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These Buffalo Chicken Meatballs have just the right amount of spice, they’re baked instead of fried to keep things easy, and they just so happen to be low carb and gluten free, too! Drizzle with ranch or blue cheese for the perfect appetizer or main course!
If you’ve been around here for long, you know there are two things that I really love…the flavors of buffalo chicken and low carb recipes that don’t taste low carb recipes!
I’m suuuuuuuper picky about our keto and low carb recipes tasting like ‘regular’ food, because my husband and kids have to eat it too. I don’t want to brag, but I’m basically a ninja when it comes to turning every day favorites into something a bit healthier at this point. 😉
These Buffalo Chicken Meatballs happen to be low carb – made with almond flour instead of bread crumbs, which gives them a boost of nutrition and cuts out the extra gluten and carbs that we probably don’t need added to every meal of the day.
If you love buffalo chicken, you’ll love these meatballs!
Other buffalo inspired favorites include our Buffalo Chicken Pizza and Buffalo Chicken Pasta.
What We Love About Low Carb Meatballs:
Meatballs are beyond simple to make into a low carb favorite. Just use almond flour in place of the bread crumbs and bake them up! So easy!
These turn out so moist and flavorful. They have just a bit of kick in the meatball and then you can drizzle extra hot sauce and ranch on top to get the perfect heat level for everyone!
These buffalo chicken meatballs are baked, so there’s no worry about frying anything. Easy to make and easy to clean up!
Finally, these can be served in a number of ways – with toothpicks and keto blue cheese dressing for a fun appetizer/snack or as a main dish over cauliflower rice or a salad.
Another favorite low carb recipe is our egg roll in a bowl. It cooks in just 15 minutes and the whole family loves it!
Ingredient Notes:
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Ground Chicken – We use lean ground chicken, but ground turkey works just as well and you really can’t tell the difference. Grab whatever is on sale.
Almond Flour- Rich in vitamins, naturally low in carbs, and gluten free! Almond Flour is our go to for low carb meatballs.
Cheese – The cheese helps binds the meatballs while also adding a bit of flavor.
Ranch/Blue Cheese – We season the meatballs with ranch seasoning and then drizzle on ranch dressing or blue cheese when serving.
Hot Sauce – Frank’s Red Hot is our go to when it comes to buffalo sauce!
What Readers are Saying!
“I have been making these for a couple of years now…hubby loves them and I do the recipe as written. If it seems too wet I might add a bit more almond flour. Always turns out good for me!” – Kelly C.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Meatballs:
Mix: Add everything to a mixing bowl and stir well to combine.
Helpful Tip!
You don’t want mushy meatballs so if it seems like there is too much liquid from the hot sauce and ranch dressing, you can in a bit of grated Parmesan cheese to dry things out a bit without adding extra carbs.
Shape: Shape the mixture into 9 evenly sized meatballs. We use a cookie scoop for this.
My Favorite Cookie Scoop!
We use cookie scoops for everything from baking cookies to scooping meatballs to easily filling muffin tins.
Bake: Arrange the meatballs on a baking sheet and bake at 500 degrees for 15 minutes or until they have cooked through.
Serve: We serve our meatballs with extra hot sauce and ranch or blue cheese dressing for drizzling and dipping. This let’s everyone get their meatballs to the spice level they prefer.
More Buffalo Chicken Recipes:
FAQs:
You can keep the baked meatballs in the refrigerator for about 4 to 5 days if they are well sealed. Reheat in the microwave.
Yes, we’ve replaced traditional breadcrumbs with low carb and gluten free almond flour.
MORE MEATBALL RECIPES!
- Grape Jelly Meatballs
- Teriyaki Meatballs
- Air Fryer Meatballs
- Bacon Wrapped Meatballs
- Turkey Meatballs
- BBQ Meatballs
Low Carb Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground chicken
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup hot sauce plus more for serving
- 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons prepared ranch dressing plus more for serving
- 1 tablespoon dry ranch seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Spritz a baking sheet with nonstick spray.
- Add all of the ingredients to a medium bowl and mix well with your hands.
- Form mixture into 9 evenly sized meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
- Serve with extra hot sauce and ranch dressing, as desired.
Camille says
Curious, do these come out firm or tender? I’m trying to find some “tender” meatball recipes. Preferably almost melt in your mouth recipes. this looks delicious, but not sure if it can be made to be tender. Thanks!
Michael Foley says
Just made these and loved them. I used ground up almonds and pepper jack cheese (instead of cheddar). Added diced onions. My only complaint (minor) is that they fell apart as they were forked. Made it harder to eat them..but not impossible.
Mary says
These were amazing. Forgot to put in the wet ranch, cooked at 400. I made a bunch of small meatballs. Dipped in ranch and Franks wing sauce. Yummy! Thanks for the recipe!!
Karly says
Glad you enjoyed them!
Elizabeth says
I made these to the exact specifications of the recipe and the mixture was practically a soup! It made more like patties instead of actual balls. No idea what I did wrong, I even kept adding flour to try and stiffen them up and nothing!
Karly says
It’s hard to say what went wrong. I make these often and, while loose and wet, they hold together just fine. What brand of ranch and hot sauce did you use? I wonder if they weren’t as thick as what I normally use? I use Hidden Valley and Frank’s.
Bailey says
The consistency after cooking these was so nasty. Even though the chicken was cooked inside after baking, it was so mushy and a very unpleasant texture to eat.
Chandra Cantu says
Delicious! The mix seemed watery as stated in other comments but I just went with it. I’m glad I did! They cooked up just fine and as of now are my fave low carb meal. Thank you for an amazing recipe. 🙂
Madison says
Is the cheese in the recipe just shredded cheese? Or is it the cheez whiz type of cheese?
Karly says
Yep, just shredded cheddar! I’ll update the recipe to reflect that.
D Cremer says
Love these, so does my son. This time I used 1 Tablespoon ranch dressing and 1 1/2 Tablespoon of dried ranch seasoning and the consistency was great. Thanks so much
Krysta says
I made these last week and my husband LOVED them! Even my 1 year old son enjoyed them (without the extra buffalo sauce on top). I did add 1T chia seeds to the mixture, as I was concerned about the comments stating that they didn’t hold together well. What I’m wondering is, NINE meatballs?! I made 22 good-sized meatballs. I can’t imagine how huge your nine must have been! Haha – anyway, thanks for a great recipe! 🙂
Karly says
We make them golf ball sized. 🙂
Mary says
I would not bother with this recipe. After reading the comments I decided to go ahead and try to make them, only shape them as chicken nuggets and fry them a little on each side first. They were so mushy they barely held together in the frying pan. But they did butrown up a little and then I transferred them to a rack over a baking sheet and put them in the oven at 400 degrees. I baked them on each side for 10 minutes. The flavor is actually pretty good, but they just fall apart.
Krysta says
I dropped mine on a pizza stone like cookie batter – the raw meat was VERY wet, but they cooked into meatballs just fine. I did add 1T chia seeds to my mixture; maybe that helped keep them together.
Mary says
Interesting – never heard of chia seeds as a binding agent – really works, huh?
Karly says
Yeah, I imagine they wouldn’t hold up super great for frying, but they do hold together if you just pop them straight in the oven. 🙂
Linds says
So, I was super excited to make these and almost caught my house in fire. Apparently parchment paper and my 500 degree oven don’t mix. My husband saved the day sand they’re currently in the oven at a lower temp, I stuffed mine with huge chunks of blue cheese!!! They smell AMAZING!!!
Karly says
Hmm, I wonder why that it is. I’ll update the recipe as you’re not the first person to say that! It must have something to do with where the heat comes out of your oven and how close the parchment is to it, maybe? I haven’t had a problem myself!
Christina says
500 degrees is WAY to hot for parchment paper. Its not meant to be used at temperatures above 420-450F. Perhaps you need to double check the actual temperature inside your oven? 500F with parchment paper will almost always end in flames. Its incredibly dangerous.
Karly says
Hi Christina,
Because the parchment paper is only in the oven for about 10 minutes, it shouldn’t be an issue. Of course, if you’re not comfortable with it, please don’t use it. 🙂
Ann Marie says
I think I’m gonna do them at 350, I’m assuming 500 degrees was a typo?? I can’t believe no one has mentioned it!
Karly says
500 degrees is correct.
Alysabeth says
You definitely dont mean 500 degrees. Almost burnt the house down.
Karly says
I definitely do mean 500 degrees, actually. I bake all of my meatballs at 500 degrees F and have never had an issue.
Alysabeth says
Interesting. My parchment paper almost lit on fire and 3 minutes in the meatball edges were browning quite dark while still wet mush inside. 350 degrees worked fine.
Adan Donofrio says
Anyone do a calorie breakdown of this recipie? I’m only allowed to have 1000 calories a day
Cindy says
They were a little mushy making them, but in my experience sometimes those are the best tasting results! I have 4 picky boys and it was a crowd pleaser for all-including my hubby! Great idea!
Karly says
Glad they were a hit! 🙂