These ‘Marry Me’ Chicken Meatballs take the viral creamy chicken dish and give it a very special meatball makeover. Super juicy and packed with sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan, garlic, and basil, they’re simmered in that iconic creamy sauce and ready in just 30 minutes. Think: an easy weeknight dinner that’s luxurious enough for date night or entertaining.
Table of Contents
- ‘Marry Me’ Chicken Meatballs, at a Glance
- Why These ‘Marry Me’ Chicken Meatballs Work
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- How to Make ‘Marry Me’ Chicken Meatballs
- Kate’s Top Recipe Tips
- Five Ways to Serve the Meatballs
- ‘Marry Me’ Meatballs FAQs
- Like these meatballs? Try these easy meatball recipes next
- 30 Minute One Pot ‘Marry Me’ Chicken Meatballs Recipe
‘Marry Me’ Chicken Meatballs, at a Glance
- ⏰ Time: 30 minutes
- 🍽️ Servings: 4
- 🛒 Key Ingredients: Ground chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan, basil, coconut milk
- 🧠 Skill Level: Easy and weeknight friendly
- 👩🍳 Cooking Method: One pot, stovetop, air fryer friendly
- 🍳 Equipment Needed: Large skillet or high-sided pan
- 💃 Perfect For: Busy weeknights, date nights, dinner parties, cozy evenings
Why These ‘Marry Me’ Chicken Meatballs Work
There’s a reason ‘Marry Me’ Chicken went so viral – despite the terrible name. The flavor combination just works. Sun-dried tomatoes bring sweetness and a little tang, parmesan adds salty depth, garlic marries the two, and fresh basil lifts it all at the end. And when that all melts into a creamy tomato sauce? It’s balanced, comforting, and the ultimate crowd-pleaser.
Here’s why this meatball version is on repeat in my kitchen:
- Big flavor, minimal effort. When I have a pack of ground chicken in the fridge with no real plan, these meatballs are my go-to. They’re an easy way to turn simple ingredients into something that feels a bit luxurious.
- Creamy, glossy sauce (with no heavy cream needed). I like swapping out heavy cream for coconut milk to lighten things up a little. It still makes the sauce super silky and rich, and I promise it doesn’t taste coconutty.
- Ready in 30 minutes. Quick, fuss-free meals are lifesavers on busy weeknights, and this one genuinely is quick and easy. It’s actually even quicker to cook the meatballs in the air fryer and add them to the sauce (because you can cook both at the same time).
- One pot = fewer dishes. Again, one-pot recipes are my gold standard on busy days. Anything that can save a bit of time and washing up is always a winner.
- Flexible ways to serve. You can serve the meatballs family style, straight from the pan, with some fresh bread for dunking in the sauce (no-knead chili cheese focaccia or rosemary parmesan bread are great). Or pair them with life-changing loaded baked rice, spoon them over pasta, serve with steamed greens, crispy skin on potatoes, or garlic butter potatoes.
If you love these flavors, you’ll want to try ‘Marry Me’ chicken gnocchi, ‘Marry Me’ chicken pasta, ‘Marry Me’ white beans, ‘Marry Me’ orzo, or the classic ‘Marry Me’ chicken recipe too.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Ground chicken. You could use ground turkey, pork, beef, or a plant-based alternative if you prefer. Or if you can’t find ground chicken, blitz 1 lb (500g) of skinless, boneless chicken thighs in a food processor to make your own.
- 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 in the sauce), but you could swap it for heavy (double) cream. Go for coconut milk with coconut extract of at least 60% for the best, creamy texture.
- Tomato paste. This helps to give the sauce a lovely, deep flavor and color, but you can skip it if you like.
- Panko breadcrumbs. Use regular breadcrumbs if you like. They help keep the meatballs nice and moist.
How to Make ‘Marry Me’ Chicken Meatballs
This is a step-by-step photo overview of how to make the meatballs – the full recipe with instructions and ingredient quantities is at the bottom of the page for you.
- Add all the ingredients for your chicken meatballs to a mixing bowl.
- Mix very well, so that all the ingredients are evenly dispersed throughout the mixture.
- Use wet hands (this will prevent them from sticking) to roll heaped tablespoons of the mixture into meatballs.
- Brown the meatballs all over in a pan before starting your sauce.
- Cook your garlic, sundried tomatoes, and tomato paste in the same pan for a couple of minutes.
- Add the remaining sauce ingredients, stir, and simmer.
- Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer for another few minutes.
- Finish by scattering lots of lovely fresh basil on top of the meatballs, and more parmesan if you like.
Kate’s Top Recipe Tips
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 help them stay in a uniform shape in the pan.
To make the recipe even faster, you can cook the meatballs in the air fryer while the sauce cooks, then add them at the end.
Five Ways to Serve the Meatballs
- With this very fluffy no-knead chili cheese focaccia.
- Fabulous for scooping up every drop of that lovely, creamy sauce.
- Spooned over life-changing loaded baked rice.
- My favorite and a great, hands-off option that soaks everything up beautifully.
- Tossed through pasta.
- This one is a classic comfort food option – rigatoni or fettuccine works well.
- With mashed or roasted potatoes.
- I love it with ultra crispy skin-on roast potatoes, or garlic butter potatoes for an extra dose of garlicky goodness.
- Alongside steamed greens or a simple salad.
- This is a great way to lighten things up and balance the creaminess of the sauce.
‘Marry Me’ Meatballs FAQs
Yes! There are a couple of ways you can do this.
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.
Or you can 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 in advance, and everything can be mixed when you’re ready to serve.
You can – they freeze very well.
Freeze cooked or raw meatballs on a lined tray in a single layer until solid, then transfer them into ziplock bags to store. You can add them to the sauce straight from frozen, or air fry them from frozen. Just add an extra few minutes onto the cooking time if you’re using raw meatballs.
Freeze with the sauce. You might find the sauce separates a little bit when thawed, but if you stir well when you’re reheating and add a little extra stock or water, it should come back together.
You can! Turkey tends to be leaner than ground chicken, so I recommend adding a little drizzle of olive oil into the mixture to help keep things juicy.
Maybe surprisingly, no.
Because sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan, and garlic are strong flavors, they dominate here and overpower any coconut coming through. The only thing you might get is a little sweetness, but that works to balance out the salty flavors of the sauce.
If you know you’re hyper sensitive to coconut, though, just swap it for regular heavy cream.
Like these meatballs? Try these easy meatball recipes 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 😊.
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30 Minute One Pot ‘Marry Me’ Chicken Meatballs
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Low Calorie
Description
These ‘Marry Me’ Chicken Meatballs take the viral creamy chicken dish and give it a very special meatball makeover. Super juicy and packed with sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan, garlic, and basil, they’re simmered in that iconic creamy sauce and ready in just 30 minutes. Think: an easy weeknight dinner that’s luxurious enough for date night or entertaining.
Ingredients
For the meatballs –
- 1 lb (500g) ground chicken (or ground turkey, beef, pork, or a plant-based alternative)
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly 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 (broth)
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon red pepper or chili flakes (optional)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 cup full-fat coconut milk (or heavy cream or coconut cream)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- A handful of basil leaves, chopped
Instructions
- Make the meatball mixture. Add the ground chicken, ⅓ cup of grated parmesan cheese, ⅓ 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 ⅓ 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. Line a plate or tray with parchment paper. Lightly wet your hands (this will stop the mixture from sticking to them), then scoop up a heaped tablespoon of the 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 skillet or pan over medium-high heat and add 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 later. This is to seal them and build flavor. Remove the meatballs from the pan and set aside on a plate for now.
- Make the creamy sauce. If needed, remove any burnt bits from the pan. Then add the crushed garlic, ½ teaspoon of salt, and ½ 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. Add ½ 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 ½ cup of shredded Parmesan cheese. Stir and bring to a simmer.
- Simmer the sauce. Once the sauce is simmering, reduce the heat and leave to cook for 5 minutes. At this point, add the meatballs into the sauce, stir, and 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: 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 400°F/200°C. Try to have them on one layer, but it’s 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 ❤️ 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 🙂 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