Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Meatball Sliders
Servings: 18 sliders
Ingredients
- 1 pound (about 2 boneless skinless breasts) ground chicken breast
- ½ cup cooked quinoa
- ¼ yellow onion finely minced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ½ rib of celery finely minced
- ½ medium carrot finely minced I like to grate the carrot and then chop the grated carrot with a knife
- 1 large egg
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 ounces fresh mozzarella cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1 cup Frank’s Red Hot Wing Sauce
- 18 slider buns
For garnish (optional):
- Ranch dressing
- Blue cheese dressing
- Carrot and celery sticks
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and rub it with a tablespoon of olive oil.
- Place the ground chicken in a medium mixing bowl and add the minced onion, garlic, celery, carrots, cooked quinoa, egg and salt. Use your hands to mix the ingredients until very well combined.
- Now it’s time to make your meatballs. Place a heaping tablespoon of the chicken mixture in the palm of your hand and flatten it slightly like a pancake. Place a cube of mozzarella in the center of the meat, and gently fold the meat around the cheese to form the meatball, making sure that the cheese is completely sealed within the meatball. Each ball should be about 1½-inches in diameter.
- Arrange the meatballs in rows on the prepared baking sheet. (You’ll have about 18 meatballs, give or take one or two.) Transfer the meatballs to the oven and bake for 18 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese in the center is melted.
- 5 minutes before your meatballs are done, pour the Frank’s Red Hot Wing Sauce into a medium saucepan or Dutch oven and warm it over low heat. Add the cooked meatballs to the pot with the warm wing sauce. Gently toss the meatballs in the sauce, making sure that each one is well coated.
- If you want toasted buns (totally up to you), now is the time to gently brown those babies. Slice the buns in half, place them on a baking sheet, and put them under the broiler for about a minute until just golden.
- Sandwich your cheesy buffalo chicken meatballs between the slider buns. Serve hot with ranch or blue cheese dressing.
Notes
If you have a food processor, you can mince the onion, garlic, celery and carrot together by pulsing it until finely chopped.