These baked rooster meatballs are tender, juicy, and completely seasoned. Serve them as a simple appetizer dipped in creamy dill yogurt sauce, or toss them along with your favourite pasta sauce for a scrumptious household dinner.

5 Star Overview
“This recipe is superb! I made it precisely as written besides I doubled the garlic within the meatballs and sauce. I like garlic and it was tremendous tasty and many taste…” – Laura
Right this moment’s baked rooster meatballs are semi-inspired by my rooster skewers, which I serve with taratur (the Macedonian model of tzatziki). In meatball kind, lean floor rooster is seasoned, juicy, and additional versatile! I’ll serve these juicy rooster meatballs topped with creamy dill yogurt sauce sooner or later, and toss them with pink pepper pasta sauce the following. Even higher? They’re prepared in half-hour.
Why You’ll Love This Baked Rooster Meatballs Recipe
- Baked, not fried. My rooster meatballs are tender, seasoned effectively, and to maintain issues lean, they’re not fried! Oven-baked meatballs want much less oil, they usually come out completely browned on all sides.
- Simple components. These meatballs are straightforward to make from a bundle of floor rooster blended with dried herbs, panko crumbs, onions, and garlic. The trick to excellent meatballs is to not overmix the components!
- Versatile. Served with a creamy, Mediterranean-inspired dill yogurt sauce, rooster meatballs make a tasty appetizer. Or, you may plate them up with pasta or rice for a simple dinner. Change up the sauce, stick them on a skewer… the chances are infinite (and scrumptious).




Elements You’ll Want
This rooster meatball recipe has each ingredient for a cheerful dinner with Chardonnay on the facet. The components are easy, and I’ve included a number of notes and straightforward swaps beneath in case you want them. Scroll right down to the recipe card after the put up for the printable recipe, adopted by a step-by-step with images.
- Floor Rooster – You may also make this meatball recipe with floor turkey, lean floor beef, or pork.
- Breadcrumbs – I take advantage of Panko breadcrumbs, however any unseasoned or seasoned breadcrumbs will work.
- Garlic – I season the meat with a mixture of freshly minced garlic and garlic powder. If you happen to don’t have contemporary garlic, substitute an additional ½ teaspoon of garlic powder per contemporary clove.
- Onion – Finely diced. I like to recommend yellow onion or shallot.
- Dried Herbs – Dried thyme and oregano, or you should utilize a mix, like Italian seasoning. If you happen to’d want to substitute freshly chopped herbs as an alternative, you’ll want 2-3 occasions the listed quantities within the recipe card. You’ll additionally want salt and freshly cracked pepper to style.
Creamy Dill Yogurt Sauce
My favourite option to serve these baked rooster meatballs is smothered in a luscious and garlicky home made dill yogurt sauce. Whereas the meatballs bake, I combine plain yogurt with an excellent quantity of minced garlic, chopped contemporary dill, salt, pepper, and just a little olive oil to skinny it out. The sauce shouldn’t be thick, however relatively easy and pourable, like a creamy salad dressing.


5 Suggestions for the Greatest Baked Meatballs
- Don’t overmix the meatball combination. I like to make use of my palms to softly fold the meatball components collectively, after which to form the meatballs afterward. Overmixing the meat combination leads to powerful, dense meatballs.
- Use a cookie scoop. Use a small to medium-sized cookie scoop when portioning the meat combination to make sure that your meatballs are the identical dimension. Identical-sized meatballs bake extra evenly.
- Bake at a excessive temperature. Ensure that the oven is totally preheated to a scorching 400ºF earlier than you bake the meatballs. The excessive temperature sears the skin of the meat and locks within the juices. In case your oven isn’t scorching sufficient, the meatballs take longer to cook dinner and should turn out to be dry.
- Take a look at after they’re carried out. Meatballs are carried out after they’re browned on the skin and the interior temperature reads 165ºF on an instant-read thermometer.
- Relaxation the baked meatballs. Enable these rooster meatballs to relaxation for 5-10 minutes after baking. This enables the juices inside to redistribute and makes the meat further juicy and tender.


Serving Options
Serve these juicy oven-baked rooster meatballs as an appetizer with the ready yogurt sauce, a sprinkle of dill for garnish, and a glass of chilly Chardonnay or a Campari spritz. I additionally love plating the meatballs over a mattress of jasmine rice or lemon rice, with a facet of tomato cucumber salad or ratatouille for a lightweight and straightforward, Mediterranean-style dinner. They’re additionally scrumptious served with crispy potatoes or spaghetti. Be happy to toss them along with your favourite pasta sauce!
Make Them Forward
Put together the uncooked rooster meatball combination as much as 24 hours prematurely and hold it coated tightly within the fridge till you’re able to form and bake. You may also portion and form the meatballs, after which pre-freeze them on a baking sheet earlier than transferring them to a Ziploc freezer bag. Hold the meatballs frozen for as much as 1 month and thaw them within the fridge earlier than you bake them as ordinary. See the following part for tips about storing the leftover meatballs as soon as they’re baked.


Storing and Reheating Meatballs
- Refrigerate. Retailer leftover baked rooster meatballs in an hermetic container within the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Reheat. To reheat leftover meatballs, use the microwave or heat them in a skillet on the stovetop. You may also reheat the meatballs within the oven below foil till they’re scorching all through.
- Freeze. The baked rooster meatballs might be frozen for as much as 2 months. Pre-freeze the cooled meatballs on a baking sheet after which stash them in a freezer-safe container or Ziploc bag. Thaw the meatballs within the fridge earlier than you reheat them.
Pin this now to search out it later
For the Rooster Meatballs
-
Prep. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Calmly grease a 9×13 baking dish or baking sheet with cooking spray and put aside.
-
Mix the meatball components. In a big mixing bowl, mix rooster, panko bread crumbs, garlic, onion, thyme, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper; combine and stir till completely mixed.
-
Form the meatballs. Kind the combination into 1 ½-inch meatballs. Switch the meatballs to the beforehand ready baking sheet.
-
Bake. Bake for 16 to twenty minutes, or till the rooster meatballs are cooked by way of. Take away them from the oven and allow them to relaxation for a couple of minutes.
-
Put together the yogurt sauce. In a small mixing bowl, mix garlic, salt, floor pepper, dill, yogurt, and olive oil; combine till completely included. Style for seasonings and regulate accordingly.
-
Serve. Switch the meatballs to a serving platter and spoon the yogurt sauce over the meatballs. Garnish with chopped contemporary dill and serve.
- This recipe makes 16 meatballs.
- You possibly can serve these meatballs with rice, potatoes, orzo pasta, salad, and so forth.
Serving: 4Meatballs + 2 tablespoons sauce | Energy: 279.7kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 24.7g | Fats: 15.6g | Saturated Fats: 3.5g | Ldl cholesterol: 96.7mg | Sodium: 431mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 4.3g
Dietary data is an estimate and supplied as courtesy. Values could fluctuate in keeping with the components and instruments used. Please use your most popular dietary calculator for extra detailed data.
The way to Make Rooster Meatballs
A lot of the meatball recipes on my web site are baked. Don’t get me unsuitable, I like pan-fried meatballs, particularly after we’re cooking them in sauce, like in my pork meatballs recipe. However for on a regular basis, effort-free meals, the oven is the best way to go:




- Combine the meatball components. Whereas the oven preheats to 400ºF, take out an enormous bowl and add your floor rooster, breadcrumbs, herbs, and seasonings. Stir in order that all the pieces is evenly mixed.
- Form the meatballs. Subsequent, get in there along with your palms and roll the meat combination into 1½” meatballs. Place these onto a frivolously greased baking sheet.




- Bake. Bake at 400ºF for 16-20 minutes, till the meatballs are cooked by way of. Similar to you’d relaxation a rooster breast after baking, relaxation the meatballs for a couple of minutes after they’re out of the oven. It leaves simply sufficient time to make the yogurt sauce!
- Put together the yogurt sauce. In the meantime, whisk collectively the garlic, salt, pepper, and dill with yogurt and olive oil.
- Take pleasure in! Serve the meatballs with the sauce on the facet or over rice along with your favourite sides. See the Serving Options earlier for concepts.
Air Fryer Methodology
If you happen to personal an air fryer and don’t really feel like turning on the oven, make rooster meatballs within the air fryer as an alternative! Use the cooking instructions for my air fryer meatballs as a information. It’s possible you’ll want to regulate the cooking time relying on the dimensions of the meatballs and the air fryer mannequin you’re utilizing, so use a meat thermometer to make certain they’re carried out (see my Suggestions above).


Extra Tasty Meatball Recipes