Pesto Chicken Meatballs

Juicy, flavorful pesto chicken meatballs made with ground chicken and a basil pesto nested on top of a delicious bed of pesto pasta.

This is one of my favorite recipes to make because its a fast and easy recipe that’s yummy and a crowd pleaser every time. It has very few ingredients, but packed with delicious flavors. I love to have these pesto chicken meatballs with pasta tossed in basil pesto and a glass of chilled white wine.

Making these meatballs couldn’t be any easier. All you need is about a pound of ground chicken, basil pesto, garlic, and breadcrumbs and mix it all together. I like using chicken in this recipe because it accompanies the flavors of the basil pesto really well. You can also use ground turkey if you do not want to use chicken.

For the basil pesto, you can either use store-bought or make it from scratch. I have not started making my pesto from scratch because I’v e developed a small nut allergy, and I’ve noticed a lot of store-bought pestos are made with walnuts. I had a very bad reaction not too long ago that almost landed me in the hospital; so better safe than sorry. For my homemade pesto I use fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, good extra virgin olive oil and a little salt and pepper.

I blend it all together, and then its ready to go. I tend to keep my pesto in the refrigerator for about a week, and it also freezes really well so you can make a large batch and keep on hand any time you want to make a recipe that calls for pesto. To make the meatballs you just combine all the ingredients together along with the pesto, and form them into small balls. I typically make my meatballs about the size of a golf balls. I then place them on a baking sheet and bake them in the oven for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees. 

While the meatballs are cooking; I start on the past tossed in basil pesto. Again I keep this so simple. I just cook spaghetti according to the package instructions. You can literally use any type of pasta you are feeling! Penne, angel hair, linguine, bow tie… the list goes on. In the photos I’m using a black and white pasta that I found at Trader Joes. The pasta is dyed with squid ink to make it black. How cool is that?

Once the pasta has finished cooking, I toss the pasta in the basil pesto , along with some parmesan cheese. You can season with a little salt and black pepper if needed. I also added some cherry tomatoes that I blistered in a pan with some olive oil. This is completely optional. Place the meatballs on top and the your meal is complete. Check out the recipe below!