Who doesn’t love Superbowl food? Even if you can’t stand football, there’s no excuse for passing up another “this is a holiday, calories don’t count” day. These are a hodge-podged attempt at making a non-spicy version of buffalo turkey meatballs and they’re gluten-free to boot.
Source: inspired by I Breathe I’m Hungry‘s Buffalo Balls.
Gather up your stuff: ground chicken, cream cheese (only 2 oz.), mozzarella cheese, an onion, an egg, and black pepper. You’ll also need ingredients later for the sauce – that’s where the butter goes, but I didn’t read the whole recipe before photographing. Silly me.
Dump all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well, preferably using hands, until cream cheese is well incorporated. (Be sure to remove any rings or bracelets before this part; ground meat is impossible to get out of fine jewelry.)
Form into balls using a tablespoon measurement or small cookie scoop and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Meanwhile, start your sauce. Begin with some butter, juice a lime, and dash in some garlic and seasonings. Minced garlic or fresh-pressed garlic would be even better, but any mix of Italian spices and ground garlic works just fine.
Add more butter. Seriously, do it. I ended up adding at least 6 tablespoons since I ran out of sauce after the first batch and had to make more. Having leftovers for dipping sauce is nice too.
Remove chicken bites from oven and dip/dunk/slather in garlic lime sauce. Return to pan and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes or until beginning to crisp and brown on the top. Serve with leftover sauce for dipping.
My recipe:
Chicken bites:
- 1lb ground chicken (or turkey)
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Sauce:
- 2 limes, juiced
- 4-6 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon seasoned garlic powder OR 1 teaspoon minced garlic/2 garlic cloves and 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all chicken bites ingredients in a bowl and mix well with hands or spoon. Form into balls with tablespoon measurement and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Meanwhile, combine lime juice, butter, and seasonings in small saucepan and melt. Remove bites from oven, dunk in sauce, and return to pan. Bake for additional 10-12 minutes or until bites begin to brown. Serve with leftover sauce for dipping.
Makes approximately 24 chicken bites.
Tagged: BAKED, baked not fried, butter sauce, CHICKEN, chicken bites, comfort food, dinner, food, GAME DAY, garlic, garlic lime butter sauce, garlic sauce, healthy wings, lime, sides, snack, superbowl munchies, superbowl sides, turkey
hodgepodgecook 
could these be par-baked, refrigerated & the dipped & finish baking?
It’s certainly worth a try! I’m not sure the sauce will stick as well to par-baked meatballs but it’s also possible to just use the sauce for dipping. If you try it either way, let me know how it turns out!