We’re coming in hot with another fresh sheet pan recipe! We’ve taken two of our favorite things and smashed them together: meet a chicken meatball sheet pan recipe! Perfectly herby and juicy little chicken meatballs are all nestled into lots of cauliflower florets and chopped carrots, then you bake everything and serve it with a big bowl of smoky, rich romesco sauce for dipping. Kids love to dip stuff in other stuff, so this one is definitely a winner with the little set, and it’s also bursting with the kind of delicious flavors that’ll please grown-up palates, too.
Key Ingredients + Optional Swaps
- Ground chicken: Loaded with lean protein, and easy to keep handy in the freezer, we’ve almost always got some ground chicken that needs using up.
- Egg: Egg holds meatballs together. But, if you need to avoid eggs, a flax egg usually works OK as a substitute.
- Panko: We prefer these airy Japanese breadcrumbs to the heavier Italian ones when we’re making chicken meatballs to keep them from being too dense.
- Herbs & seasonings: These chicken meatballs are anything but boring thanks to lots of vibrant fresh parsley, fragrant cumin, garlic, and paprika.
- Veggies: Carrots and cauliflower cook up nicely together, and they’re bake up at about the same rate.Feel free to experiment with other veggies based on what you’ve got on hand, or what’s in season where you live.
Why We Love Romesco
Smoky, tangy, and magically sort of creamy (despite being totally vegan) romesco sauce makes everything taste so delicious. Along the Spanish coast, where it’s from, it’s famously served most simply with grilled, whole spring onions that you treat like glorious finger food, dredging the tender alliums through the creamy red pepper sauce. Here, we’re using it in a similar way in that we’ve got a pretty basic sheet pan dinner that needed a punch-up! Richly flavored, complex, and most of all EASY to make, a generous bowlful of romesco sauce on the side for dipping the meatballs and veggies transforms the sheet pan meal into something fresh and exciting. We like to serve romesco with simple dishes like our Spatchcocked Grilled Chicken or Roasted Potatoes, too. If you’re as entranced by romesco sauce as we are, be sure to check out Muhammara next!
How To Make + Tips
- Make the meatballs by mixing all the ingredients gently together with your hands. Do not use a stand mixer to mix meatballs! They’ll be overmixed, which makes them tough.
- Roll the meatballs. Take care to make them all roughly the same size, so that they bake evenly.
- Drizzle the veggies with salt and oil right on the sheet pan.
- Nestle in the meatballs and bake! This is your chance to make romesco!
- Serve!
Serving Suggestions
- For folks who really need some carbs on the side, this would be lovely with White Rice or Brown Rice on the side.
- A lovely loaf of crusty bread, or some homemade Sourdough Bread.
- You could also double down on veggies and serve this with a big Green Salad.
How To Meal Prep + Make Ahead
- Make the romesco sauce up to 5 days ahead of time. Just store it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.
- If you want to work way ahead, you could prep the chicken meatballs and freeze them uncooked on a sheet pan in the freezer. Once they’re frozen solid, pop them off the sheet pan and store them in a freezer bag for up to three months.
- Most Sundays, we peel and cut up at least 8-10 big carrots. Throughout the week, we end up tossing them into soups, snacking on them with Hummus and using them in recipes like this. To keep them fresh, store the peeled carrots in cold water in the fridge.
4 Meatball Meal Recipes We Love
Need More Easy Sheet Pan Ideas?
For more recipe inspiration, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest or order our cookbook. We love when you share your meals. Tag us on Instagram using #themodernproper, and we’d love to hear what you think of this recipe in the comments below. Happy cooking!
