Tender meatballs are covered in a rich, spiced tomato sauce for these easy Butter Chicken Meatballs. If you love butter chicken, you’ll love this delicious and fun version!
For an easy, flavorful meal, serve these meatballs up with rice and naan bread. It’s a meal you’ll want to repeat over and over again!
I am a huge butter chicken fan. It’s one of those dishes that I crave often.
My husband isn’t a big fan of Indian food, but I have my daughter converted.
And let me tell you – we were both obsessed with these Butter Chicken Meatballs!
I’m on a bit of a meatball kick lately, so it was only natural to make some spiced chicken meatballs, and coat them in a delicious butter chicken sauce. Both the meatballs and the sauce are super flavorful, and it’s all really quite easy to pull together, as well.
Ingredients
- Ground Chicken: Since these are butter chicken meatballs, I use ground chicken. I haven’t tried the recipe with pork or beef, but they should work. (Although the flavor will be different.)
- Egg: The egg acts as a binder and helps to keep the meatballs together.
- Breadcrumbs: I like to use panko breadcrumbs. You could use traditional breadcrumbs, but the panko will keep the meatballs a little lighter and not as dense.
- Olive Oil: You can sub this for another oil of your choice, if desired. This just helps to keep the meatballs moist.
- Spices: Both the meatballs and the sauce are spiced. If you are a fan of Indian food, you probably have all of these spices in your cabinet. You need smoked paprika, curry powder, cumin, garam masala, salt, and pepper.
- Butter: Surprisingly, butter chicken doesn’t have a ton of butter in it! I use unsalted butter, but if you use salted, you may just need to cut back on the added salt.
- Onion, Garlic, and Ginger: These are all for flavor. If possible, use fresh of all three. If you don’t have fresh ginger, you can use some powdered ginger, but it really won’t be the same.
- Tomato: You need both tomato paste and tomato sauce. When adding the tomato paste, let it cook for a minute to cook the raw flavor out.
- Cream: You’ll want to use heavy whipping cream. It will give you the richest, creamiest sauce.
How to Make Butter Chicken Meatballs
STEP 1: Mix together all of the ingredients for the meatballs. You want to make sure everything is mixed well, but not over-mixed.
STEP 2: Roll the mixture into meatballs. I find that this is easiest to use a cookie scoop to portion the balls, then I will use wet hands to roll the meatballs. Place these on a lined baking sheet that is sprayed with cooking spray and bake until baked through.
STEP 3: While the meatballs are baking, make the sauce by cooking the onion in the butter. Add the garlic and ginger, then mix in the spices. Let this cook together for about a minute.
STEP 4: Add the tomato paste and let it cook for another minute, then stir in the tomato sauce. Cook this until it all starts to simmer.
STEP 5: Add the cream. Let this mixture simmer for about 20 minutes.
STEP 6: Add the cooked meatballs to the sauce and stir them to coat with the sauce. Serve the meatballs and sauce over rice and top with cilantro.
Tips and Tricks
I like to bake my meatballs so that I can have the sauce cooked by the time the meatballs are done. You can cook this all in one pan, browning the meatballs, then adding them back into the sauce to simmer until done. But this just takes a little longer, so I opt for baking to cut back on some time.
I am a 100% fan of adding fresh cilantro when serving. It really brings a lot to do the dish.
These make great leftovers! You can package up the rice and the meatballs/sauce separately, but I will usually pack it up in individual containers with rice and meatballs, making this perfect for meal prep.
More Meatball Recipes
Asian Meatballs
Firecracker Meatballs
Chicken Meatballs with Creamy Orzo
LOOKING FOR MORE FREE RECIPES?
Subscribe to my free recipe newsletter to get new family friendly recipes in your inbox each week! Find me sharing more family-friendly inspiration on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.
Butter Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 5-6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 1 cup heavy cream
For serving:
- Cooked rice
- Freshly chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat the oven 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a bowl, combine the ground chicken with the egg, breadcrumbs, oil, smoked paprika, curry powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Mix together until combined.1 pound ground chicken, 1 large egg, 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Roll the mixture into 1 inch balls. You should get about 16 meatballs. Place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven until cooked through, about 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook until softened. Add the garlic and the ginger and cook another 30 seconds, until fragrant.2 tablespoons butter, 1/2 onion, 5-6 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
- Add the garam masala, curry powder, cumin, and salt and mix for 30 seconds. Stir the tomato paste in for a minute, then add the tomato sauce. Cook until it starts to simmer.1 tablespoon garam masala, 1 tablespoon curry powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 8 oz tomato sauce
- Stir in the cream, and let the sauce simmer for about 20 minutes, making sure to not let the mixture boil.1 cup heavy cream
- Once the meatballs are done, stir them into the sauce.
- Serve over rice, topped with fresh cilantro.Cooked rice, Freshly chopped cilantro
Leave a Comment...