Baked Chicken Pesto Meatballs

Mouthwatering Baked Chicken Pesto Meatballs made with tender ground chicken, garlicky basil pesto, fresh veggies and parmesan cheese. Juicy, flavorful and make the perfect weeknight meal served over pasta or with rice!

Why You’ll Love These
Ingredients You’ll Need
How to Make Chicken Pesto Meatballs
Can I Make these Meatballs in a Skillet?
Can I Make these Meatballs in the Air Fryer?
How to Serve Chicken Pesto Meatballs
Prepping and Storage
Favorite Meatball Recipes
More Recipes Using Pesto
Baked Chicken Pesto Meatballs Recipe

If you are looking for the perfect weeknight dinner, look no further. These juicy chicken pesto meatballs are easy, wholesome and loaded with hidden veggies so they make a great meal for kids too! These meatballs are baked in the oven, not fried, and easily come together in under 30 minutes. Serve over pasta, tucked in a sub or add to a salad for a light, protein-packed meal. I promise you’ll come back to this recipe again and again!

Why You’ll Love These

Flavor-packed – the homemade basil pesto and parmesan add an herby, cheesy punch to every bite.
Healthy – we are using lean ground chicken which stays juicy thanks to the pesto along with the addition of shredded carrots and zucchini! These meatballs are also baked, not fried.
Versatile – can be served with pasta, zoodles, rice or all on their own with your favorite dipping sauce.
Meal prep – these delicious chicken meatballs are freezer-friendly so you can easily make them ahead of time for quick meals any time.

Ingredients You’ll Need

ground chicken – I used ground chicken for these meatballs because I personally prefer the flavor of chicken with these ingredients, but any ground meat will work. You could also make these using ground turkey, lean ground beef, ground pork or ground lamb.
veggies – we are sneaking in both grated zucchini and grated carrots into these meatballs which not only gives a boost of nutrition, but adds extra moisture. You could also add in some chopped green onions for even more flavor.
basil pesto – adds so much flavor to these meatballs! I recommend using my homemade pesto recipe, but you could also use store-bought pesto from the store.
egg – helps to bind all of the ingredients together.
bread crumbs – I used whole wheat Panko breadcrumbs to help the meatballs to keep their round shape, but feel free use gluten-free panko breadcrumbs or even almond flour, if needed.
parmesan cheese – nutty parmesan cheese gives these meatballs even more flavor! Feel free to use dairy-free parmesan cheese, if needed.
seasonings – a combination of garlic powder (or use fresh garlic), red pepper flakes, kosher salt and black pepper.

How to Make Chicken Pesto Meatballs

Prepare the veggies. Grate the zucchini and carrots using a box grater. Gently pat the zucchini dry with a paper towel to soak up some of the liquid.
Mix together the ingredients. In a large bowl, combine ground chicken, egg, grated carrots and zucchini, basil pesto, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and seasonings. Stir the meatball ingredients together using a spatula or your hands until all combined.
Make the meatballs. Using a small to medium cookie scoop (I used this 1.2 tablespoon size scoop), make the balls 2-inches in diameter (golf ball size) and place on a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or sprayed with non-stick spray) in a single layer. You should get about 22 meatballs.
Bake. Pop the sheet pan in the oven at 375 degrees F and bake for about 12 to 14 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and cooked through. Meatballs should have an internal temp of 165 degrees F when inserting a meat thermometer.
Serve. Serve the pesto meatballs immediately as is or toss them with some leftover pesto or simple tomato sauce with pasta noodles.

Can I Make these Meatballs in a Skillet?

Yes of course! I find that baking meatballs is just easier with less cooking required, but pan frying these meatballs would taste amazing! All you’ll need is a little olive oil to coat the pan or a large skillet then add the meatballs. Cook the meatballs on medium heat to medium-high heat, and turn them continuously so that they get browned on all sides. Meatballs should be cooked through in about 12 minutes.

Can I Make these Meatballs in the Air Fryer?

Absolutely and the air fryer is another way I love to make these! To air fry these meatballs, cook at 400 degrees for about 10 to 12 minutes, shaking the air fryer basket halfway through to make sure they evenly cook. Just make sure the internal temperature of the meatballs is 165 degrees F.

How to Serve Chicken Pesto Meatballs

Serve as a main dish all on its own over brown rice or orzo and a variety of fresh vegetables. I like to drizzle extra pesto over everything right before serving.
Add to a salad such as this summer corn salad, this pesto pasta salad or this lemon basil pasta salad.
Serve over pasta or zucchini noodles tossed with fresh basil pesto, tomato sauce or this loaded veggie tomato sauce over spaghetti.
Make a meatball sub by piling these meatballs into a toasted hoagie roll, top with mozzarella cheese and broil until bubbly.
As an appetizer with your favorite dipping sauce or pesto sauce. Just make sure to make a double batch because they will go quick!

Prepping and Storage

To Make Ahead: These flavorful meatballs can easily be prepped ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator tightly covered for 2 to 3 days before baking. When you are ready to bake, simply pop them in the oven and follow recipe instructions.

To Store: These meatballs can be stored in a sealed, airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Leftovers taste even better the next day making them great for meal prep! To reheat, either pop them in the oven at 350 until heated through or you can warm them up in the microwave or air fryer.

To Freeze: These meatballs are also freezer-friendly! To freeze, let them cool completely and store in a sealed Ziplock freezer bag for up to 3 months. Let them thaw completely before re-heating.

Pin this now to find it later

Pin It

Follow on Instagram

Favorite Meatball Recipes

More Recipes Using Pesto

Hope you all enjoy these Baked Pesto Chicken Meatballs. The pesto flavor is amazing! If you love this as much as we do, please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using the hashtag #eatyourselfskinny!