meatballs

[Lori Jean]

Has anyone ever made meatballs using chicken breasts? I was thinking I could cook them, then put in food processer and put the usual ingredients for meatballs. Any suggestions.

[Jewel]

I haven't used only chicken, but I've used a mixture of lean ground beef and chicken sausage. Chicken has a tendency to be a bit dry, and can get tough if you aren't REALLY careful. I'm afraid if I used all chicken they would be hard rubber balls floating around in the Spaghetti Sauce! Unless someone else has a better idea, I'd mix the meats if possible, to get a little bit 'o fat into the ball for tenderness and moisture!

[SusanL]

Would chicken thighs work better? What do they put in ground turkey that I use for meatballs? Maybe the thighs would be more moist! It is worth giving a try!! I made the March turkey meatloaf and DH thought it was beef/pork.

[tovie]

Originally posted by Lori Jean:
Has anyone ever made meatballs using chicken breasts? I was thinking I could cook them, then put in food processer and put the usual ingredients for meatballs. Any suggestions.

I have a recipe for meatballs made that way. It starts with raw chicken breasts, not cooked, and you chop them up in the food processor. I, however, am rather lazy (bg) and I'm not sure I've ever tried it starting with the breasts. I usually just buy either chicken or turkey already ground.

[heeter]

I've used ground turkey breast for a number of meatball recipes without any trouble. Wedding soup to spaghetti.

[goldilocks]

just be careful when using ground turkey or chicken. if you purchase these ground meats and they are not all breast meat, you could be getting as much fat as ground beef. if you are substituting chicken/turkey for beef to lower fat content, make sure to get ground breast meat only. it is more expensive and also will yield a drier product.