Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
These meatballs are a lighter, healthier alternative to buffalo wings, and you can easily make them right in the slow cooker!
It’s been insanely warm out here in the Bay Area, and I even think it high 90 degrees in the house yesterday. So the last thing I want to do is leave the stovetop or oven on. That’s why I finally dusted off my slow cooker, and seeing that I had an entire bottle of Frank’s RedHot ready to be used up, I just had to make these epic buffalo chicken meatballs. I’m not even a buffalo fan but these meatballs still blew my mind!
You can even make these ahead of time up to the point of baking them. When you’re ready to serve, pop these babies right into the slow cooker for about 2 hours, really letting the buffalo flavors soak right in. From there, you can drizzle on that blue cheese dressing goodness to taste. Best of all, these can be served as a snack, a party appetizer or even a light dinner!
Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- ¾ cup Panko*
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ¾ cup buffalo sauce
- ¼ cup blue cheese dressing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine ground chicken, Panko, egg, garlic and onion powder and green onions; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Using a wooden spoon or clean hands, stir until well combined. Roll the mixture into 1 1/4-to-1 1/2-inch meatballs, forming about 24 meatballs.
- Place meatballs onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 4-5 minutes, or until all sides are browned.
- Place meatballs into a slow cooker. Add buffalo sauce and gently toss to combine. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 hours.
- Serve immediately, drizzled with blue cheese dressing, if desired.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Has anyone used ground turkey? I have some turkey but will get chicken if no one has tried turkey. They look delicious!!!!
Ground turkey is a great substitute!
I made these for dinner last night with mac-n-cheese and a big salad. They were a huge hit!
They were amazing!! They also taste really good with honey barbecue sauce!
I love this recipe and have made many times in the slow cooker, aslways a crowd pleaser! I’m wondering if this would work in an Instant Pot Pressure cooker? Thanks!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I wanted to bring these to a BBQ. If I cook them right before the party would they still be good if I just reheated them at the party before serving or do you not recommend this? (party is 5 minutes away)
Yes, of course!
This recipe looks perfect for an appetizer at my son’s wedding reception! The site is several states away and we are arriving a week early to help out with decorating, etc so I wonder if I make and freeze these ahead of time, defrost them the day before, would it be better to just reheat them in crock pot, or would it be better to freeze them after browning and cook the day of the wedding in the crock pot ( not sure how much time I’ll have) Thee will be about 140 people so would need a few crockpots!
Either option could work! 140 people is a big crowd – hope they like them! 🙂
My entire family LOVED these! I doubled the recipe and topped with a homemade buffalo sauce recipe. Thanks for this great idea!
Looks very yummy! My stomach is crying now. I like this kind of meatballs. Thanks for sharing this.
I LOVE these. I made them one time for a tailgate potluck and now they are requested all the time. Just made 5lbs worth for tomorrow.
So does it work to put a few rows of meatballs in the crockpot? Do you have to keep stirring?
Wanted to double or triple the recipe myself.
Thanks!
Did you recently update the recipe? I make this almost weekly for lunches and I swear the recipe called for 1.25 lbs ground chicken because I always use 2 packages of 1 lb chicken (only way I’ve seen sold) so I always have to adjust the recipe for 2 lbs instead of 2 1/2 lbs. Can you tell me what the salt and pepper quantities were in the original recipe – the quantities were right one. We LOVE these meatballs and have folks ask for the recipe whenever we serve them at a party. Thanks!
I actually have not updated this recipe. It’s been the same ever since!
There’s no way your meatballs were 1 1/4″ – 1 1/2″ and that you got 24 out of 1 lb. of ground turkey. I average about 15 every time. Regardless, double the batch and you’ll have more than enough for everyone to enjoy. This recipe is great and easy to follow. So delicious! I make them often!
Delicious! Thank you for great recipe.
Its a sunny and beautiful 75 degrees here in Texas on football Sunday, so you had me at slow cooker. I mixed Franks with some melted butter for the buffalo sauce and ended up pouring a little over a cup of sauce on the meatballs (we love Franks!). Just put the lid on the crockpot, can’t wait to try them! Thank!
Oh and the 5 minutes in the oven seemed just about fine to me, as this is meant just to “set” them for the crockpot. I feel like 10-15 minutes would just cook them all the way through, what would be the point of the slow cooker?
Might be a strange question… But can you leave on warm in crockpot? Making for Super Bowl. Thanks
Yes!
Wow these were delicious! I made them on the weekend and they were a hit. I did bake them for about 10 minutes in the oven though before putting them in the slow cooker (flipping halfway through). This recipe is a keeper 🙂
We are a huge buffalo wing family as we live in buffalo!!!! Is was a healthy alternative to the greasy wings. I doubled the recipe and did get 48 balls. I baked them a bit longer, 7 minutes and then flipped them and baked an additional 5 minutes. I cooked them in the crock on low for 3 hours and they were delicious
Can these be stacked to the top in a Slow Cooker in several layers? Or does it have to be one single layer at the bottom? Thx
Yes, they can be stacked.
The GATOR balls were and absolute hit, going try venison, tuna & conch.
I am always looking for ways to prepare the wild game I harvest. This looked interesting so I prepare per the menu but substitute “GATOR”
Would you say these are hot. Medium or mild with the hot sauce?
About medium to hot.