Oven Baked Chicken Parma Balls

These Oven Baked Chicken Parma Meatballs with an Italian tomato sauce and melted cheese are a family favourite! Kid-friendly, easy and delicious!!

5 from 38 votes

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Course: Dinner

Cuisine: western

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 35

Total Time: 55

Servings: serves

Calories: 314kcal

Author: Lucy - Bake Play Smile

Equipment

Stove-top or Thermomix
Oven

Ingredients

For the meatballs:

500 g chicken mince
1 brown onion finely diced
1 tbs Italian herbs parsley, oregano etc - fresh or dried
120 g panko breadcrumbs or regular breadcrumbs
1 egg
salt and pepper to season

For the tomato sauce:

1 brown onion finely diced
1 clove (1 tsp) garlic crushed
1 tbs olive oil
400 g tomatoes fresh or tinned - diced or crushed
2 tbs tomato paste
1 cup (250 ml) water
2 teaspoon Italian herbs parsley, oregano etc - fresh or dried
1 teaspoon raw sugar optional
salt and pepper to season
½ cup grated cheese combination of parmesan, mozzarella, cheddar

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Conventional Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius (fan-forced).
Add all meatball ingredients to a bowl and mix until well combined.
Roll into 1 tablespoon-sized balls and place into a greased baking/casserole dish. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes.
While the meatballs are cooking, make the tomato sauce by placing the chopped onion, garlic and olive oil into a frying pan and sautéing for 2 minutes.
Add all other sauce ingredients and simmer on low heat (approx 20 minutes). Add more water if needed.
When the meatballs have cooked for 20 minutes, pour the tomato sauce over the top and grate over the cheese. Bake for the final 15 minutes.

Thermomix Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius (fan-forced).
Place the onion into the Thermomix bowl and chop for 5 seconds, Speed 6. Scrape down the sides and repeat.
Add all remaining meatball ingredients and mix for 15 seconds, Speed 5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for a further 10 seconds.
Roll into 1 tablespoon-sized balls and place into a greased baking/casserole dish. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes.
While the meatballs are cooking, make the tomato sauce by placing the onion and garlic into a clean Thermomix bowl. Chop on Speed 6, 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides and repeat if needed.
Add the olive oil and saute for 2 minutes, 80 degrees, Speed 2. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and cook for 20 minutes, Varoma, Speed 1.
When the meatballs have cooked for 20 minutes, pour the tomato sauce over the top and grate over the cheese. Bake in the oven for the final 15 minutes.

Notes

RECIPE NOTES & TIPS

Ingredients Info:

chicken mince - also known as ground chicken
panko crumbs - this gives the meatballs a delicious texture and helps to hold them together. If you can't buy panko crumbs, you can substitute them for regular breadcrumbs
raw sugar - optional. I like to add a tiny amount of raw sugar to my tomato sauce which gives it a little sweetness and takes away any acidity from the tomatoes
grated cheese - I like to use a combination of cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan. The cheddar gives a lovely rich flavour, the mozzarella adds the oozy cheesiness and the parmesan gives it a classic Italian taste. You can use any combination of these cheeses you like.

More Recipe Tips:

Serving suggestions - pasta (my favourite option!!), zoodles, mashed potato, cauliflower puree, sweet potato mash, rice, crunchy potatoes or fries.

Avoiding cheese over-browning - Simply add a sheet of foil loosely over the top (make sure it doesn't touch the cheese otherwise it will stick to the foil).
Also, moving the baking dish to a shelf lower in the oven (away from the heat source) will help.

Storing - Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 2 days.

Freezing - Freeze any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and consume within 1 month. You can either defrost the parma balls in the fridge before reheating or reheat them in the microwave directly from frozen.

Nutrition