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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My meatballs don’t brown in 4-5 minutes!! What did I do wrong? Lol
I browned them 7 minutes and flipped them and baked an additional 5 min
I tried making these for the first time about a month ago. Have made them three times since! They are great! I add finely chopped celery, instead of green onion, to the meatball mixture and it tastes great! I recommend that for anyone who isn’t a green onion fan. I follow the rest of recipe as written, other than maybe adding a bit more buffalo sauce, but that’s just a personal preference.
I have been doubling the recipe and typically get between 35 and 40 small to medium sized meatballs. Thank you for the great recipe 🙂
If I need inspiration you are my go-to site, and my daughters, but as I live in the Meditteranean I cant always get the exact ingredients. Could you tell me what Buffalo sauce is please. We do have Tabasco sauce out here.
Buffalo sauce is a type of hot sauce. It can be store-bought or homemade, but I always prefer store-bought Frank´s RedHot®Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce.
We have made these twice with ground chicken and loved them! (We also have to keep them in our convection oven at 400° for 15 minutes to get them to brown.) Tonight we’re giving them a try with ground turkey, because Trader Joe’s doesn’t have ground chicken. I’ll report back with a result.
I am sure my husband will like these meatballs, It looks amazing and i cant wait to get them done
I am going try this this weekend. Is there a a way to reach you incase i make some mistakes and need help.
Amazing recipe. Love love love it!
Pamela, if you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment. I will do my very best to respond in a timely manner. 🙂
I made these for dinner last night and they were delicious. I was worried that the meatballs would end up dry but they were moist and full of flavor. I didn’t have two hours so I gave mine an extra 5 minutes in the oven and only did 1 hour in the crockpot on high and still came out great. I wish I had doubled the recipe because there were no leftovers.
The 5 minutes for browning is way off as other people have noted. 15 minutes and counting so far in a preheated 400F oven.
Thanks for recipe!
These tasted exactly as I hoped they would! Because I really wanted them and was not willing to wait 2 hours, I baked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. I then simmered in a small pot with the Frank’s Red Hot Sauce about 5 minutes. This is similar to how I make traditional meatballs and they were great. When I am not in a rush I will definitely try using the slow cooker! We use at least one of your recipes in our weekly meal planning. Love your site!
do you know how long these need to cook in instant pot (pressure cooker)?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment.
Please, do you have the nutritional count for these delicious looking meatballs?
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, it is best that you use free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information.
Hello,
This is a great recipe but I want to make this for 12 people. Did you have any left over and if so were they still good after two hours. I want to try to just make two separate batches because I do not know what would happen if I put two rows of the meatballs. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Yes, the leftovers reheat very well!
Look great and easy!! I love meatball. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
you state that these can be made ahead of time up to the point of baking – can you clarify if you mean baking the 4 minutes in oven for browning or do you mean before you put in slow cooker? Just want to know if I should oven brown them before I freeze them, or freeze them before I oven brown them. Thanks!
I recommend freezing after the meatballs have been browned.
I dont have a slow cooker, how else can i cook these meatballs they look soooo good.
You can finish these in the oven for about 18-22 minutes, or until no longer pink in center.
Do you think you can use anything else to substitute the Panko? Besides regular breadcrumbs? anything gluten free or carb free?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot advise an appropriate substitute that will not alter the overall taste/texture of the dish. Using a substitution may also result in a mediocre outcome but if substitutions must be made, please use your best judgment to fit your dietary restrictions.
these were delicious, I chopped up fresh jalapeño, added to mix, then sprinkled cayenne on them before I baked them….
I made this today and they were a HIT at home and at my work potluck! Any idea how many calories??
Nutritional information is provided only for select and new recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, it is best that you use free online resources at your discretion (you can gooogle “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information.
Probably a stupid question, but how many meatballs does this recipe yield? I see it says six servings but how many meatballs per serving?
Elizabeth, the number of meatballs is indicated in the recipe:
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.
Can I fry them instead? thanks!
Raven, if you prefer to make this without a slow cooker, you can pan fry these first and then pop them in the oven to finish it off.
Hi – just picked this up in UK. Chicken meatballs sound great. Not familiar with Buffalo sauce. Is it like a spicy bolognaise sauce?? I live in a small provincial town and our supermarket doesn’t have commercial buffalo sauce or Panko. Any thoughts on alternative?
I would do this for a pot luck supper – with a liquid sauce over spaghetti or rice.
Love the thought.
Judith, this is the buffalo sauce that I used. If it is not readily available in your area, it may be best to make it from scratch.