Buffalo Chicken Meatballs. What's Not to Like?

Shhh. This photo is from Martha's website. I always seem to forget to photo
my food. Mine looked just the same, though perhaps displayed less beautifully.

So, I was watching an episode of the Martha Stewart show over December vacation and it was all about meatballs. One of the many kinds featured was Buffalo Chicken Meatballs. I love buffalo wings, but they are so messy. These are simpler to make and can be eaten more modestly at a cocktail party with a toothpick.


I made them a couple weeks ago, finally. The kids ended up eating dinner at our neighbors' house and Jim was suffering from some sort of digestive upset at the time, so I ate them for dinner alone while enjoying the quiet and a netflix movie. I put extra hot sauce on them and served them with a big crunchy salad topped with blue cheese dressing (BTW, Marie's brand has a good light version). I enjoyed them thoroughly. I brought the rest to a work potluck, where they were eaten right up. 


Sam and Ethan did end up trying them but found them to be too spicy. I would myself classify them as mild, although my Scoville tolerance is considerably more developed than theirs. Or more likely, my nerve endings have slowly been deadened from years of eating spicy foods. I do like foods that give cause a bit of sweat and burn.


Mini Spicy Buffalo Chicken Balls with Blue Cheese and Hot Sauce
Makes about 75 mini meatballs.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup Frank's RedHot hot sauce, plus more for serving
• 2 pounds ground chicken, preferably thigh meat
• 2 large eggs
• 2 ribs celery, minced (about 1 cup)
• 1 2/3 cups dried breadcrumbs
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• Blue Cheese Dressing
• Celery sticks, for serving

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Evenly coat a large rimmed baking sheet with olive oil and set aside.
2. Place butter and hot sauce in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, whisking, until butter is melted and hot sauce is well incorporated. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl; let cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes.
3. Add chicken, eggs, celery, breadcrumbs, and salt to bowl with butter mixture; using your hands, mix until well combined. Roll chicken mixture into firm, 1-inch round balls (I used a 1" ice cream scoop for this) and place on prepared baking sheet; arrange the meatballs in rows so that they are touching on all sides. Transfer to oven and bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.
4. Take out of oven and let stand 5 minutes before removing from baking sheet. Place on a serving platter and drizzle with hot sauce; serve with dressing and celery sticks.

Check out this and other meatball recipes here.