I recently splurged on some of those cute little fresh mozzarella balls marinated in olive oil and herbs. They are so addicting! We enjoyed them when our friends visited last weekend, but I bought a huge tub because I wanted to play with them in a new recipe. I noticed Elly had posted a fantastic recipe for chicken parm burgers and was inspired to use ground chicken to make small chicken parm appetizers!
I decided to use a ground chicken mixture to encase the little mozzarella balls and then coated the balls in panko so they would be crispy on the outside like chicken parm! Then I served them with a marinara dipping sauce. This was my first time using ground chicken, and I was surprised that it was so much moister than ground turkey. I didn’t even end up needing an egg to hold the mixture together. My hubby was a big fan of these, and I’m blaming him for the fact that they disappeared within a day!
Chicken Parm Bites Stuffed with Mozzarella
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped shallots
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground chicken
1 1/4 cups panko
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
16 small fresh mozzarella balls
1/2 cup of your favorite marinara sauce
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a small skillet and sauté shallots for 5 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and sauté one additional minute.
Lightly mix together shallots, ground chicken, 1/4 cup panko, oregano, basil, and salt in a large bowl. Carefully encase each mozzarella ball evenly with ground chicken mixture and then roll each ball in remaining 1 cup panko until evenly coated. Place balls on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 350˚F or until chicken is cooked through. Place a toothpick in each ball and serve alongside the marinara sauce. Makes 8 servings.
Nutrition: 279 calories, 16.7g fat, 1.7g fiber, 18.9g protein per serving
Cost: $0.90 per serving
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