Favorite chicken cordon bleu flavors in these utterly delicious and simple Chicken Cordon Bleu Meatballs! Lean ground chicken and a little Swiss cheese get blended quickly with some ham (leftover glazed ham or deli ham!) and easy pantry spices for major flavor in this tender ground chicken meatball. There's an easy sour cream dip with mustard for dipping + extra credit.
These are chicken balls with ham and cheese.
They were, as all good ideas on this blog are, Jay's idea, and they were a fantastic one. I love the nostalgic flavors of chicken cordon bleu, crispy exterior, gooey interior, but the process is pretty arduous and a meatball is just so friendly and celebratory, right?
For the sake of holidays or parties, you can totally make these in advance, bake them, then reheat them in the oven until the cheese melts again so all the mess + raw meat nonsense can happen well in advance of serving these.
The ingredients are simple, and you can use deli ham or leftover holiday ham from Easter or Thanksgiving if you ever have any lying around.
Ingredients
Our ingredients are so simple and delicious here! This is a large batch, so feel free to halve it if you don't love delicious tender cheesy meatballs. I'd say this is enough for 8 people or more if it's a party with lots of other snacks.
You'll need ground chicken, an egg, some grated swiss, any kind of ham you like, bread crumbs, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. All of the yummy stuff in life, and nothing terribly complicated. I bake these in the oven on a rack fitted into a baking sheet, so it's a good idea to set that up before you end up balls (heh get it) deep in raw chicken.
First, put the ham, egg, breadcrumbs, and spices into a food processor.
Whir everything together to create an awful-looking egg/ham mixture, but I promise it's worth it. PS if you don't have a food processor, you can do this by chopping the ham very finely by hand, no problem at all.
Add the ham mixture to a bowl with the chicken and the swiss cheese, then use your hands to mix everything together really well to incorporate the spices.
Gently roll the mixture into 35-40 meatballs about 1 ½ inches in diameter. The mixture here will be a little bit sticky since we're using chicken, so just work gently with the mixture and form the balls as best you can - they don't have to be perfect!
If your hands get super messy as you work, dip them in water between rolling the meatballs and work quickly + lightly, no mushing anything too much.
Bake the meatballs at 400F for 25 minutes until they are slightly golden, cooked through, and the cheese is perfectly gooey. If you make smaller meatballs they'll be done in 20 minutes, so test one at that point to see if they are cooked through.
Note that there will be some pink spots because of the HAM, not raw chicken. Just ham.
Other Tips and Notes:
This is one of the best ground chicken meatball recipes because we're adding fat + flavor with the ham and cheese, which helps keep the meatballs from drying out. In general, the best way to prevent any chicken dish from drying out is to cook it JUST to temperature but not any more.
With chicken, beef, or pork meatballs, the secret to tender meatballs is to work quickly and lightly with your hands! Mix the ingredients just enough to get everything incorporated, and very lightly form meatballs with your hands without mushing the ingredients together too much.
Sour Cream Dip
While the meatballs are cooking, make the quickest and most delicious sour cream dipping sauce for this.
Combine sour cream, any mustard you have (I used a combination of grainy mustard and a dijon honey blend, but seriously ANYTHING works), and a few pinches of salt. Taste it, and add more salt or mustard if you'd like!
Boom. Serve, done. Admittedly, the rolling of the meatballs takes a little bit of time and is gross, but beyond that, this dish is so easy to make and really flavorful without a ton of ingredients or effort.
The swiss + ham + mustard combo is to die for, obviously. Think of this as the best ham sandwich you've ever had, low carb, rolled into a ball of loving feelings (too much? never).
These are great for a low carb party appetizer, but they'd also be lovely as a weeknight chicken dinner entrée, especially if you make these in advance. I'm thinking they'd be fab with a baked potato and salad for dinner. Try them soon!
Chicken Cordon Bleu Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 2 pounds ground chicken
- 6 ounces grated swiss cheese
- 6 ounces ham sliced or leftover from holidays, diced
- 1 egg
- ⅔ cup breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Mustard Sour Cream
- ½ cup sour cream
- 3 tablespoons mustard the grainiest/fanciest you have
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- For the meatballs, preheat the oven to 400F and prepare a baking sheet with a baking rack inside for cooking. For less mess, place a sheet of parchment paper between the baking sheet and baking rack.
- Add the ham, egg, breadcrumbs, and spices to a food processor. Blend together to form a paste, the ham should be ground similar to the chicken.
- Add the ham mixture to a large bowl with the chicken and cheese. Mix with your hands to distribute the ham into the chicken, then form into 35-40 meatballs, about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Place the meatballs on the baking rack inside the baking sheet.
- Bake the meatballs for 22-25 minutes at 400F.
- While the meatballs are baking, combine the ingredients for the mustard sauce in a bowl. Taste, and add more salt or mustard to your preference.
- Remove the meatballs from the oven and let cool for a minute or two, then serve with the sauce for dipping. Enjoy!
Notes
This recipe was originally published in November, 2017. It has been updated with more clear instructions and images.
Would it be possible to bread and deep fry the meatballs? Thanks!
The answer to that question is 1. I haven't tried it but 2. Frying is always the answer. Let me know how it turns out! I'd chill the meatballs beforehand to be sure they don't fall apart.