These pesto chicken meatballs are loaded with flavor, easy to make and packed with protein and healthy fats. A great weeknight meal served over spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles, they’re Paleo, Whole30 compliant and keto friendly too!
The chicken pesto combo always gets me! I’m always dreaming up various ways to use pesto in recipes and it turns out that MEATBALLS is definitely a favorite for me.
Yes, if you’re not a huge fan of ground chicken, you can definitely use beef or turkey for these pesto meatballs. I personally love the taste of chicken patties/sausage/meatballs and with the pesto? It’s a double winner for me!
What’s in the Paleo Pesto?
The paleo pesto is a breeze to make with just a handful of ingredients, and a blender.
We have:
Pine nuts or walnuts
Garlic
Fresh Basil
Lemon
Avocado Oil (or light flavored olive oil)
Nutritional Yeast (to give it that cheesy flavor)
Sea salt and pepper
Do I Need the Nutritional Yeast?
The flavor won’t suffer too much without the nutritional yeast. I like to include it because it really does add a certain subtle “cheesy” flavor to the pesto, making all the flavors pop just a little bit more.
No worries – nutritional yeast is paleo and Whole30 friendly, and easy to find at many grocery stores or on Amazon.
What’s Else to I Need to Make Paleo Pesto Chicken Meatballs?
The rest of the ingredients are pretty standard meatball ingredients. You’ll need:
Ground Chicken
Pesto
Blanched Almond Flour
Italian Seasoning
Sea Salt and Pepper
One Egg
That’s it! Since these meatballs are baked, the oven does most of the work.
Tips for Making the Meatballs:
My biggest tip for working with any ground chicken recipes is to wet your hands! Ground chicken, even if it’s not too lean, will get sticky pretty much no matter what.
The secret to not going crazy while forming the mixture into meatballs is to periodically wet your hands, lightly, every time things start getting sticky. For this recipe, I made 14 meatballs – you can make anywhere from about 12-14.
Once done, it’s time to dig in! But first, what will you serve these pesto chicken meatballs with? I opted for cooked spaghetti squash, and, the rest of the pesto (of course!)
You can also go with cauliflower rice, zoodles or sweet potato noodles, or roasted potatoes. Since pesto and chicken go with basically anything, you cannot go wrong here!
I hope you’re ready for a delicious, healthy, filling dinner that you’ll want to put on repeat! Let’s grab our ingredients and make these Paleo Pesto Chicken Meatballs!
Paleo Pesto Chicken Meatballs {Whole30, Keto}
Paleo Pesto Chicken Meatballs {Whole30, Keto}
Ingredients
Paleo Pesto:
- 1/2 cup raw walnuts or pine nuts, or a combo
- 3 cloves garlic
- 4 oz fresh basil leaves packed (you can sub in baby spinach for some of the basil if preferreabout 4 cups
- 1/2 cup light flavored olive oil or avocado oil
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp black pepper or to taste
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast for flavor, optional
Chicken Meatballs:
- 1 lb ground chicken (or preferred ground mea- not too lean
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp pesto
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
- 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Instructions
For the Pesto:
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Combine walnuts or pine nuts, garlic, basil leaves, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and nutritional yeast in a blender or food processor. Blend or process/pulse until a paste forms (not too smootscraping sides as needed.
For the Meatballs:
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Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and drizzle a large baking sheet with oil or spray with cooking spray.
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In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp of the pesto, egg, almond flour, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Mix with clean hands until well combined, the mixture will be sticky, especially with ground chicken!
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Tip - when forming the mixture into balls, wet your hands periodically to make them easy to handle. Chicken meatballs are very sticky! Form the mixture into 12-14 meatballs, lightly wetting your hands as necessary.
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Place on the prepared baking sheet 2” apart and bake for 15-18 mins, or until just cooked through.
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Serve over cooked Spaghetti squash, Zucchini Noodles, Cauliflower Rice or Roasted Potatoes,
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topping with the remaining pesto. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Shop Products and Ingredients:
Want More Paleo Pesto Recipes? Try One of These!
Chicken Pesto Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Pesto Chicken Spaghetti Squash Bake
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This Paleo Pesto Chicken Meatballs recipe looks amazing!