It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention. When I had the idea to whip up a batch of Buffalo Chicken Meatballs and discovered I only had about half cup left of Frank’s Hot Sauce – well, I had to get creative. I wanted to incorporate that into the meat mixture, but then I wouldn’t have had enough to make a sauce. Hmm, what to do? Eureka! I remembered I had purchased some Frank’s Red Hot Seasoning Blend a while back and now had a great reason to use it. And actually, I think it even worked better than the liquid stuff – rendering a mixture that was not too runny. Try these out as a starter or even a main course!
2 chicken breasts* (about 800 grams or just under two pounds) OR about 2 pounds of ground chicken
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
½ onion, finely chopped
3 tbs Frank’s Red Hot Seasoning Blend
2 tbs garlic powder
2 tbs Tajin
1 tbs black pepper
1 tbs kosher salt
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
1 egg slightly beaten
Sauce: ½ cup Frank’s Red-Hot sauce
½ cup Sweet Baby Ray’s Sweet and Hot barbeque sauce
3 tbs spicy brown mustard
Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
I used a food processor to ground two chicken breasts. If you choose this way – simply cut each breast into about 1-inch chunks OR just buy the chicken ground. Add chopped celery and onion, spices, breadcrumbs, and egg. Blitz.
Form meat mixture into uniformed sized meatballs – I used a small ice cream scoop – yielding about 30 1-inch balls.
Place on a rack in a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes.
Allow them to cool slightly, then toss in the sauce mixture. Serve immediately!
A great day for me is preparing great meals for friends and family. I enjoy experimenting with new ingredients and also updating classics that I've enjoyed for years. I love to travel and try lots of new cuisines - and wouldn't be anything without the love of my family!
Sounds VERY yummy!