Buffalo Chicken Meatballs start with my simple chicken meatball recipe and get spiced up with buffalo sauce and ranch. You can add blue cheese if that’s your style. These make a great appetizer or lunch.
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I don’t know about you guys, but I have a habit of putting Frank’s hot sauce on just about everything. It adds so much tangy flavor and I just love it!
For me, low carb must equal big flavor or I’m out.
I especially love to combine my homemade ranch dressing with some Frank’s. That mixture is so good drizzled over my pizza stuffed zucchini.
I know that, traditionally, buffalo chicken recipes call for blue cheese crumbles and/or blue cheese dressing. Well, friends…nope. Not happening for me.
I don’t know if you guys know this or not, but blue cheese is moldy cheese. I just can’t.
So, feel free to make adjustments to this recipe to use up your moldy cheese if you like. As for me, I’ll stick with cheddar and ranch. As God intended. 😉
♥ What We Love About This Recipe:
- Spicy: This buffalo chicken meatball recipe has just the right amount of spicy heat! We’re using our favorite sauce, Frank’s Red Hot. It’s not too spicy so you can still enjoy the savory meatballs without being overwhelmed by the heat.
- Meal Prep: I make a batch of these, pop them in the fridge, and eat them all week long. I’ll even grab one cold from the fridge for a little protein snack.
- Party Food: Meatballs are an excellent party appetizer or snack! They’re especially popular for watching the big game. You can serve them with toothpicks to make them easier for snacking!
Ingredient Notes:
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Ground Chicken – You’ll start with some lean ground chicken for these meatballs. You could also use ground turkey here instead.
Almond Flour – The low carb breading that helps bind the buffalo chicken meatballs together is almond flour. Some coconut flour would be a possible substitute.
Parmesan Cheese – It adds flavor and it helps to bind the ingredients along with the egg and almond flour.
Egg – For binding the keto meatball ingredients and helping them to hold their shape!
Buffalo Sauce – We love the flavor of Frank’s Red Hot when making pretty much anything buffalo chicken related. It’s not overly spicy! You’ll mix this up with some melted butter to make the savory buffalo sauce.
Other – I’m also mixing in some minced garlic, chives, and onion powder. We also like to drizzle some ranch dressing on the meatballs or serve it as a side for dipping! Feel free to use other seasonings or ingredients too. Green onion, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper could all be used here too.
We use Thrive Market for a lot of our specialty ingredients and keto snacks or products. Their prices tend to be cheaper than the local stores and I love that you can so easily sort products by diet.
Like Costco, this is a membership site, but we find that it’s more than worth it based on the amount we save over the regular grocery store.
They have monthly or yearly plans. Check it out here.
How To Make Buffalo Chicken Meatballs:
- Combine – These baked chicken meatballs start with ground chicken, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret: It’s totally fine to use ground turkey if that’s all you can find. I honestly can never tell the difference in the finished product. For the binder, we’re going to use almond flour. It works great and can be found in just about any grocery store these days. Use your hands to mix together the ground chicken, almond flour, Parmesan cheese, egg, and seasonings. Easy stuff here.
- Shape – Shape into meatballs and pop them onto a baking sheet.
- Bake – We’re going to bake these hot and spicy chicken meatballs at 500 degrees for just about 13 minutes.
- Buffalo Sauce – Once the meatballs are cooked through, whisk together your hot sauce and melted butter and toss the meatballs in to coat. Mmm, saucy buffalo chicken meatballs.
- Serve – You know what the next step is? Drizzle ’em with ranch or set out a little bowl to dip! These low carb meatballs are seriously so easy and you can make them small so they work as appetizers or you can make them larger and serve them up for lunch or dinner. Either way, this chicken meatball recipe is super tasty and always a hit in my house.
Freezing & Storage Instructions:
If you’re serving these as appetizers or snacks for a gathering or event, pop them on a tray with toothpicks and a bowl of ranch for dipping.
You can store buffalo chicken meatballs in the refrigerator for about 3 to 4 days in an airtight container. Reheat them in the oven or microwave.
These keto meatballs can also be frozen! They’ll keep for up to a few months in a freezer safe container or bag. Be sure to cool completely before storing and flash freeze them on a baking sheet so they don’t stick together in the freezer.
Recipe FAQs:
A standard meatball recipe usually includes breadcrumbs and egg which do a good job of binding everything together. We’re using almond flour, egg, and some Parmesan cheese for these low carb buffalo chicken meatballs!
The savory, buttery, spicy sauce gets its name from the city it first gained popularity in: Buffalo, New York.
We don’t think these buffalo chicken meatballs are too spicy! We’re just using Frank’s Red Hot sauce here which is pretty mild. You can use a hotter (or milder) sauce if you’d like to change things up.
I’d recommend some celery sticks or carrot sticks. They pair well with the buffalo sauce flavors and are a good contrast to the spice.
More Keto Snacks & Appetizers:
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1/3 cup almond flour
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon chives
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ cup Frank’s hot sauce
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- Ranch Dressing for drizzling or dipping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Spray a large baking sheet with non-stick spray.
- Add the ground chicken, almond flour, Parmesan, garlic, egg, chives, and onion powder to a mixing bowl and mix with your hands until combined.
- Shape mixture into 12 evenly sized meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 13 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Whisk together the hot sauce and melted butter in a bowl and add the meatballs. Toss gently to coat.
- Serve meatballs hot or cold with a drizzle of ranch dressing.
JDafryck says
Can these be done in the airfryer?
Karly Campbell says
Yes, they can! 400 degrees for about 8 minutes or until cooked through. 🙂
Jessica Kepley says
Have you tried stuffing these with mozzarella cheese?
Karly Campbell says
I haven’t, but it sure sounds good!
Bonnie says
Can these be reheated in a crockpot with the sauce? I’m wondering if I should add some extra melted butter, or if I should put any ranch dip in there?
Karly Campbell says
Hmm, I think they’d be fine kept warm in the crockpot. I would probably add a little extra sauce.
Bonnie Franklin says
mine are in the oven now! i’m trying to figure the best way to put them in the crockpot tomorrow – i made a double batch, so i doubled the sauce – I alsp bought ranch dip, so I dont know if i should just use the buffalo sauce, or add some ranch dip in the pot?
Karly Campbell says
Hi Bonnie! I wouldn’t add the ranch dip to the crockpot. I’d just serve it on the side for dipping. 🙂
Terri says
This is a go to recipe for me at least once a week. I love these and they fit into my 21 day fix lifestyle thanks to the almond flour (which I do not taste at all). The only thing is that they are so addictive I can eat them all myself!
Amber says
OMG!!! These are so delicious!! Taste just like buffalo wings and I used turkey. Only the barest hint of the almond flour which is pleasantly surprising. I cannot wait to make these for my Big-Little (19 yr old son) who loves all things buffalo chicken. Thank you for sharing such a fantastic keto recipe….Go HAWKS 2020
Karly Campbell says
Yay! So glad you liked them!
Brittney says
Hi there! I noticed someone earlier asked about what to do if allergic to almonds. I am, too, so almond flour is never something I can use and so many low carb recipes call for it. Since I’m trying to be carb conscious, is coconut flour an option? I’ve heard it cooks/bakes very differently than almond flour. What to do??
Karly Campbell says
I haven’t tried using coconut flour in meatballs before – it sucks up so much more liquid that I’m not sure how well it would work. I would suggest you try using crushed pork rinds in this recipe. I’d probably use about a cup.
Dawn Smith says
Maybe try Parmesan cheese in place of almond flour. I use this for my salmon Pattie’s and meatloaf binders.
Karen says
These are delicious and so easy to make. I make them at least once a week. They are also a good grab and go even cold.
Kris says
Is the parmesan grated parmesan or the stuff u sprinkle out of a canister?
Karly Campbell says
I use the powdered kind in recipes like this to help bind the meatballs.
Jan says
Why can’t you provide the actual weight or servings in ounces because depending on the app you use the carbs and protein vary but also it’s so much easier to just weigh the food portions Incase one is bigger than the other or you perhaps use a scooper for easy cooking. Can you help?
Karly Campbell says
Hi Jan! The nutrition information is just there as a courtesy – I can’t guarantee that it’s accurate. Having one meatball a little bigger than the others isn’t going to make much of a difference, but if it’s that important to you, I’d recommend weighing each meatball as you make it and adding the nutrition information yourself. Hope that helps! 🙂
Magriet Cordier says
Can I use grated Parmesan cheese instead of the powdered cheese, we don’t like the powdered cheese?
Karly Campbell says
You can try, but I’m not sure if it will hold together quite as well. The powdered kind works like breadcrumbs would to hold the meatballs together – not sure if the shredded will do that.
Samantha says
Curious how you came up with 1 net carb per meatball? I made a double batch and did the math and only got 7g carbs total, and that’s not subtracting fiber. For a double batch ♀️
Karly Campbell says
I used My Fitness Pal to calculate the nutrition on this recipe.
Amanda says
These look amazing!! If making them for dinner what do you suggest serving them with? Side mac and cheese or salad? Maybe risotto? Roasted potatoes….more I think about it the more I want to make them!!
Karly Campbell says
Hi Amanda! I think any of your ideas sound great if they fit your diet. I’d probably do cauliflower mac and cheese and a salad. 🙂
Linda says
These are so good. Made them 3 times already. Thank you
Lauren says
Do you have nutrition facts or did I miss them?
Karly Campbell says
They’re at the top of the recipe card. 🙂
Erin | white plate blank slate says
These look delish! I was looking around for new apps for game days now that football is back. So glad I found this one!
Susie Kirkland says
This was delicious! Thank you!
Danielle says
I’m allergic to almonds, can I use regular flour?
Karly Campbell says
I would use breadcrumbs, if you’re not concerned about your carb intake.
Betty Hopper says
The instruction call for pork rinds but the list does not included them. Are they also let out of the calculations?
Karly Campbell says
Yep, sorry about that! Fixed now!
Kat says
Hi Karly-you mention crushed pork rinds but they’re not in the ingredient list. How much do you use? Thanks in advance!!
Karly Campbell says
Hi Kat! Sorry about that – the recipe doesn’t use pork rinds, just almond flour. 🙂