Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata Meatballs are outrageously good! This sauce is luscious and creamy but not too rich, with the subtle zing of lemon and pops of capers providing a beautiful freshness. Combined with plump juicy chicken meatballs, this gives the classic chicken piccata a serious run for its money!
Serve this easy chicken meatball recipe with Homemade Garlic Bread and an Easy Italian Salad for the perfect meal!
A Favorite Reinvented
I love putting creative spins on favorites, and this is my creamy meatball version of the classic Chicken Piccata. And I have a theory that everything is better in a mini form…and who doesn’t love a good meatball recipe?
This idea came to me one evening as I stared at a packet of ground chicken and was completely uninspired. This “happens” to food bloggers all the time. When you’ve been cooking all day on the job, it comes to dinner time and all the creative juices have been sucked out of you.
My fruit bowl was dismally scant, and the only thing of any interest in it was a lemon.
And that’s all it took.
Just a lemon. Well, and some cream. :-) But it was that single lemon that inspired this recipe!
How to Make Lemon Cream Sauce
This recipe is made with pantry staples. Though cream may not be a pantry staple to some – and it’s not for me – the beauty of this recipe is that it’s still super made with milk. YES, you can make this with just milk, no cream. :-) It’s healthier and still super tasty, the sauce just isn’t as rich.
The base recipe I’m sharing today is made with cream, though I’ve shared my tips for making this with milk in the notes. And yes, this sauce is a bit indulgent. But that lemon…that fresh burst of lemon is everything! The flavor of this sauce is going to blow you away. :-)
I call this a Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata Meatballs because I happened to have capers on that evening I made it. I really like the extra pops of freshness they bring to the sauce. But you can totally skip it, it’s not essential.
This recipe makes plenty of sauce, ideal for tossing through pasta. DELICIOUS!!!
I use chicken for the meatballs in this recipe but it’s also great with turkey meatballs.
More Easy Dinners
- Chicken Piccata – Classic Italian. Great over pasta!
- Salisbury Steak Meatballs – Easy and creamy, serve with mashed potatoes.
- Easy Beef Stroganoff – Rich and delicious, serve over egg noodles!
- Homemade Spaghetti Sauce – Quick stovetop recipe, the perfect spaghetti topper.
- Easy Chicken Marsala Recipe – Family favorite, great over long pasta or angel hair.
- Baked Ziti – A complete meal unto itself.
Creamy Lemon Chicken Piccata Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup bread crumbs
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- salt and black pepper
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ – ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice adjust to taste
- ¼ cup capers drained
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Place Meatball ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine. If it’s too wet to form balls, add a touch of extra breadcrumbs or refrigerate.
- Scoop up a heaped tablespoon and with slightly wet hands, roll into balls.
- Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add half the meatballs and cook for 4 minutes, browning all over but still raw inside. Remove onto a plate, repeat with remaining meatballs.
- Wipe skillet clean with paper towel. Reduce heat to medium.
- Melt butter in skillet, then add flour. Mix and cook for 1 minute, then add lemon juice, chicken broth and cream.
- Bring to simmer then add meatballs. Simmer for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens and meatballs are cooked through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Stir through parsley and capers. I like serving this with pasta with more parmesan cheese!
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner
Cuisine American, Italian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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Recipe was excellent! The only thing I did different was double the sauce. Don’t hesitate to make this one!
Delish!!! Thank you – its a KEEPER!
DELISH! I made this last night and it was so good. I did bake the meatballs in the oven as another reviewer did, other than that I stuck to the recipes as printed. I served it on a bed of egg noodles with a nice salad on the side. This recipe is a keeper.
While the sauce was very good, the meatballs were far too bready for our taste. I will try this recipe again reducing the amount of bread crumbs considerably. DEEEELICIOUS sauce!
As soon as I saw this recipe I knew I was making it tonight and it came out AMAZING!! I doubled the recipe very easily. I may consider mixing some capers into the meatballs next time because this is def getting made again! Def serve over pasta or rice – YUM!!
the parsley is under meatballs but not under sauce as the directions say. which is it? or both? the result was really good regardless of where the parsley goes but not as great a presentation.
I add parsley in the meatballs and then additional parsley as garnish for the sauce. I hope this helps Karen.
I add quartered artichoke hearts (instead of capers) to make it more like the piccata I “grew up on”, but this dish is delicious and I love it.
Your version sounds delicious!
Loved this recipe! I doubled it and it turned out perfect. I added one half cup grated Parmesan to the sauce and i baked my meatballs at 400 degrees for 15 minutes with a little olive oil mixed with paprika on top. The recipe forgot to detail some chopped parsley for the sauce. But i caught it in time and added to the sauce. I served it over angel hair pasta with a side salad. Delicious! Thank you for posting this recipe. Next week I will be trying the Salisbury steak meatballs. Looking forward to it!
That sounds wonderful Natalie! I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe.
Hi can u make this ahead .. like day before or early in the morning …if so please advise steps!! Thank you
Yes, this can be made ahead of time and reheated.
Do you think I could use almond milk instead of cream or milk?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Jill. It will change the flavor of the dish but I think it would work. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
I’m curious about how they could be finished in the slow cooker after browning.
Hi Cristy, we have never tried finishing this recipe off in a slow cooker but would love to hear how it turns out for you. I would probably prep the meatballs up to step 3 and then switch to the crockpot to let them simmer if you prefer.
I made this tonight. It is really nice and looks very impressive. Very good recipe.
So happy to hear that Jennifer!
Sauce is great!!! I prefer the meatballs baked in the oven on parchment paper.
I wonder if it would be good over mashed potatoes???
Oooh, like Salisbury Steak Meatballs, I’m sure that’d be delicious Michelle!!
I made the piccata meatballs and they were a hit. I made them into meatball sliders as an appetizer platter. Everyone wanted the recipe.