Saucy, flavor-packed, easy and speedy – these GORGEOUS basil pesto, chicken and bacon meatballs are a brilliant weeknight meal that feels special enough to serve for dinner parties or entertaining. They’re made in one pot for ease, come together in just 30 minutes and perfect to prep in advance.
I’ve been very into saucy meatball bowls recently and these vibrant ones are another excellent example. It’s a formula that works brilliantly. Mix and form your meatballs, brown them, then start your sauce and add the meatballs back in to finish cooking. It’s warming, comforting, easy AND uses just one pan which is always a bonus.
Chicken, pesto and bacon in some kind of creamy, cheesy sauce is always going to be an iconic combination, so it works beautifully in juicy meatball form here. The sauce is light and bright, thanks to the zesty pesto and it really is SO quick and easy to make.
I like to serve them straight from the pan with a big pile of soft focaccia on the side for everyone to help themselves, or over rice (they pair wonderfully with my favorite loaded baked rice) or just by themselves.
Ingredients
- Ground chicken. You could use ground turkey if you like, or a plant-based alternative. If you can’t find ground chicken, just add 1lb of skinless, boneless chicken thighs to a food processor and blitz into a ground chicken consistency.
- Pesto. I highly recommend making your own basil pesto for this recipe for the best flavor, or a high-quality fresh store-bought pesto. The pesto is the predominant flavor in the sauce, so it does make a difference using a good one. Ideally, you want to avoid shelf-stable pesto as the flavor isn’t great.
- Coconut milk. Full-fat coconut milk with a high percentage of coconut extract (ideally around 60%) is what I prefer for a creamy sauce, but you can use light coconut milk if you prefer, your sauce will just be a little runnier. You can also use coconut cream, regular heavy cream, sour cream or a plant-based alternative.
- Bacon. Chicken, pesto and bacon is an iconic flavor combination, so I love to add crispy bacon to the meatballs themselves. You can skip it if you like.
OPTIONAL ADDITIONS: I like to add a little chicken stock to loosen the sauce up a little (you can also use water) and love using a little fish sauce in the meatballs for seasoning. I PROMISE it doesn’t make the meatballs taste fishy at all – it adds a lovely deep savoriness that salt alone can’t mimic.
How to make them
Add all the ingredients for the meatballs into a mixing bowl and combine well. With slightly wet hands (this will stop the mixture from sticking to them), scoop up a spoonful of the mixture and roll into balls. Place on a prepared lined tray and repeat with the rest of the mixture.
PRO TIP: I like to pan-fry a little of the mixture before forming all the meatballs to check the seasoning. That way you can add a little more salt if you think it needs it.
Pan-fry the meatballs until lovely and brown all over (you don’t need to cook them all the way through at this point as they’ll continue to cook in the sauce later). Remove from the pan, then add the garlic and seasoning and cook for another couple of minutes. Then add your coconut milk, pesto and a little chicken stock (or water), bring to a simmer and add your meatballs back in.
Cover, and let simmer until the meatballs are cooked through. Finish with a little more pesto and parmesan, then serve.
Watch how to make them
Got a question?
I like to throw in green veggies before adding the meatballs back into the sauce – broccoli, big handfuls of spinach, green beans, frozen peas or edamame are great ideas to start with.
You can! Mix and roll the meatballs up to 24 hours in advance, then just store them, covered, in the fridge until you’re ready to cook them. You can also brown the meatballs in advance, store them in the fridge for a day or two, then make the sauce and add them in when you’re ready to serve.
Like this recipe? Try these easy one pot 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 😊.
One Pot Pesto Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
Method
- Make the meatball mixture. Set a large, high-sided pan you (ideally) have a lid for over high heat. Add your bacon, and cook until super crispy. This will take about five minutes and you’ll want to flip the bacon a couple of times. Remove from the pan and chop into small pieces. Add the ground chicken to a mixing bowl, along with the chopped bacon, basil, 1 tablespoon of pesto, crushed garlic, 1/3 cup of panko breadcrumbs, the egg, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce (if you’re using it), the lemon zest and a very good grind of black pepper. Mix to combine well.
- Roll the meatballs. Line a large plate or tray with parchment paper. Wet your hands (this will stop the mixture sticking to them), then scoop up a heaped spoonful of the meatball mixture into your hands. Roll into a golf ball sized meatball, then place on the prepared plate and repeat with the rest of the mixture.
- Brown the meatballs. Drizzle the same pan you cooked the bacon in with a little olive oil and set over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs into the pan and cook until lovely and golden brown on all sides. You may need to do this is batches depending on the size of your pan. You don’t need to cook the meatballs all the way through at this point – they’ll cook in the sauce. You just want that lovely golden crust. Once the meatballs are brown, remove them from the pan and set them aside on a plate (I usually remove the parchment paper the raw meatballs were on and pop them onto the plate underneath it).
- Make the creamy pesto sauce. Add your crushed garlic, along with 1 teaspoon each of dried thyme and red pepper flakes and a big pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Pour in 1 cup of coconut milk and 1/2 cup of chicken stock and stir through the aromatics. Bring to a simmer, then stir through 1/4 cup of pesto and most of the grated parmesan.
- Add the meatballs back into the sauce. Arrange the browned meatballs in the sauce, and bring the sauce back to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, then pop the lid on your pan and let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, then dollop the remaining pesto onto the meatballs and scatter with the remaining parmesan. Serve while hot, over rice (it’s excellent with this loaded baked rice), pasta or fresh bread (focaccia or no-knead rosemary parmesan bread) is brilliant to mop up all the lovely sauce.
This was amazing!!! I used heavy cream and seasoned with IRSM. It tasted just like Tikka Masala