The viral ‘Marry Me’ chicken gets a very special meatball makeover. Super juicy and stuffed with sundried tomatoes, parmesan, garlic and basil, they’re simmered in a gorgeously creamy tomatoey sauce for a fab one pot weeknight meal, luxurious enough for special occasions and entertaining. Serve with fresh chili cheese focaccia, loaded baked rice or over pasta.
While the name continues to be terrible, the flavors in ‘Marry Me’ chicken never disappoint. Sundried tomatoes, basil, parmesan and garlic are hard to go past, and they work beautifully in these lovely, juicy meatballs.
Whenever I have a pack of ground meat in the fridge and I don’t really know what to do with it, I so often turn to some kind of loaded meatball. They’re a brilliant way to bring new life to ground meat and that is 100% the case here.
The whole thing takes about 30 minutes to make, but feels so much more luxurious and special than the time it takes to pull together. The meatballs themselves are loaded with the classic ‘Marry Me’ flavors, and then simmered in that glorious sauce. This time I’ve swapped the classic heavy cream for coconut milk, just to lighten things up, and it works so well. And I promise it doesn’t taste coconutty!
It’s also made in one pot which is ALWAYS a bonus, especially on busy weeknights. I love to serve them sharing style, straight from the pan, with fresh no-knread chili cheese focaccia or rice (this loaded baked rice is wonderful with it). But, you can pair them with pasta, mashed or roast potatoes or steamed greens.
If you love these flavors, you’ll want to try ‘Marry Me’ chicken gnocchi, ‘Marry Me’ chicken pasta , these ‘Marry Me’ white beans or ‘Marry Me’ orzo as well.
Ingredients
- Ground chicken. You could use ground turkey, pork or a plant-based alternative if you prefer. Or if you can’t find ground chicken (it’s sometimes tricky), you can blitz 1lb of skinless, boneless chicken thighs in a food processor to make your own ground chicken.
- Sundried tomatoes. Try to find sundried tomatoes packed in olive oil for the best flavor. ‘Semi-dried’ tomatoes tend to be a little softer which I prefer in this recipe, but any will do.
- Coconut milk. I like using coconut milk here because it feels a little lighter (and it doesn’t taste coconutty), but you could swap it for heavy (double) cream or coconut milk – regular milk will make the sauce too runny.
- Tomato paste. This just helps to give the sauce a lovely, deep flavor, but you can skip it if you like.
- Panko breadcrumbs. Use regular breadcrumbs if you like. They just help keep the meatballs nice and moist.
How to make them
Start by mixing all the ingredients for your chicken meatballs, then forming them into balls. It’s easiest to do the actual meatball forming with slightly wet hands – this way the meatballs won’t stick to your hands and make a mess.
Brown the meatballs all over in a pan before starting your sauce. PRO TIP: If you have time, I recommend popping the formed meatballs into the fridge for about 30 minutes before cooking them (you can also mix them the night before you want to cook them). This will just help them stay in a uniform shape.
Cook garlic, sundried tomatoes and tomato paste., then add the rest of your sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer to thicken slightly. Pop your meatballs back into the pan, and simmer again, to cook them through and to thicken the sauce more.
Finish by scattering lots of lovely fresh basil on top of the meatballs, and more parmesan if you like.
I love serving these over my FAVORITE sunshine rice, or you could serve them with this life-changing loaded baked rice, but you can play around here. Fresh bread (try this rosemary parmesan no-knead bread or chili cheese focaccia) is great for mopping up all the lovely sauce, mashed potatoes are fab, as is pasta.
Got a question?
Yes! There are a couple of ways you can do this. You can form the meatballs and pop them in the fridge, covered, on a plate or in a container 24 hours before you want to cook them. You can also brown the meatballs, and store them in the fridge for up to 3 days before adding them to the sauce. The sauce can also be made 3 days ahead of time and everything can be mixed when you’re ready to serve.
Like this recipe? Try these chicken ideas next
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day ๐.
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30 Minute One Pot ‘Marry Me’ Chicken Meatballs
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
- Diet: Low Calorie
Description
The viral ‘Marry Me’ chicken gets a very special meatball makeover. Super juicy and stuffed with sundried tomatoes, parmesan, garlic and basil, they’re simmered in a gorgeously creamy tomatoey sauce for a fab one pot weeknight meal, luxurious enough for special occasions and entertaining. Serve with fresh focaccia, baked rice or over pasta.
Ingredients
For the meatballls –
- 1lb/500g ground chicken
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- A handful of fresh basil, chopped
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
- Black pepper
For the sauce –
- 1 tablespoon sundried tomato oil (or olive oil)
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, drained and very finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 cup coconut milk (or heavy cream or coconut cream)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- A handful of basil leaves, chopped
Instructions
- Make the meatball mixture. Add the ground chicken, 1/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese, 1/3 cup chopped sundried tomatoes, crushed garlic, 2 teaspoons of dried thyme, 1 teaspoon of salt, the chopped basil leaves, a good grind of black pepper, the egg and 1/3 cup of panko breadcrumbs to a mixing bowl. Use your hands or a large spoon to mix well to combine, ensuring the seasoning is evenly dispersed.
- Form the meatballs.ย Prepare a plate or tray so you have somewhere to put the formed meatballs. Lightly wet your hands (this will stop the mixture from sticking to them), then scoop up a heaped spoonful of the meatball mixture. Roll into a ball, roughly the size of a golf ball and set on your prepared plate or tray. Repeat with the rest of the mixture. PRO TIP: If you have time, I recommend popping the meatballs in the fridge for about 30 minutes before cooking them – this will help them keep their shape in the pan.
- Brown the meatballs. Set a large, high-sided frying pan or skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the sundried tomato oil. Add the meatballs and cook for a couple of minutes on each side, until lovely and golden all over. You don’t need to cook them all the way through at this point – they’ll simmer in the sauce a little later. This is just to seal them and add flavor. Remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside on a plate for now.
- Make the creamy sauce.ย Remove any burnt bits from the pan, then add the crushed garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 cup of chopped sundried tomatoes. Cook, stirring for a couple of minutes, then add the tomato paste and stir for another minute.
- Add the coconut milk and seasoning.ย Add 1/2 cup of chicken stock, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, 1 teaspoon of dried thyme, 1 teaspoon of chili flakes (if you’re using them), 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, 1 cup of coconut milk and 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese. Stir and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer the sauce.ย Once the sauce is simmering, reduce the heat and leave to cook for 5 minutes. At this point, add the meatballs back into the sauce, stir and let it simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Garnish and serve. To finish, spoon more sauce over the meatballs and scatter with the basil leaves. Serve with steamed rice or baked rice, fresh bread, over mashed potatoes or pasta.
Notes
PREP AHEAD: There are a couple of ways you can get ahead with this recipe. Form the meatballs and pop them in the fridge, covered, on a plate or in a container 24 hours before you want to cook them. You can also brown the meatballs, and store them in the fridge for up to 3 days before adding them to the sauce. The sauce can also be made 3 days ahead of time and everything can be mixed when you’re ready to serve.
INGREDIENT NOTES:ย Use ground turkey, pork or a plant-based alternative instead of chicken if you prefer. Or, if you can’t find ground chicken, you can blitz 1lb of boneless, skinless chicken thighs in a food processor to make your own ground chicken. Swap the coconut milk for heavy (double) cream or coconut cream – regular milk will make the sauce too runny. You can throw in some baby spinach leaves, or kale, when you add the cream if you like.
AIR FRYER INSTRUCTIONS: You can easily cook the meatballs in the air fryer, then just add them to the sauce at the end if you prefer! Add them right at the end, as you add the basil leaves. Just pop the meatballs into your air fryer and air fry for 11 minutes at 400ยฐF/200ยฐC. Try to have them on one layer, but itโs not a massive deal if they overlap, just give them a shake halfway through the cooking time.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Category: one pot
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: american
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 250g
- Calories: 490
- Sugar: 1.9g
- Sodium: 1259.5mg
- Fat: 32.4g
- Saturated Fat: 17.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12.6g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 18.6g
- Fiber: 2.3g
- Protein: 34.7g
- Cholesterol: 166.9mg
Made this for our Christmas Eve meal. It was absolutely delicious. Served it over orzo and everyone loved it.
Ahhhh this is the loveliest thing to hear Mary! So happy they went down so well on Christmas Eve โค๏ธ Thanks so much for letting me know xx
In your newsletter you mention preparing these in an air fryer. What modification from making in a skillet do you make?
Hi Rebecca! Just pop the meatballs into the air fryer for 11 minutes at 400F/200C, then add them to the sauce right at the end, when you add the basil ๐ Makes it quicker as you can make the sauce while they’re in the air fryer. I’ve added the info into the notes of the recipe now xx