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
Such a creative idea! These looks really good.
Perfect party appetizers!
Kerstin. What a unique and wonderful idea. I bet they surely were fantastic! Perfect party appetizer!
These are so fun…I love ‘em!!! Bet they would go very quickly around here….loooooove mozz!
These are an excellent idea! They make me think that I should slice up some fresh mozzarella and make the chicken parm burgers or meatballs using those. And yes, when in doubt, always blame it on the husband
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What a great dish for appetizer! yummm…
WOW! These are so gorgeous!!! Mmmm, you’re inspiring me to splurge on some mozzarella balls too…
What a great appetizer. They look delicious.
Oh, stuffed with mozarrella? I LIKE! And hee hee, so cute, like little savory lollipops…
Very inexpensive and great appetizer idea!
oooh, I want one or two or ten! Yum!
It’s almost like Scotch eggs only with mozzarella instead of egg. Great idea, and sounds delicious. I like that they’re on a stick too!
very creative. The ground chicken will surely hold those yummy mozzarella!! I love this recipe, but I guess I have to substitute breadcrumbs for the panko.
What a great idea! I bet they were super delicious!
How creative!! Those look so good!
This is so creative! I love it!
These will be perfect to serve at a party! Delicious!
I never thought I’d use adorable and chicken parm in the same sentence, but here I am: These chicken parm bites are so adorable!
hehe, those are very cute! another great idea Kerstin, and i’ve noticed the same thing about ground chicken vs. tky…
Great idea. Perfect little appetizers!
chicken bites looks delicious. Lovely clicks
Trupti
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What a cute and creative idea!! Looks delicious!
Yum! These look delicious and i love the photograph. Drooling here
Erm … I need more than that on my plate, pls! Gosh they look YUMMMMM … can just imagine the explosion of flavors in my mouth!
YUM! What an awesome idea. I love it! These would be great for a party.
Love the idea of using ground chicken…yummie, great idea for appetizers.
Looks great–very creative!
These look fantastic! They’re perfect for parties as an appetizer. Bravo!
what fun! They are the perfect size! This would be excellent for entertaining.
Drooling! Chicken parm is my favorite and i like these for their instant portion control – even though, let’s be honest, I would probably eat 10
Because they are perfectly bite size, I am allow to eat more then 5 right? Yum!
What a great idea! They sound perfect. I love that they’re baked instead of fried.
Yummy! Now these surely make great finger food for parties.
I gave this recipe 9 out of 10… and I am a very tough judge – I am Kerstin’s lucky husband
Are they called Bocconcini? The cheese I mean? We LOVE ‘em. Mmmmm, so good so I can’t even imagine how good those chix parm bites were! Great job! You’re so creative.
~ingrid
Yummie yummie yummie! I love your little balls of yummieness!
These look amazing!!! What a great idea! I have been so tempted to buy those little mozzarella balls but never really had a good recipe in mind. Love this!!!!!
Looks like a perfect appetizer
What a great idea! I love it!
Delicious AND adorable! Not to mention that anything “bite sized” is always a bonus in my book.
I am loving this recipe – so cute and tasty!
What a nice appetizer these would be. Bite sized is easy to eat.
WHAT! This sounds delicious! I’m soo bookmarking this. These would be a great appetizer for a party!!
this is quite brilliant! frankly, it may be the most perfect and mouth-watering appetizer i’ve come across, and i mean that!
These looks really good! And they don’t cost much!
Awww, thanks so much everyone! A 9 is a super high score from my hubby, he has yet to give out a 10! And yes, Ingrid, I think they are called bocconcini, but they should just be called addicting
What a fun appetizer!
What an amazing idea!
I love this idea for appetizers! Kerstin, please come on over to my blog for my August 5th post, I have a special something for you
Roz
Holy CRAP this looks good. I only wish you had sliced one in half for the cheap seats at home to view.
I think I need to try making this, thanks for the idea. Brilliant.
Another good one. These are adorable. And I love mozzarella anything…
I just made these and froze them for a party I am hosting next Saturday. Thanks for the recipe! I am sure that these will be a hit. I was worried that they would be difficult to make but rolling the mozzarella balls with the chicken mixture was so easy.
I made them for my party and they were a huge hit! One person told me that they were the best apps he ever ate! Thanks!
If you pre make these for a party do you freeze them uncooked or do you cook them up then freeze? And what’s the best reheat approach?
Hi Patricia – I’ve actually never made them in advance before, so I’m not sure. I think people usually cook meatballs before freezing them in general though. If you try this, please let me know how they turn out!
[...] up: I made Cake, Batter & Bowl’s Chicken Parm Bites. They were a big hit. Really simple to make and they taste delicious. I was so sure they were going [...]
I too want to make Chicken Parm balls ahead and freeze. Any suggestions? Freeze before or after cooking? Do you think reheating them will dry them out?
Hi Sally – I haven’t tried it, so I’m not sure. I would be worried about the panko not being crispy if you reheated them after freezing though. Maybe freeze uncooked, then after thawing, roll in panko and bake? Let me know if you end up trying it!
anything “bites” always sounds so good.
these would be dangerous around me. small bites so I can eat a lot