Mini chicken meatball appetizers

We're having a few friends over as a pre- Christmas gathering on Saturday and although I was tempted to make lots of appetizers I am limiting my menu.  I have suggested it to others and I am practicing what I preach and making maybe 3 or 4 at  the most.

I have seen many recipes for small meatball appetizers but not ones like the one I'll be making using ground chicken.  I am sure ground turkey would be fine too!

If you are making these mini's for a marinara type dipping sauce I would eliminate the thyme and definitely add seasoned breadcrumbs and grated Italian cheese.  I'm not saying you should eliminate it but for Italian meatballs I do not add thyme.  I used it for this recipe to bring out the chicken flavor a wee bit but with all the BBQ sauce I hardly know you'd notice.

I baked these mini's for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees, cooled them and refrigerated them in a large zip lock bag  until use on Saturday.  If it were any longer I would have frozen them. Making these a little earlier does save time and why not save  some of your precious time?

Here's my recipe and I have taste tested them.  Yummy!

I'll show the after when I serve these little cuties on Saturday.  Enjoy! 


12/11/14

Lightly browned in oven

I lb. ground chicken
1/2 to 3/4 breadcrumbs( work with hands to make sure you have enough breadcrumbs so you can roll them easily).
 1/4 + chicken broth or water (I used chicken broth)
1 tsp. salt
pinch pepper
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 egg slightly beaten

***Update;***I replaced chicken broth with olive oil today.  Ground chicken can be dry!

If using a crockpot add 1 or two large bottles of your favorite BBQ sauce and 1/2 to 3/4 cup pineapple juice

In a large bowl place egg and broth and whisk slightly.  Add chicken, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, parsley and thyme. Note: Roll by 1/2 tsp. size and place on lined cookie sheet.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Break off pieces of chicken mixture into small size mini meatballs.  Place on lined cookie sheet and bake approximately 10 minutes or until slightly browned.

Serve with warmed marinara sauce for dipping  or 

Place BBQ sauce and pineapple juice in crockpot on low.  Stir and then add mini's and cover until warmed thru.

 Everything that is in the crockpot is cooked so allow about 2 hours to warm thoroughly before guests arrive. Enjoy! ** Place large spoon for easy serving onto small plates.

 *Place container of toothpicks for easily eating.


 ***p.s. I am adding 1/2 cup Pineapple juice along with the BBQ sauce to keep the sauce moist. If you don't have any pineapple juice add a little water if needed.