French Onion Chicken Meatballs

French Onion Chicken Meatballs are a savory, flavorful little meaty morsel. Full of ooey gooey melty gruyere cheese and fresh herbs, these little twists on convention are about to become a family favorite – I guarantee it!

These are the perfect appetizer, or dinner, or dessert – if that’s what you’re into. It combines the fan favorite – french onion soup, with all the simplicity and richness of the humble little meatball. I hope you all love french onion soup as much as I do, because this dish is absolutely loaded with onions.

I made these with ground chicken, I for one love a good chicken meatball, but I know some people are afraid they can come out too dry. However, these meatballs are not dry at all, scouts honor! I baked them until perfectly golden brown and then created the most drool worthy soup base for them to simmer away in. What is french onion soup you may ask?

What Is French Onion Soup?

This soup is super simple, it’s a classic soup usually based on meat stock and onions, then served with croutons or some sort of crusty toasted bread and cheese on top. It’s been popular since Roman times and with good reason. It’s simple, delicious, and stick to your ribs good – so let’s pay honor to this dish in our own way!

Ingredients

Meatballs

• Chicken – Pick up some ground chicken at your local grocer. Ground turkey will also work, or beef or pork.
• Breadcrumbs – Panko is my crumb of choice but any kind will work.
• Parsley – Fresh chopped up. If using dry keep in mind that 1 teaspoon dried equals 1 tablespoon of the fresh stuff.
• Eggs – The binder in our meatballs.
• Seasoning – Salt and pepper to taste.
• Cheese – Gruyere cheese shredded up nice and fine.

Sauce

• Olive oil – We want a nice neutral tasting oil to saute all our onion in.
• Onion – Lots of white onion chopped up finely enough that it’ll just melt in our mouth.
• Broth – Believe me we want to use beef broth today, not chicken despite our chicken meatballs. Beef broth is crucial to French Onion soup – low sodium is a must!
• Garlic – Use as much or little as you like.
• Seasoning – Salt and pepper.
• Cheese – Fresh gruyere shredded up nicely – we’re going to be using a substantial amount for this recipe so try your best to pick some up.
• Herbs – Fresh thyme chopped up roughly. If using dry keep in mind that 1 teaspoon dried equals 1 tablespoon of the fresh stuff.

What Onions to Use For French Onion Soup

Does your choice of onion really matter when making this dish? I think so! Some onions are bitter, some more sweet, some brighter and some deeper and more complex.

I prefer to use yellow onions, as did Julia Child. Yellow onions have a bright flavor and provide a lot of sweetness and very mild bitterness. If you like red onions, they have a deeper flavor, but slightly bitter and less sweetness.

Shallots are also great because they provide a really good balance of sweetness, with bright and deep flavors.

How To Make French Onion Chicken Meatballs

1. Preheat your oven: To 425 F degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Make meatballs: In a large bowl, combine ground chicken, gruyere cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, egg, salt and pepper. Form into 15 meatballs, then place onto the prepared baking sheet and bake until golden and cooked through, about 25 minutes.
3. Make sauce: In a large skillet over medium-low heat, melt butter and add olive oil. Add onions and cook until very soft and golden, 25 minutes, stirring often. Be patient, you want to cook these onions slowly. If the heat is too high they will quickly burn. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more. Add broth, thyme and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer until slightly thickened, another 10 minutes.
4. Finish the dish: Add the meatballs to skillet and sprinkle with gruyere cheese. Cover and cook until meatballs are warmed through and cheese is melty, 5 minutes, or place your skillet under the broiler for 3 to 5 minutes until slightly golden. Serve warm, garnished with thyme.

What Else Can I Use In My French Onion Chicken Meatballs?

Meat

You don’t have to use just chicken! Other lean meats like pork, beef, or turkey work just as well. You can even combine these ground meats to make a more complex and interesting flavor in your meatballs.

Cheese

You can use Emmental, Comte, Beaufort, Jarlsberg, or Raclette! Gruyere is truer to the original, the classic french onion soup so do your best to seek it out.

Getting The Most Out Of Your Onions

The key to the best onions in this base, and in any french onion soups you make in the future, is to caramelize them until they’re sweet and beautifully browned. You’re going to need to cook down your onions over low and slow heat for at least  25 minutes – but even longer if you’d like to go there. And if you ask me, you should always go there.

How To Make Your Own Breadcrumbs

If you’d like to try out making your own, I won’t stop you! I mean I always say that homemade is always better, so why not test out that theory with this seemingly small but monumentally important ingredient! Breadcrumbs are an important binder that adds tons of moisture to each bite of meatball.

All you need are 10 slices of bread, ground down in a food processor, from there just:

1. Spread the breadcrumbs on a baking tray and place in your preheated oven.
2. Bake at 300 F degrees for 10 minutes or until the crumbs are golden and completely dry, stir occasionally.
3. Cool completely on the baking sheet before incorporating.

Some Tips

• Fresh breadcrumbs will really set this dish off so feel free to go in this direction if you’d like.
• If you find your meatballs are a bit dry, try cubing up some bread nice and small and soaking in a bit of milk before incorporating into the meatballs. This is a traditionally Italian way of ensuring moisture.
• If frying these up, don’t crowd your pan, this is to ensure that the meatballs brown properly.
• If you’re still having trouble with your meatballs, try referencing this page to trouble shoot what exactly is going wrong.

Leftovers

In an airtight container these meatballs will keep for up to 3 – 4 days in the fridge. To freeze, just spread the cooked meatballs separately on a baking sheet and place in the freezer till they’re just frozen. Remove them and place in a freezer bag or other airtight container and place back in the freezer for up to 3 months. Freeze the sauce separately in an airtight container.

Craving More Meatballs? Try These Delicious Recipes:

• Chimichurri Meatballs
• Greek Meatballs
• Sweet and Spicy Korean Meatballs
• Dutch Meatballs
• Stout Meatballs with BBQ Sauce
• Porcupine Meatballs
• Firecracker Meatballs
• Meatball Parmesan