Buffalo Chicken Meatball Sliders with Spicy Marinara

Mini-sandwiches filled with cheese and chicken meatballs and a spicy marinara sauce.

• Email Recipe
• Print Recipe
•        

Ingredients:

• Meatballs:
• 2 oz blue cheese, crumbled
• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 lbs ground chicken
• 1/2 cup panko
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Sauce:
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small or medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried red chili flakes
• 2 24 oz cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 teaspoons dried red chili flakes
• 18 small soft rolls (split horizontally)

Method

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a medium saucepot. Saute onions in oil until translucent, 3-4 minutes. Stir in garlic, chilies and tomato paste. Break paste up with a fork and cook it briefly, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, with all juices, and Italian seasoning. Bring sauce to a boil and turn down heat. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small mixing bowl, combine bleu cheese and cream cheese. Using a fork, mix cheeses together until well blended. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together egg with dry seasonings. Add ground chicken and panko to egg mixture and mix well using hands. Form 1 1/2 tablespoon of chicken mixture into a small patty, about 3 inches in diameter, in the palm of hand. Take 1/2-1 tsp of cheese mixture and put it in the middle of patty. Bring edges of patty up over cheese and form meat into a ball so cheese is in the middle. The meatball should be about the size of a large walnut. Try to cover cheese completely so it doesn't leak out when cooked. Repeat with the rest of chicken and cheese mixtures. Add vegetable oil to a large 9 x 13 glass baking dish. Place meatballs in baking dish and roll them around to coat with vegetable oil. Bake meatballs for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Turn meatballs halfway through cooking time so they brown evenly. After meatballs are cooked through, remove them from oven and allow them to cool on paper towels to drain off any excess fat. Warm or toast rolls, if desired. To serve, top each roll bottom with a warm meatball and drizzle some sauce on top. Top each meatball with a roll top.

Notes: Both sauce and meatballs can be made a day ahead of time to avoid stress. Just reheat meatballs in sauce and serve.

Number of servings: 6

Submitted By: homefordinner
View all recipes by this user