Are you looking for an easy kid-friendly dinner that's healthy, quick and easy to make? And can be served in lots of different ways for fussy eaters?
Then you'll love the Pesto Parmesan Chicken Meatballs. Juicy, cheesy and packed with basil pesto flavour that is perfect for both adults and kids.
Chicken is something I struggle to get my kids to eat consistently. I think it may be a texture issue but I'm always trying to find creative ways to get them to eat it without the usual meltdown that ensues.
One food my kids do love is meatballs so I decided to try out some chicken meatballs and flavour them with something they love... pesto!
Why You'll Love These Chicken Meatballs
✅ - Ready in under 30 minutes for perfect for busy families
✅ - There are lots of different ways that you can serve these meatballs making them perfect if you have a picky eater.
✅ - High in protein.
✅ - Only 5 Ingredients and really easy to make.
🥕Struggling with a fussy eater?
If you child refuses meals, won't try new foods or only eats a handful of things, you're not alone.
Check out my Complete Fussy Eater Guide with practical tips, strategies and recipes to make mealtimes easier.
How To Make Pesto Chicken Meatballs
The full recipe with all the ingredients and measurements is towards the bottom of this blog post but I've also included some step by step images here that might be helpful.
- Add chicken breasts to a food processor and blitz.
2. Add an egg, dried breadcrumbs, pesto and grated parmesan and blitz again.
3. Take a tablespoon of the mixture at a time.
4. Roll into meatballs and place on a lined baking tray.
You should be able to make 24 meatballs in total from the mixture.
Bake in the oven for 15-17 minutes and they're ready to serve up.
Texture & Taste
These chicken meatballs were a hit with my kids for two reasons I think.
Texture - Many children will have issues with the texture of meat and particularly chicken. It can be quite dry and takes a lot of chewing. Mincing the chicken will break down some of the fibres, making the meat softer and easier to eat.
Taste - By combining the chicken with a taste and flavour that they already know and love (pesto), the meatballs will appear familiar to a child and there's a bigger chance that they will eat them!
Serving
I served these meatballs with some breadsticks and chopped carrots, cucumber and tomato. You could also add some dip too.
Or make them into fun skewers and add them to lunch boxes or take out for a picnic. You can get fun kid safe skewers similar to these from the Pick Plates Shop.
You can also serve these like traditional meatballs in a tomato sauce over spaghetti.
If you try my Pesto Parmesan Chicken Meatballs recipe please do leave me a comment and a star rating below. You can also share your pictures with me on Instagram. I always love to see your creations!
Product Recommendation
These Pick Sticks are brilliant for serving finger food to kids in a really fun way.
Ingredient Substitutions
Chicken Mince - You can substitute the chicken breasts for chicken mince. If using chicken mince you won't need a food processor. Just mix the rest of the ingredients with the mince by hand in a bowl.
Pesto - If you have a nut allergy in your family then try my Nut Free Pesto recipe which can be used instead of jarred pesto.
Cheese - You can substitute the parmesan for grated cheddar instead.
More Meal Ideas for Kids
I have lots more Dinner Ideas For Kids. This Airfryer Hidden Veg Sauce is another favourite in my house. Along with lots of practical Tips For Fussy Eaters .
Easy Chicken Meatballs With Pesto & Parmesan (Kid-Friendly Dinner)
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
Delicious chicken meatballs made with just 5 simple ingredients and flavoured with basil pesto and parmesan. Perfect for a finger food dinner for kids or even mixed into spaghetti and sauce.
Ingredients
- 450g / 160z chicken mince or chicken breasts
- 1 medium egg
- 50g / 0.75 cup dried breadcrumbs
- 50g / 1.75oz basil pesto
- 25g / 0.75oz grated parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c / 350f and line one large or two smaller trays with parchment paper.
- If you are using chicken mince you can skip this step but if you are using whole chicken breasts then add them to a food processor and pulse until the meat has broken down to a mince-like consistency.
- Add the egg, dried breadcrumbs, pesto and grated parmesan to the food processor and blitz again until everything is mixed.
- Take a tablespoon size amount of the mixture, roll into a ball and place on the baking tray. You should be able to make about 24 meatballs in total.
- Bake in the oven for 15 - 17 minutes.
- Serve immediately with breadsticks and crudites for a finger food style meal or with spaghetti and sauce for a more traditional meatball dinner.
Notes
- Any leftovers can be cooled and stored in the fridge for up to the 2 days. These meatballs can also be frozen and defrosted overnight in the fridge.
- Pesto and parmesan are both quite high in salt so I would not serve this to babies under 12 months. You could make your own pesto without salt and try it though.
Jay Walker says
Could they be frozen before being cooked?
Ren says
QUESTION - could these be made in air fuel - if so for how long approximately? many thanks 🙂
Ren says
QUESTION - could these be made in an air fryer? if so approximately how long? Many thanks
Vicky says
Hi Ren, thank you for your question, we haven't tried to make these in a air fryer, but please let us know how they turn out if you give it a go. Happy cooking.
roda says
my toddler loved this. Thank you for all the recipes.
Zoe says
A new favourite in our house! Little Miss 5 won't usually touch chicken, but she gobbled these up and even asked for more! AMAZING!!!!
Nancy says
Can’t wait to try this! These look fun, especially the skewers.