These Buffalo Chicken Meatball Subs are saucy, spicy and outrageously delicious!!
The other awesome thing about these subs is they’re SO easy to make. The meatballs are baked in the oven, so no need to man the frying pan. You’re also not needing to muck around with marinara sauce like classic subs either.
Homemade Chicken Meatballs
The meatballs themselves are super easy to whip up. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Ground Chicken – If you get the choice, try and use ground chicken thigh over breast. It’s much fattier, so doesn’t dry out as easily. It’s also got much more flavour.
- Panko Breadcrumbs – These are Japanese breadcrumbs. They’re great because they’re big and airy, meaning they’re good at retaining moisture, which helps keep the meatballs soft and juicy.
- Parmesan – Adds a salty flavour and helps crisp up the meatballs slightly.
- Parsley – Adds a fresh burst of flavour.
- Onion & Garlic – Adds a base flavour to the meatballs. The onion is grated to intensify the flavour and add moisture.
- Worcestershire sauce – Adds a deep umami flavour.
- Egg – To help bind everything together.
- Salt & Pepper – Season well to prevent bland meatballs!
Where can I find ground chicken or what can I sub?
It’s tricky to find in the UK, so I usually either get it from the butchers, or I add boneless/skinless chicken thighs to a food processor and blend it up until it mimics chicken mince.
Can I prep these ahead of time?
You can prep them ahead of time by rolling them and tightly covering them in the fridge. Just add another few mins on to cooking time if baking straight from the fridge.
Process shots: add ingredients to mixing bowl (photo 1), mix until evenly combined (photo 2), scoop out chunks onto baking tray (photo 3), roll into meatballs (photo 4), spray with oil (photo 5), bake (photo 6).
Buffalo Chicken Meatball Subs
When it comes to making the subs, you’ll first want to coat the cooked meatballs in buffalo sauce. I typically use Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Wings Sauce, but just use your favourite buffalo sauce brand!
What kind of bread to use?
Here I use 8″ sub rolls. If you can’t find any, you could use a baguette and slice it into portions. Failing that, you could use hotdog buns, however, the subs might end on the softer side.
What kind of cheese to use?
I love using Monterey Jack for this recipe, but any sort of melty cheese will do the trick (cheddar, mozzarella etc). I use cheese slices and cut them up, but grated cheese will work just as well.
Process shots: add meatballs and buffalo sauce to mixing bowl (photo 1), toss to combine (photo 2), slice sub and add meatballs (photo 3), top with cheese (photo 4), add to baking tray (photo 5), place under the grill until the cheese melts (photo 6).
Serving Buffalo Chicken Meatball Subs
Whilst they’re still hot and toasty, we’ll add the finishing touches:
- Buffalo Sauce – drizzle over any leftover buffalo sauce from the mixing bowl.
- Blue Cheese Sauce – buffalo and blue cheese is a match made in heaven!
- Chives – adds a final pop of flavour and colour.
Can I sub the blue cheese sauce?
If you’re not a fan of blue cheese I’d recommend using ranch instead.
What goes good with a meatball sub?
Looking for another meatball sub recipe? Check out my Classic Meatball Subs!
After more buffalo goodness? Check out my Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheese and Fried Buffalo Chicken Sandwich!
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for these buffalo chicken meatball subs shall we?!
How to make Buffalo Chicken Meatball Subs (Full Recipe & Video)
Buffalo Chicken Meatball Subs
Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Large Greaseproof Baking Tray
- Box Grater
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- 1 tbsp Measuring Spoon
Ingredients
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
- 1lb / 500g Ground Chicken (see notes)
- 1x 5oz/150g bottle of Frank's Buffalo Sauce (or same measurement of your fave buffalo sauce)
- 3/4 cup / 45g Panko Breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup / 40g freshly grated Parmesan
- 1/4 cup finely diced Fresh Parsley
- 1 Egg
- 1 small Onion, peeled & grated on a box grater
- 1 clove of Garlic, finely diced
- 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- Oil Spray, as needed
Subs
- 4x 8" Sub Rolls
- 8 tbsp Blue Cheese Sauce (see notes)
- 5 square slices of Monterey Jack, each slice cut into 4, so 20 mini squares in total (or cheese of choice)
- finely diced Fresh Chives, to garnish
Instructions
- Mix Chicken: In a large mixing bowl add chicken, breadcrumbs, parmesan, parsley, onion, garlic, egg, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix it together until evenly combined.
- Prep Meatballs: Use a 1 tbsp measuring spoon to scoop chunks of the meat onto a baking tray. You should get 20 chunks. One by one roll the chunks of meat into meatballs.
- Bake Meatballs: Liberally spray the meatballs all over with oil spray, then bake in the oven at 200C/400F for 20mins, or until golden brown and piping hot through the centre.
- Buffalo Chicken Meatballs: Tip the cooked meatballs into a mixing bowl and pour in all the buffalo sauce. Toss to combine.
- Prep Subs: Slice through the centre of each of the subs (make sure you don't go all the way through). Slot in the meatballs, then spoon over a bit of excess buffalo sauce. Place a mini square of cheese on each meatball, then place the subs onto a baking tray.
- Cook Subs: Place the subs under the grill and broil for a few mins until the cheese has melted.
- Serve Subs: Drizzle over any excess buffalo sauce, then drizzle over blue cheese sauce. Sprinkle with chives then serve up and enjoy!
Quick Demo
Notes
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition:
If you loved this Buffalo Chicken Meatball Sandwich Recipe be sure to Pin it for later! Already made it or got a burning question? Give me a shout in the comments below!
These were great! I ended up with 24 meatballs so we will be able to have them for lunch tomorrow! Thanks for an awesome recipe! Any tips for freezing ahead of time to make for larger groups?
Freeze them raw spread out on a tray then transfer to a zip-lock bag. Thaw in the fridge then bake as instructed 🙂 C.
Preparing this now for dinner tonight! Very excited! I didn’t have parsley nor do I have the energy to run to the store for it so we will see how I do without but it’s probably still gonna be fantastic!