Sweet & Sticky Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

An appetizer must for a snack lovers repertoire - meatballs.  A small little bite size ball of meat coated in a sticky sauce is the perfect snack to whip up for a party, or just  a fun additional to Jordan & I's weekend charcuterie board.  & I usually resort to buying mine in the frozen aisle at Costco.  But no more!  I decided to experiment with my own little homemade meatball in an effort to find the perfect go-to recipe that I can whip up in a snap.  & holy balls I was successful, which was a pleasant surprise even to me.  These Sweet & Sticky Chicken Meatballs are the ticket! I bought organic, farm raised ground chicken (so a good quality meat), and used farm fresh eggs from my neighbor for a high quality meatball that was beyond easy.  & mess free!  The meatballs are literally mix it, scoop up with a cookie scoop, and bake.  & then throw all the shit you used to make them in the dishwasher for a snappy clean-up.  So freaking easy, and let me say they taste way better than those of the frozen variety.

I used a spicy & sweet buffalo sauce to pair with these little chicken meatballs.  It was sticky and salty and imparted some buffalo wing vibes to this dish.  Seriously so delish and quick to whip up, but these chicken meatballs would seriously be good in even a red sauce, or anything thing else you can conjour up.  So though I totally love this sweet & sticky buffalo sauce, I'm OBSESSED with these meatballs and I will definitely be experimenting with what else I can pair with these bad boys.

For the meatballs
1 lb ground chicken
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 c. panka bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
pinch of black pepper
1 c. Franks hot sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 bag of salad mix (dealers choice)

Start by making the sauce.  Place the Franks & brown sugar in a small saucepan, and place it over medium high heat.  Bring the sauce to a simmer and let it go for 6-8 minutes.  Reduce the heat if necessary to avoid a full on boil.  After that cook time, reduce the heat to low and stir in the red pepper flakes.  Cover and let the sauce sit as you prep the meatballs.

Now preheat your oven to 475.  In a large mixing bowl, add in the chicken, garlic, bread crumbs, eggs, salt & pepper.  Using your hands, mix together all of the ingredients so that are the wet ingredients and spices are incorporated with the meat.  Using a cookie scoop or ice cream scoop (the closest thing you have to 2 tbsp), scoop up small portions of the chicken from the bowl and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Continue until all of the chicken has been formed into bite size balls and placed on the baking tray.  Now, place the tray in the oven and let the meatballs bake for 15 minutes.  Once that cook time is up, crank the oven to broil and let them continue to cook for 3 more minutes.  After this cook time, they should be lightly browned on the outside.  Once the cook time is up and the balls are slightly browned, remove them from the oven

Using a toothpick, dip the meatballs one by one into the sauce.  Use a spoon to totally coat all sides of each meatball with the sticky sauce, and then hold each meatball up, outside of the sauce but over the saucepan, to let any extra liquid drip off.  Place the sauced meatball back on the parchment lined baking sheet, and repeat this meatball until you each one is sauced.  Reserve any remaining sauce. 

If not serving right away, place the meatballs back in a 200 oven to minutes before serving.  When you're ready to get snacking, plate the meatballs up on top of a bed of salad mix and drizzle the remaining sauce right on top.  Snag a couple pieces of the salad mix with every meatball for the perfect little snack.  Very yummy, and very easy to devour the whole tray.