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.
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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The lemon Juice doesn’t curdle the cream ?
Heavy cream doesn’t curdle as easily as low fat options. Also, ensure you aren’t cooking over too high heat when adding the cream to prevent curdling. Enjoy!
Made this tonight for dinner and my husband and I both loved it. Thank you for sharing! :)
So glad you loved it Lindsay!
Wow this is delicious I didn’t have any cream so I used a can of cream of chicken soup and the milk and half the broth I did use the full 1/3 cup of lemon juice it came out perfect with the little adjustment thanks for the idea!
So glad you enjoyed the meatballs Sue! Great adaptation when you were out of ingredients. Thank you for sharing.
Does the parsley go in the meatballs or in the sauce at the end? Or is it in the meatballs and garnish for the sauce? Thank you!! I can’t wait to make this!
The parsley goes into the meatballs. A little extra was also added for garnish.
I’m in my kitchen making this for the second time. This recipe is amazing!!! I was a little nervous about how strong the lemon would be, but it turned out great. This is definitely in the dinner rotation!
Was delicious, light and creamy. I Will make again.
Delicious! I made this keto by using almond flour instead of flour and just omitting it in the sauce. I served it over butternut squash noodles. Very tasty! Thanks for posting :0)
Sounds great Debi! Glad you loved it.
This was seriously AMAZING!! It will definitely be a new staple in our house. Don’t know if I will ever be able to go back to frozen meatballs… they were a lot easier to make than I thought.
i’m making it right now and it looks really weird, i used milk. the flour doesn’t seem to be mixing into the sauce.
i was using a wooden spoon but changed to a wisk. it seemed to work
Thank you for sharing!
Loved this recipe! I went to the low end of what was called for in lemon juice.
I also served the meatballs with Israeli couscous instead of pasta – phenomenal taste!
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Beth!
Couscous sounds great!! Never would have thought of that… thanks
This is my go-to site for recipes because everything is always so delicious! This recipe is not one of my favorites though. I made this and no one in my family liked it and i just threw most of it away. The sauce is amazing though
Can you use evaporated milk instead of cream?
Chaplain Liz
That should work just fine.
Soooo good and so easy! But I think I will double the sauce next time. Definitely not enough for pasta for 4 people. Can’t wait to make it again! Thank you for sharing.
Made this tonight. Left out the capers as the wife doesn’t care for them. This was very delicious and easy. Will certainly add it to our list of recipes.
YUM-MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Looks like I just found what to make for dinner tonight.
This looks relish! I don’t see where to add the lemon juice.
When do I add the lemon juice?
Sorry about that, I’ve updated the recipe. The lemon juice is added along with the chicken broth.
Dear Nagi, this recipe sounds delicious. I would like to make it for my family. When do I add the lemon juice? Thank you.
Sorry about that, I’ve updated the recipe. The lemon juice is added along with the chicken broth.
Hi!
How do you think this would be with ground meat loaf mix instead of ground chicken (which I don’t like))
Thanks
Hi Allison, I think that sounds like a delicious substitution! Please let me know how it turns out for you!