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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Can you make with less oil or butter? Trying to fit this in my food plan
It should work with a little bit less, you’ll need to ensure you have a minimum of 1 tablespoon fat to mix with the flour.
Very easy and so delicious!! My son ate it over rice snd I ate it over a bed of fresh, raw spinach. The sauce acted like a warm dressing on the spinach. Will be making again.
Meatballs recipe really good, be careful not to add too much lemon juice, I used the recommended amount, too tart for me. The capers toned it down a little.
My husband loves this recipe. However, it always curdles. What am I doing wrong?
Are you using heavy cream? Light cream or milk will curdle.
Love this recipe! I bake the meatballs instead and serve over noodles or zucchini. It’s also great as an appetizer!
Trying to sign up to receive your recipes that look great!!
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O.M.G!!! Delicious! My picky husband said he would eat it again. Thank you for an amazing recipe.
Hubby loved them! I used half and half instead and extra parmesan. I love capers and it gives a nice sal against the lemon.
I tried to make this a couple of weeks ago and had everything in the bowl except the meat – well the ground turkey was bad so I added a shredded zucchini and made fritters that night. Fast forward to today when all the ingredients were in the house. I decided to keep the zucchini – maybe a cup – in the meatballs. I am still giving them 5 stars because the flavor was amazing, the sauce was scrumptious, the husband and I were happy campers at dinner and I LOVE Nagi and her blog. These will be made again and again. I used a quarter cup of fresh lemon juice and might up that to the 1/3 cup for next time. I fried all the meatballs and using the same pan made cleanup very easy. One bowl, one pan!
The first time we make something, we do so as written, then we adjust to our liking. No adjustments need to be made…..this was absolutely delicious! We will be making this again. Thank you for sharing.
That’s awesome Denise! So glad you enjoyed it.
I made this for the third time tonight. Loved by all. Each time I’ve made it with milk instead of cream because that’s what I have on hand. I do double the sauce so the “boys” don’t have to fight over it.
It’s definitely a favorite recipe of the family. I usually make it with riced cauliflower and roasted broccoli. So, so good.
SO GOOD! I made this almost exactly as written with the modification for using milk instead of the cream, except I left the Parmesan out of the sauce simply because I ran out, so to boost the flavor I added some dried basil and crushed red pepper instead. There wasn’t a drop of sauce left on the plates!!! I wanted to serve with pasta but my boyfriend isn’t a pasta guy so I put rice and green beans on the side instead. Delicious and definitely will make again
This was SO GOOD! The meatballs, even before adding the sauce were delicious…but that sauce, oh my, over the top. My whole family loved it!
So so happy to hear that Tara!
So.Darn.Good. I used 1/3 cup lemon juice and no variations. My picky husband who LOVES piccata anything said he would eat this again.
Yay! So happy to hear that Deborah!
This is my all-time favorite recipe. I’ve made it countless times since I found it and my family loves it every time (even the little one). Thank you!❤️
Yay! That is wonderful Olga.
I made this twice and it is OFF THE CHAIN DELISH.
Thanks Ila! That’s awesome!
Hi can this casserole be frozen?
Hi Diane, for this recipe you could definitely cook and freeze the meatballs. Adding the sauce when you are ready to enjoy them.
10 stars, however, Nagi gets 5 stars, and Holly gets 5 stars. Now for this recipe, I followed the sauce instructions, Holly, I used your All Purpose Turkey (Chicken for me) Meatballs and used those, wonderful combination! My wife did the taste test on the sauce and said pinch more salt and pepper, perfect. To add an Asian flair, I added some chopped White Crab mushrooms, perfect addition.
Overall, the sauce (and your All Purpose Chicken Meatballs), spot on, once again.
Thank you, Holly, for the great recipes!
Thank you Lee, I’m so glad you loved this recipe!
Thanks so much for your kind words Lee! I am so glad your family enjoyed this dish with the all purpose meatballs!
I have made this recipe several times and it is delicious. Used both heavy cream and regular milk; it’s definitely worth the calories to use the cream.
I have added in chopped artichoke hearts a couple of times and they are a winner, as well.
Yummy idea Ruth, I bet artichokes are amazing in this! Thank you for sharing.
So good and easy to make!
So glad you loved it Tedra!