cotija cheese, now’s a perfect time. This Mexican cheese is similar in texture to feta, with a distinctive salty, pungent flavor. Perfect for movie night munching (and football, natch)… and pairs perfectly with a glass of your favorite California Zinfandel.
The Ulitimate California Club Sandwich
Who doesn’t love a good sandwich? This mouthwatering game day club sandwich is full of greens, cheese, your favorite veggies, and a few homemade sauces that are guaranteed to have you and all of your guests coming back for more!
Pico de Gallo
Pico de gallo is a blend of fresh chopped tomatoes, onions, cilantro, spicy peppers, lime juice, and salt. While traditional salsa has a thinner more liquid consistency, pico de gallo is chunky, looking more like a bowl full of savory sprinkles than your traditional salsa.
Roasted Onion Dip
Move over store-bought onion dip, this homemade version combines a variety of deeply roasted onions, shallots, and garlic with thyme and white wine for a depth of flavor that just cannot be matched.
This onion dip is rich and creamy, just like you would expect, but instead of being tied to the stove while the onions caramelize, all the magic happens in the oven. Practically hands off!
Honey BBQ Sweetpotato Chips
KC the G-Free Foodie's easy and delicious recipe for homemade Honey BBQ Sweetpotato Chips is gluten-free and Paleo-friendly, but delicious for everyone!
Roasted Sweet Potato, Almond Butter & Marshmallow Swirl Brownies
We love the base of these cakey Sweet Potato Brownies as-is any day of the week, but for game day we like to go BIG with the addition of toasted marshmallow and almond butter swirls!
Want to talk wine pairings for Game Day?
Our friend Aida of Salt & Wind paired all of our delicious eBook recipes with California wines, so you can take the guess work out of wine pairings on game day too!
If you make our Buffalo Chicken Meatballs or any of the Ebook recipes I would be so grateful if you would rate the recipe and let me know what you think in the comments below!
I just love hearing from you and your reviews and comments really help others that visit This Mess is Ours.
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
These meatballs have all the things you LOVE about Buffalo Chicken Wings all wrapped up together in a crispy meatball!
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Chill Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Fried
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
1 pound ground chicken
1 celery stalk, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
⅛ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ cup cornstarch
peanut oil for frying, see note
1 (23-ounce) bottle of store-bought hot or mild buffalo sauce
To serve: ranch or blue cheese dressing, celery sticks
Instructions
Line a baking sheet that can fit into your freezer with parchment paper and set aside.
Combine the chicken, celery, carrot, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Mix to combine, it is easiest to mix with your hands.
Working with wet hands, form the mixture into 1 ½-inch meatballs. Place prepared meatballs on the parchment-lined baking sheet and transfer them to the freezer to firm up for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, add the oil to a large Dutch oven to a depth of approximately 2-inches. Warm over medium to medium-high heat to 375°F. See note.
While the oil is heating, place the Buffalo sauce in a saucepan and warm over low heat stirring occasionally. Also, place the cornstarch in a shallow container and roll each meatball to coat completely. This will make the exterior super crunchy!
Working in batches, gently drop the meatballs into the hot oil and fry until golden brown and cooked through, about 6-8 minutes depending on how hot your oil is.
Place the cooked meatballs on a paper towel-lined plate to drain any excess oil and repeat the cooking process with any remaining meatballs.
When all of the meatballs have been cooked, add them to the sauce and toss to coat. Serve immediately with ranch or blue cheese dressing.
Notes
A note about oil:
You can use any high-temperature oil for frying the meatballs that you prefer, we like the flavor of peanut oil.
A note about deep-frying:
We have found that when frying on a glass cooktop it is important to take into account the fact that, unlike gas cooktops, it takes a considerable amount of time for the glass to cool once the heat has been lowered. When frying in oil maintaining a constant temperature is key to avoid overcooking the exterior of the meatball. If using a glass cooktop heat the oil over medium - it will take longer to come to temp, but you won't have to worry as much about the oil becoming too hot too quickly.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2-4 meatballs
- Calories: 134
- Sugar: 0.9 g
- Sodium: 2046.8 mg
- Fat: 6.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 9.3 g
- Protein: 10 g
- Cholesterol: 48.2 mg
Keywords: chicken, chicken meatballs, wings, hot wings, Buffalo Chicken Meatballs, celery, carrot
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