Delish's French Onion Chicken Meatballs

Published August 18, 2019

When I visited Kathryn in Georgia, she showed me her recipes which used leaner meats. Turkey bacon for breakfast, turkey sausages, and chicken entrees made our home-cooked meals healthy.

This inspired me to look at alternate protein recipes on Pinterest, where I found Delish’s French onion chicken meatballs.

As you know from my post about Julia Child’s French Onion Soup — the rich broth and cheese are some of my favorite flavors, so why not add meatballs too?

Delish’s French Onion Chicken Meatballs | Ingredients

I love recipes that don’t require me to spend time food shopping. With this French onion chicken meatball recipe, I only bought the ground chicken. I selected a package that was on sale which made the price even better for this meal.

The rest of the ingredients I already had at home. I buy my onions in bulk from Costco. Most of my herbs I grow myself. I used a block of Swiss cheese I already had in the fridge. (I believe the original recipe called for Gruyère cheese. I would imagine you could use Provolone too).

Cooking the French Onion Meatballs

What makes this recipe easy is that you combine the ingredients in one bowl and bake the meatballs. Frying can be messy — and nerve-wracking if you’re new to cooking.

Compared to recipes like my personal chicken pot pies or my homemade coleslaw, there’s hardly any prep-time cutting ingredients.

You will mince the garlic and chop the onions. For most of the recipe though, you’ll be measuring and monitoring your meatballs and sauce.

The Final Product

Overall Thoughts

I’m thrilled with how easy and delicious this recipe is.

I don’t frequently cook with ground chicken, so I was a bit skeptical to see if it changed the flavor and depth of the recipe. I’m surprised to say that it didn’t. Even baking the meatballs (something I don’t do), turned out well.

I served this recipe to my sister and her best friend. They ate their meatballs without question. I said (commenting on the fact that it was ground chicken), “I guess we should cook more with ground chicken since it’s healthier.”

”What chicken?” My sister asked.

“The meatballs. They’re made of chicken.” My sister and her friend exchanged a surprised look. I was glad I told them about the ground chicken after they gobbled their bowls. They didn’t seem to notice any difference in flavor or the texture by using chicken instead of beef.

If you’re skeptical about the ground chicken, or worried about a picky eater in the family, I recommend you try these French onion chicken meatballs. They’re juicy — with depth of flavor — and easy to make!

My batch made 15 small-to-medium-sized meatballs in total. The three of us ate these portions for dinner, with one serving of 4 meatballs leftover for the next day, which heated fine in the microwave.

What Should I Serve with My Meatballs?

I’m a strange Italian, for the fact that I don’t always eat meatballs with pasta. The meatballs, sauce, and fresh Italian bread is enough of a meal for me.

Which is why, when I finished the recipe — I realized there was a lot of broth in the pan. I needed to put that sauce over something.

I had egg-noodles, which I rarely cook with. I figured they would do. They’d be plain enough not to detract from the French onion flavor, but hopefully starchy enough to soak up the French onion broth.

In the end, I probably should’ve made a mashed potato. The French onion broth didn’t stick to the noodles, so it felt a bit like soup with meatballs and giant noodles.

Recipe Notes

I will say that I didn’t add any thickener to my sauce. I try not to deviate from recipes the first time that I make them. My instincts told me to thicken the large amount of broth, but the recipe said the sauce thickened naturally, so I didn’t.

In the end, I should’ve added some flour, as the sauce was more like a soup. Next time, I may simmer it longer to see if the sauce does thicken naturally. Let me know how it works for you. If you find that your sauce is thin, then serving the meatballs over potatoes will help with pulling the dish together.

Recipe Score

I’m giving Delish’s French Onion Chicken Meatballs a 10/10 for the following:

• Recipe Level

  • Beginner: Most of the ingredients require little-to-no work. Even if you complete a step out of order, or don’t cut your ingredients completely symmetrical, this recipe will still turn out delicious. Since the recipe doesn’t require frying, you could even ask your children or siblings to help you mix and shape the meatballs before they’re baked.

• Ingredients

  • 99% of the ingredients you will probably have on-hand. If you’re a conscious eater/cook, then you may even have the ground chicken already. If you do have to go to the store, this is a budget-friendly meal, as you can customize the portions and cheese choices to fit your needs.

• Prep

  • There was hardly any prep besides chopping the garlic and onions and shredding the cheese. Once that’s done, it takes a short amount of time to form the meatballs and bake them. The recipe comes together quickly, since the meatballs are cooking as you make the sauce.
    
    Note: Additional time may be needed to make the base/starch for your dish.

• Flavor

  • 10/10: French onion soup is my favorite and this recipe did not disappoint. The rich beef broth and classic seasonings, topped with the golden onions and melted cheese was a win.
    

K. Martinelli Makes Delish’s French Onion Chicken Meatballs

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