Mouthwatering chicken meatballs stuffed with goat cheese and baked in the oven. These aren’t your typical meatball!
How to Make the Best Cheese Stuffed Meatballs
We love meatballs and have shared many meatball recipes with you (see these tender, juicy meatballs or these slow cooker chicken meatballs)! We love all of them, but this recipe is special and a bit different.
We make a simple mixture of ground chicken, bread crumbs, spices and chopped roasted peppers, and then form it in to balls. Then just before baking, we sneak a piece of creamy goat cheese into the middle of each ball.
As the meatballs bake, they turn golden brown. The cheese melts into the meatball and browns a bit, itself. I love serving these with a simple red sauce, like this marinara sauce or this veggie spaghetti sauce.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when making them:
- The egg, milk and breadcrumbs keep the meatballs tender and juicy
- Do you best not to over mix the meatball mixture. The less you work the mixture, the more light and airy the inside of the meatballs will be once they are baked.
- We love goat cheese for this, but any cheese will work. Try other cheeses like feta cheese, cheddar cheese or mozzarella cheese.
- To encourage browning, drizzle a little olive oil over each meatball before baking.
Make ahead & storing tips
Meatballs are excellent for making in advance and keep well once made. Here’s everything you need to know about making them in advance, freezing and storing them once made.
If you have raw meatball mixture:
- Raw meatball mixture can be refrigerated overnight and baked the next day. Follow our recipe for baking instructions.
- Raw meatball mixture can be frozen up to three months. Form the meatballs, and then place them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Place the baking sheet into the freezer and freeze until the meatballs are firm. Transfer frozen meatballs to an air-tight, freezer friendly container and freeze up to three months. Place your desired amount of frozen meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and bake until lightly browned and cooked through, about 20 minutes.
If you have cooked meatballs:
- Cooked meatballs will last, stored in an airtight container, in the fridge up to three days.
- Cooked meatballs can be frozen up to three months. Store them in an airtight, freezer-friendly container.
Goat Cheese Chicken Meatballs
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
I didn’t think meatballs could get better, but that was until we added creamy goat cheese to the middle of one! These easy baked chicken meatballs come together quickly. When choosing the cheese, goat cheese is an excellent option, but other cheeses will work well. Consider feta, cheddar or mozzarella. If you use a melty cheese (like cheddar or mozzarella), you might want to consider stuffing the cheese into the middle of the meatball and covering it completely with meatball mixture.
You Will Need
1/2 cup (35 grams) bread crumbs, we prefer panko or homemade bread crumbs
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup roasted peppers, finely chopped
1 1/4 pounds ground chicken
2 ounces goat cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
Warm marinara sauce, optional, see our homemade marinara recipe
Directions
1Heat the oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, foil or a silicone baking mat.
2In a large bowl, stir the breadcrumbs, garlic, oregano, salt, egg, milk and roasted sweet peppers. Add the ground chicken and lightly mix. Try not to over mix the chicken, over mixing will result in a tougher meatball, so use your fingers or a fork.
3Form 16 evenly sized meatballs and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Break the goat cheese apart and press one or two small pieces of goat cheese into the top of each meatball. To help with browning, lightly drizzle the meatballs with olive oil.
4Bake until they are cooked through, the outsides are browned, and they register 165°F in the middle on an instant-read thermometer; 20 to 25 minutes.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Dairy-free meatballs: Substitute the milk for unsweetened dairy-free milk and the cheese for 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast.
- Gluten-free meatballs: Substitute the bread crumbs for crushed gluten-free cereal or crackers
- Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.
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Can I make these without bread crumbs to keep it low carb?
The breadcrumbs do help the meatballs with texture and holding together. The mixture might be too wet for form into balls. You might need to do some experimenting yourself on this one.
OMG! This looks amazing! I had a huge meatball with goat cheese at out local watering hole last night and have been on a quest to find a similar recipe since then! Unfortunately hubby is not a fan of ground chicken so will use turkey instead but this is exactly what I was looking for! Yum!
Have made these repeatedly and the entire family loves them each time. Super easy quick and delicious with vegetables or pasta or zucchini noodles.
If you make them ahead & freeze, what’s the best way to reheat after thawing or should you freeze before baking & then thaw????
You could do it either way. We would partially thaw the frozen meatballs in the fridge overnight (or for a few hours) then cook.
Delicious! *bookmarking*
Used this recipe tonight and it was a great success – this is definitely a keeper!
I’m sold. We have a ton of home-ground turkey in the freezer, so I think these will become goat cheese-stuffed turkey meatballs! Looking forward to this treat.
Cheers,
*heather*
Tried tonight and it was delish!!!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Definitely! I will try this out in my kitchen. These meatballs are healthy and so yummy, great for kids and adults alike. Thanks for sharing!
mmmm i love anything stuffed with cheese! great dish 🙂 I love it!
L:oving these, they look so delicious! What a unique idea, yum. 🙂
These look absolutely amazing. I love that combination of chicken, peppers, and goat cheese. That first photo really makes me wish that I had some right now – awesome pic!
STOOOOP it. Oh, I’m in love.
Lovely recipe, I do like that the meatballs are baked in the oven rather then fried in a pan. Something definitely to try 🙂