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Y’all already know I am a big chicken piccata fan, so I had to turn those wonderfully bright flavors into a skillet meatball. Enter — Gluten-Free Chicken Piccata Meatballs!
What is there not to love about chicken piccata? A luscious white wine sauce that’s brightened even more by lemon juice? Yes, please! For these Gluten-Free Chicken Piccata Meatballs, ground chicken is simply flavored with a few spices, lemon zest, and parsley then formed into meatballs. They are browned to golden perfection then set aside while you make your piccata sauce.
Just like the meatballs, your piccata sauce will come together easily with very few ingredients with all your classic piccata flavors. With a little butter, white wine, fresh parsley, capers, and a few other ingredients, your sauce will be ready in no time to then add your meatballs to it for a quick simmer to finish cooking. And while this sauce does use butter, you could easily substitute it with vegan butter to keep this recipe gluten-free and dairy-free!
Ingredients:
- Ground Dark Meat Chicken
- Salt and Pepper
- Garlic Powder
- Fresh Flat-Leaf Parsley
- Gluten-Free Panko
- Egg Yolk
- Lemon Zest and Juice
- Olive Oil
- Butter
- Garlic
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Cassava Flour
- Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
- Capers
Step-by-Step:
Step One: Make the Meatball Mixture
In a large bowl, mix to combine the ground chicken, salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, panko, egg yolk, lemon zest.
Step Two: Form the Meatballs
Once well combined, form into 1 ½-inch meatballs. Damp hands will make this easier as the chicken can be sticky.
Step Three: Brown the Meatballs
In a large deep non-stick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Once hot, add the meatballs in a single layer, working in batches as needed. Brown the meatballs on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. The meatballs do not need to be cooked through as they will finish cooking in the sauce. Once browned, set aside on a plate and continue until all the meatballs are browned.
Step Four: Make the Sauce
In the same skillet, reduce heat to medium-low and melt the butter. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, cassava flour. Stir, toasting the flour, for 1 minute.While whisking, pour wine into skillet to combine. Continue whisking and add the chicken broth until well combined. Add the capers, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine then increase heat to a rapid simmer.
Step Five: Continue Cooking the Meatballs
Reduce heat to a light simmer then nestle the meatballs back into the sauce. Cover and cook until the meatballs are cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes.
Step Six: Serve and Enjoy!
Serve however you prefer and top with additional parsley!
I know this recipe is going to be a star on your weeknight dinner rotation and I can’t wait to see y’all cook this in your own kitchens!
For more piccata recipes…
whole30 skillet chicken piccata
the best sheet pan chicken piccata
Chicken Piccata Meatballs
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 1 ½ pounds ground dark meat chicken
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
- ¼ cup gluten-free panko
- 1 egg yolk
- Zest of ½ a lemon
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
For the Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons butter (sub vegan butter for dairy-free)
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoons cassava flour sub all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- ¾ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons capers drained
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves more for serving
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice about 1 lemon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Prepare the Meatballs:
- In a large bowl, mix to combine the ground chicken, salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, panko, egg yolk, lemon zest. Once well combined, form into 1 ½-inch meatballs. Damp hands will make this easier as the chicken can be sticky.
- In a large deep non-stick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Once hot, add the meatballs in a single layer, working in batches as needed. Brown the meatballs on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. The meatballs do not need to be cooked through as they will finish cooking in the sauce. Once browned, set aside on a plate and continue until all the meatballs are browned.
Make the Sauce:
- In the same skillet, reduce heat to medium-low and melt the butter. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, cassava flour. Stir, toasting the flour, for 1 minute.
- While whisking, pour wine into skillet to combine. Continue whisking and add the chicken broth until well combined. Add the capers, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine then increase heat to a rapid simmer.
- Reduce heat to a light simmer then nestle the meatballs back into the sauce. Cover and cook until the meatballs are cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Serve with additional parsley.
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography and styling by Eat Love Eats.
If I can’t find ground dark meat chicken, would you recommend ground chicken breast or ground turkey?
I would go with ground turkey!
I didn’t see your response in time (my fault) and went with ground chicken breast. Happy to report it was absolutely fantastic! It’s a flawless recipe. Already planning to make it again ASAP!
This was DELISH!!!!! I doubled the sauce, used almond flour in place of panko and served over GF noodles. YUM!!!!!
yay! so glad you loved it!!
This looks and sounds so good. I saw someone asked about baking the meatballs, and I was wondering the same thing. Any idea how long to bake and at what temp? 350? Thanks!
Since they are made of chicken– I recommend searing them in the skillet then letting them finish cooking in the sauce like I did here for best results. The oven method I worry will dry them out– and this skillet method prevents that from happening 🙂
This was delicious!!! I doubled the sauce recipe but honestly I could’ve quadrupled it and drank it through a straw. I wasn’t able to find dark meat ground chicken, but the extra sauce kept our meatballs from getting too dry.
LOVE the sauce. Sharing a mistake I made – despite clear instructions – so others don’t follow. I made with ground white meat chicken breast, instead of dark meat and I expect that caused them to be a bit dry. Would 100% make again with the right meat
Made these tonight and they were a hit! Love the lemon flavor! We doubled the recipe and it filled our 12” cast iron skillet perfectly.
These are stellar!! I love & good meatball situation & this is such a fun twist on chicken piccata! Minimal prep, one pan, & super simple. We paired these with the Whole30 Mashed Potatoes recipe but you could eat these a number of ways. Another TDD winner!!
These were a hit! Thank you so much!
This looks delicious! Is there a substitute ingredient if you can’t eat eggs? Thank you!
A tablespoon or so of plain greek yogurt would work I think best here.
This was incredible! Far surpasses a regular chicken piccata. This recipe is next cookbook worthy.
omg amazing! thank you!