Chicken Tikka Meatballs are a meal 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.
Hands-off
Minimal prep
You’ll Learn: How to keep meatballs tender instead of tough
Worth It: It builds a freezer stash for stress-free meals later
Bonus: Easy to tailor to common diets
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 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 tikka masala 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
Let’s make chicken tikka masala meatballs
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 15 minutes as it thickens. Finally, roll the cooked meatballs in the sauce to coat and garnish with cilantro.
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.
Check out these other delicious meatballs recipes
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!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
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Recipe
Chicken Tikka Meatballs
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 15 oz can tomatoe sauce
- 1 can full fat coconut milk
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 about 15 minutes
- Turn off heat and add baked meatballs to the pan. Toss the meatballs so that they are fully covered in the sauce
Recipe Notes
- 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.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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