I love making meatballs for dinner, especially a more time consuming dish like chicken piccata. Changing that classic comfort food into meatballs makes life easier and they’re delicious too. Typically with chicken piccata, you are breading and shallow frying chicken breasts, then removing them from the pan to make a cream sauce, before returning the chicken to the pan until it’s cooked perfectly. And you also need to have some perfectly al dente pasta to serve with! These chicken piccata meatballs use baked meatballs, and while the meatballs are baking you can whip up a simple cream sauce. Not browning the meatballs in a pan saves you time, and means that you can make the cream sauce and boil the pasta while the meatballs are baking.
I like to serve my chicken piccata meatballs with egg noodles and a green vegetable. Asparagus, green beans, and broccoli are all great options! I use egg noodles because they cook quickly, and that’s what I use for my Swedish meatballs as well. Egg noodles cook quickly, are rich and flavorful, and are the perfect shape to make sure they are covered in the creamy sauce that you don’t want to miss out on. The sauce for these meatballs is outrageous. It’s creamy and lemony and zesty with briny capers thrown in.
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that my recipes reflect how we eat: mostly healthy with some treats and comfort food thrown in. With heavy cream in this sauce it may not strike you as the healthiest dish, but you can substitute milk for a lighter option. These meatballs are also so flavorful and tender that they are great even without the sauce. Still, as much as I love a salad, I don’t eat a salad for every meal all day. I think it’s always good to have some comfort food options for when you need them! I use ground turkey in these meatballs but you can also use ground chicken. The rest of the ingredients in the recipe are likely pantry and refrigerator staples! Don’t miss this delicious and comforting recipe.
- 2 lbs. ground turkey (or chicken)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tsp. garlic powder
- 2 tsp. onion powder
- ½ tsp. ground black pepper
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- 2 tbsp. butter
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ tsp. salt.
- ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- 1 3.5 oz. jar capers, drained
- Egg noodles or mashed potatoes for serving
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add ground turkey, eggs, breadcrumbs, salt, olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, lemon zest, and lemon juice (You'll use the juice of half of a lemon in the meatballs and the other half in the sauce!)
- Use your hands to mix the meatballs together and form meatballs. Place into the prepared baking dish and bake for 22-25 minutes until golden brown and the internal temperature is 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Flip the meatballs over halfway for even browning!
- Meanwhile, make your sauce. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour, then whisk in broth, milk, and heavy cream. Season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Whisk and cook over low heat until thickened, then add the capers.
- Cook the egg noodles (or other noodle of choice) according to package directions.
- Serve meatballs over noodles and top with the sauce.
- Enjoy!
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