These tasty keto buffalo chicken meatballs have a surprise in the middle – blue cheese! Using almond flour instead of breadcrumbs these spicy meatballs are gluten free too. Also I made these on the stovetop so no baking in the oven. They make a great low carb dinner, snack or appetizer and each meatball has just 1g net carbs!
You might also like these buffalo wings in the air fryer.
This is a recipe I concocted a couple weeks ago because I stumbled upon someground chicken while grocery shopping.I was trying to think of what I could make with it and I came up with keto buffalo chicken meatballs stuffed with blue cheese. Doesn’t that sound yummy?
I love the flavor of chicken and buffalo sauce. I now have quite a collection of low carb buffalo chicken recipes! My husband really enjoyed this dish. That always brings a smile to my face, butI really enjoyed them too. They would be a great food to make for game day or take to a party though we ate them for dinner!
UPDATE (11/21): This is an older recipe post that I remade and updated. Instead of browning them on the stovetop and then baking in the oven I’ve kept everything on the stove. This makes it easier and it worked out great.
Recipe ingredients I used.
The simple ingredient I used for the meatballs were ground chicken, almond flour, egg, parmesan cheese, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika and blue cheese chunks in the middle.
I used extra almond flour to coat the meatballs before frying. The buffalo sauce is similar to my keto wing sauce and is made from hot sauce, butter and garlic.
How to make keto buffalo chicken meatballs.
First let me state that these are fairly fragile because we are not use breadcrumbs to bind the meatballs just almond flour and egg. However they are gluten free, low carb and delicious. Just be careful as you are browning them.
Step 1: Mix the spices, chicken, egg, parmesan cheese and almond flour together in a large mixing bowl. Then you want to shape the chicken mixture into medium sized meatballs. I love using a cookie scoop to keep them uniform in size. Once done, set them on a clean plate.
Step 2: Make a dent into the meatball and place a chunk of blue cheese in the middle. Then mold the meatball back together again to hide the cheese. It takes a bit of finessing but it’s not hard.
Step 3: Place the remaining almond flour into a medium bowl and roll the meatballs around one by one to coat them. You can skip this step if you want and it would be just as good though they seem to hold together a little better.
Step 4: Heat up a large non stick pan to medium high heat and then add the olive oil. Carefully place the meatballs into the hot pan and then turn the heat down to medium. Brown them on all sides. This should take 5 minutes. You may have to do them in batches depending on how big your meatballs are. I got 26 in this batch.
Step 5: In a separate pan, make your buffalo sauce by adding the butter, garlic and hot sauce. Heat over medium heat and let boil for a few minutes. Then turn off the heat and set aside.
Step 6: When the meatballs have browned, add them all back to the large saute pan and pour the hot sauce over top. Turn down the heat to medium low, cover and cook for 10 more minutes until the meatballs are cooked through. (Please scroll down to view and print the recipe card.)
Recipe notes and tips.
- While I’ve stuffed blue cheese in the middle of these, if you don’t like blue cheese you can certainly eliminate them or use another cheese like small block pieces of cheddar. I have never tried that though.
- I’ve made these both with and without rolling them in the almond flour before frying. They seem to stay together a little better with the coating but it’s not significant so if you want to skip the coating you could and they would taste fine.
- While I used ground chicken, this recipe would work fine with ground turkey or even ground beef. The cooking times may vary though.
- These meatballs are a bit fragile because I didn’t use breadcrumbs to keep them low carb. So just be gentle when browning them and turning them around in the pan.
- If you want a garnish for these you could use chopped green onions on top. For a low carb appetizer you could make extra sauce and use it as dipping sauce. Or include celery sticks and blue cheese or ranch dressing. All of these are low carb. Here are recipes for a homemade ranch dressing and a homemade blue cheese dressing.
- These are gluten free and low carb in my opinion. There is some controversy about blue cheese being gluten free but the consensus seems to think it is safe. If you are gluten sensitive you probably already have made up your mind on this one. Personally I am not gluten sensitive but I don’t like to eat wheat so bread crumbs are out and almond flour is in and I have no problems with blue cheese.
More low carb buffalo chicken recipes to try.
I have 14 other keto buffalo chicken recipes to try if you too love this flavor combination. They are all easy and tasty.
There is everything from cheese chips to stuffed mushrooms. So just click on the link above to check them out.
And now you’ve got a spicy meatball! Yummy blue cheese filled buffalo chicken meatballs to be exact. Eat it for lunch, eat it for dinner or take these to a party and be a star.
One note of caution, they are hot and they are filling. But they are most definitely delicious. Enjoy!
Nutritional information for 1 meatball with sauce = 79 calories / 6.4g fat / 1.1g carbs / 0.1g fiber / 4.7g protein = 1g net carb
Keto Buffalo Chicken Meatballs Recipe
Yield: 26
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
These tasty keto buffalo chicken meatballs have a surprise in the middle - blue cheese! Using almond flour these are both gluten free and low carb. Great appetizer!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Meatball Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese
- ½ cup almond flour
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- 1 egg
- ⅓ cup blue cheese, crumbled or chunks
- ⅓ cup almond flour - for coating
- Sauce Ingredients
- ⅔ cup Frank's hot sauce
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the chicken, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, egg, parmesan cheese and the ½ cup of almond flour. Mix with your hands and then roll into meatballs and place on a piece of wax paper.
- Next take a meatball and make an indent in one side and place a piece of blue cheese. Then smooth the meat over to cover the cheese. Continue with all the meatballs. This recipe made 26 for me.
- Once the blue cheese is inside, roll them in the extra ⅓ cup of almond four and place plate. Continue with all the meatballs.
- In a large nonstick skillet pour in the olive oil and heat to medium high heat.
- When the oil is hot, carefully place the meatballs in the pan. Turn the heat down to medium and brown the meatballs on all sides. This should take about 5 minutes. You may have to do this in batches.
- While they are browning, make your sauce by adding the hot sauce, butter and garlic to a small saucepan. Once boiling, turn off and set aside.
- Once all the meatballs have browned, add them all back to the pan (if you have done them in batches) and the pour over the buffalo sauce. Set the heat to medium low, cover and cook for 10 more minutes to cook the meatballs through. Note cooking time may vary depending on the size of your meatballs.
Notes
The nutritional information for 1 meatball (based on 26 meatballs) is 79 calories / 6.4g fat / 1.1g carbs / 0.1g fiber / 4.7g protein = 1g net carb
Recipe Notes & Tips
- While I've stuffed blue cheese in the middle of these, if you don't like blue cheese you can certainly eliminate it.
- I've made these both with and without rolling them in the almond flour before frying. They seem to stay together a little better with the coating but it's not significant so if you want to skip the coating you could and they would taste fine.
- If you want a garnish for these you could use chopped green onions on top. For a low carb appetizer you could double the sauce and include a little bowl of it to dip in. Or include celery sticks and blue cheese or ranch dressing. All of these are low carb.
- These meatballs are a bit fragile because I didn't use breadcrumbs to keep them low carb. So just be gentle when browning them and turning them around in the pan.
- This recipe would work fine with ground turkey or even ground beef. The cooking times may vary though.
- These are gluten free and low carb in my opinion thought there is some controversy about blue cheese being gluten free so as I mentioned above just eliminate it if you are concerned.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 26Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 79Unsaturated Fat: 0g
