Ingredients
- cooking spray
- 2 lbs lean ground chicken
- 8 oz parm cheese, grated (about 3cups)
- 8 oz feta cheese crumbled (about 2 cups)
- 8 oz ricotta cheese (about 2 cups)
- 8 oz roasted red bell pepper (from 1 15oz jar, drained and chopped
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs, divided
- 1 (24oz) jar marinara sauce
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup fresh mozarella or burrata cheese, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 tbsp thinly sliced fresh basil
Preparation
Step 1
prepare oven to 350. lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. gently stir together, ground chicken, parm, feta, ricotta, bell eppers, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and salt in a large bowl. fold in 1 cup of panko until just combined (do not overmix)
shape mixture into 2 inch round meatballs about 30 meatballs total. place on prepared baking sheet spaced 1 inch apart.
Bake in preheated oven until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of meatballs registers 141, about 11mins. Remove from oven; set aside. increase oven temp to 375.
Stir marinara and mustard in a small saucepan; bring to a boil over medium high, stirring often. pour mixture into a blender. secure lid on blender, and remove center piece to allow steam to escape. place a clean towel over opening. process until smooth, stopping to add butter, 1 piece at a time, processing until smooth before adding the next piece, about 2mins total.
Transfer meatballs to a 13x9 inch baking dish, pour marinara-butter mixture on top; sprinkle with 1/2 cup panko. bake at 375 until panko is golden brown and a thermometer inserted in thickest portion of meatballs registers 165 about 14mins. remove from oven; top with mozarella, and sprinkle with basil.