This post contains affiliate links.
Chicken Tikka Meatballs are a Whole30 friendly twist on chicken tikka masala made with ground chicken meatballs. The best part of this chicken tikka recipe is the sweet and spicy sauce.
What are Chicken Tikka Meatballs?
A few weeks ago Amy and I went to dinner and had ground chicken meatballs in a tomato ginger sauce. They were delicious, but missing something. We decided they were missing SPICE!
When we got home we brainstormed how to make them better. Together we came up with these chicken tikka meatballs. This healthy Whole30 recipe is like the baby of baked chicken meatballs and traditional chicken tikka masala.
Once prepared, I quickly learned that my favorite part of this recipe is the sweet and spicy sauce. Be sure to serve this chicken meatball recipe with something that will soak up all that lovely sauce.
The obvious choice is some naan, but I also like to use cauliflower rice or zoodles!
What kitchen tools will I need to make these Chicken Tikka Meatballs?
Similar to my other recipes, you will only need a few simple kitchen tools in order to prepare this Whole30 chicken meatball recipe.
- Sharp knife for dicing the onion and mincing the garlic and ginger
- Mixing bowls to prepare the meatballs
- A 1.5 tbsp measuring scoop for measuring meatballs
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- A large nonstick frying pan or enameled cast-iron casserole dish
- Wooden mixing spoon
What ingredients will I need to make this healthy meal?
- Ground chicken
- Almond flour
- Egg
- Avocado oil
- Onion
- Garlic cloves
- Fresh ginger
- Salt
- Garam Masala
- Chili powder
- Turmeric
- Tomato paste
- Tomato sauce
- Full fat coconut milk
- Arrowroot starch
Let’s make a Whole30 dinner!
Step 1: Mix and Bake
First, preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Then, combine all meatball ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Next, scoop out 15 even-sized meatballs onto the baking sheet. Then, roll the meatballs into tight balls and bake for 15 minutes.
Step 2: Chop and Sauté
Then prepare the sauce by dicing the onion and mincing the garlic and ginger. Next, add oil to a pan and heat over medium-low heat with the onions for 4 minutes. Then, add the spices, garlic, ginger, and tomato paste and continue to saute.
After a couple of minutes, pour in the tomato sauce and full fat coconut milk. Then, mix the sauce together with wooden mixing spoon. Finally, increase the heat to medium-high until the sauce bubbles.
Step 3: Simmer and Combine
Then, reduce the heat to medium-low and allow the sauce to simmer for 5 minutes. Next, pour in the arrowroot starch and water slurry to thicken the sauce. Finally, roll the cooked meatballs in the sauce to coat and garnish with cilantro.
Step 4: Enjoy!
Can I make this ground chicken meatball recipe ahead of time and freeze it?
Yes. After cooking them, allow the chicken tikka meatballs and sauce to cool completely. Then, place them in an airtight container to freeze.
When you want to eat them, defrost this chicken tikka recipe completely in the refrigerator and reheat on the stovetop.
How long will this baked chicken meatball recipe last in the fridge?
Keep the chicken tikka meatballs and sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove top.
Grab the full recipe for Chicken Tikka Meatballs down below! If you make these please rate and review in the comments or share it with me on Instagram!
Chicken Tikka Meatballs
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 3 Servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Bake and Saute
- Cuisine: Indian
Description
A Whole30 and paleo friendly twist on chicken tikka masala.
**NOTE this recipe makes a lot of sauce! We like extra for dipping, but if you are doubling the recipe I recommend just doubling the meatballs and not the sauce.
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
Sauce
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 yellow onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 15oz can tomatoe sauce
- 1 can full fat coconut milk
- 1/2 tbsp arrowroot starch
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Combine all meatball ingredients in a large mixing bowl
- Using a 1.5 tbsp measuring scoop, scoop out meatballs onto the baking sheet and roll into tighter balls (about 15 meatballs)
- Bake meatballs for 15 minutes and then remove from the oven
- While the meatballs bake, dice the onion, and mince the garlic and ginger
- Heat avocoado oil in a large nonstick frying pan or an enameled cast iron casserole dish over medium-low heat
- Add the diced onion to the pan and saute until soft and fragrant about 4 minutes
- Add ginger, garlic and spices to the pan and saute for another minute
- Add tomato paste to the pan and saute for another minute
- Pour tomato sauce and coconut milk to the pan, mix thoroughly and increase the heat to medium-high until the sauce bubbles
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow the sauce to simmer for 5 minutes
- Combine arrowroot starch and water mixture in a small bowl until fully combined
- While stirring the sauce, slowly pour in the water and arrowroot starch mixture
- Allow the sauce to simmer for another minute until the sauce thickens
- Turn off heat and add baked meatballs to the pan. Toss the meatballs so that they are fully covered in the sauce
- Serve the meatballs immediately with zoodles or cauliflower rice or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days
Keywords: chicken tikka meatballs, chicken tikka recipe, ground chicken meatballs
So flavorful and delicious! The recipe doubled was perfect for our family of 6. We will definitely make it again very soon, so easy to make too!
★★★★★
YAY! So glad! Thank you for sharing that doubled worked for your family of 6. That will help others 🙂
Im allergic to all nuts what can i use in place of almond flour?
Enjoying your recipes
Hi! You can use 1 tbsp coconut flour or 1/4 cup cassava flour. Or if you arent on the WHole30 you can use standard all purpose flour.
So good!! Substituted coconut flour since I was out of almond but I don’t think we would have known the difference. So flavorful yet simple to prepare. Even my fiance, who is a picky eater and not participating in whole30, said it was wonderful. Thanks for making my whole30 journey delicious!
★★★★★
Oh good! So glad that sub worked!! And picky fiance approved is a HUGE win in my book!!
This is absolutely fantastic! Will be going in my rotation. All of your recipes are phenomenal. Thank you so much for sharing!
★★★★★
Thank you for sharing!! So glad you love it as much as I do!!
These were fantastic! Our family of 6 loved them. Well, my husband and I and 3 out 4 kids loved them. The other kid ate them without complaining so I count that as a win. 😊 I made a double batch which was the perfect amount of meatballs, but next time I’ll probably double the meatballs but not the sauce. Thanks so much for such a great, easy recipe!
Yay!! I am SO glad! I’ve gotten that comment about the sauce a few times. We like to have a lot of extra so I will make a note about that in the post!
Made these for a potluck, and no big deal, but the dish was the star of the evening. Definitely one of my favorite meatball dishes… ever!
YES always good to be the hit of the potluck!
Best tikka masala sauce I ever had!
★★★★★
Ah such a compliment! Thank you!!
So so delicious!! I am vegetarian and not doing whole 30, so I subbed the meatballs for veggie meatballs and used regular rice. I love dippin’ also so the sauce amount was perfect. I’ll definitely be making this again and again. Thank you!
Oh thats awesome!! Thank you for sharing!
I LOVE this recipe! I have made this every month since finding it and it’s always a crowd pleaser. I love how easy it is and how I always have leftover sauce for dipping.
★★★★★
Thank you for sharing!! I am so so glad!
Literally drinking the sauce with a spoon!!! Soooo good
★★★★★
So yummy. One of the only things that I meal prep and STILL want more of after eating it for dinner 5 days straight lol
★★★★★
LOL I love that!! Thank you!
Made this during my first (and only) Whole30 last year. While I won’t be doing Whole30 again, I will keep this recipe in my regular rotation cause it’s just so damn good. Bonus: I subbed out some of the more specialty Whole30 ingredients for some more common pantry staples (arrowroot starch for cornstarch, regular rice, etc) and it still works great. Another hit in my book.
amazing!! I agree perfect for any time not just whole30
Absolutely delicious and so easy for a college kid like myself to prep and have ready for the week!
★★★★★
amazing!! so smart to prep them ahead!!
This is a staple in our home! We been making this for over a year now and it’s our two year old daughter’s favorite meal!
★★★★★
YAY!! love that so much. Thank you!