Marry Me Meatballs – Chicken meatballs in a creamy sauce with Parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach.
Marry Me Chicken is one of those dishes everyone loves – and here you get it in a new, slightly cosier version with juicy chicken meatballs instead of whole pieces of chicken. That makes the dish extra family-friendly, and you still get that rich, creamy sauce with Parmesan, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes that simply tastes wonderful.
I mix the meatballs with onion, garlic and grated Parmesan – then bake them in the oven for about 20 minutes while I make the sauce in the pan. When it all comes together at the end, you have a warming dish that tastes completely irresistible. You can serve it with anything from freshly cooked pasta, rice or mashed potatoes – or whatever the family fancies.
If you have a little extra time and want to turn the flavour up even further, you can also brown the meatballs in the pan first and then make the sauce in the same pan – that gives it that extra little hit of umami. Once the sauce is ready, add the chicken meatballs to the sauce and heat them through for 5-10 minutes – it really packs a punch.
But the oven method is easy, quick and makes minimal mess – a win-win, if you ask me.
Tip for a lighter version
If you want to make the dish a little lower in calories, there are fortunately a few easy tricks. Let’s be honest, cream-based dishes aren’t the healthiest – but that said, there has to be room for them now and then, or you can adjust the recipe with lighter alternatives.
First of all, the meatballs in this recipe are baked in the oven – which saves you a fair amount of oil compared with frying them in a pan. I’ve factored that into this version, and it actually makes the dish both lighter and easier to make.
You can also swap the cream for a light cooking cream with 7% or 15% fat – it still gives you a lovely creamy sauce, but with far fewer calories.
The cheese, on the other hand – I wouldn’t do without it. Parmesan gives the dish depth and umami, so here I really think you should use the full amount for the best flavour.
If you’d rather avoid white wine, you can easily use extra stock and season with a little lemon juice – that way you keep the fresh acidity without the alcohol (and without the extra calories).
Marry Me Meatballs – Chicken Meatballs in a Creamy Sauce
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 600 g minced chicken
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, grated or crushed
- 40 g Parmesan, finely grated
- 1 1/2 tbsp dried breadcrumbs
- 25 ml milk
- 1 egg
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Sauce
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, grated or crushed
- 140 g sun-dried tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
- 150 ml white wine (can be replaced with stock)
- 150 ml chicken stock
- 250 ml whipping cream (38% fat) or cooking cream
- 60 g Parmesan, finely grated
- 80 g fresh spinach
- 8 sprigs basil, leaves only
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Oil
To serve
- Pasta, rice or mashed potatoes
Method
- Combine the meatball ingredients, season with salt and freshly ground pepper and mix well.
- Shape the mixture into medium-sized meatballs of about 35 g each and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Spray the tops with a little oil and bake in a preheated fan oven at 210°C for about 18-20 minutes.The chicken meatballs can also be fried in a pan – see the introduction.Meanwhile, make the sauce.
- Heat a splash of oil in a frying pan, ideally the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes, and fry the onion, garlic and sun-dried tomatoes until the onion is translucent.
- Pour in the white wine and let it reduce well, then add the stock and cream. Let the sauce simmer for 5-8 minutes – or until it thickens slightly.
- Stir the Parmesan into the sauce until it melts, and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. If you left out the white wine, a squeeze of lemon juice is a good way to balance the sauce.
- Finally, stir in the spinach and fresh basil until the spinach has wilted, turn the meatballs in the sauce and serve as you like.
Nutrition
Premium
Vildt god – lavede kæmpe portion og spiste det tre dage i træk 😉
Hej Helle
Ej hvor er det mega dejligt at høre – tusind tak for de søde ord 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna
Mega lækker ret og en klar familie-farvorit her hjemme! Kødbollerne er så gode at vi også bruger dem til mange andre retter og som kyllinge frikadeller. Tak for en super opskrift!
Hej Chili
Hvor gør det mig glad at høre, tusind tak for de søde ord:)
Warm wishes, Dianna
Kan man lave farsen dagen før og lade den trække til dagen efter ?
Hej Katrine
Ja det kan du sagtes gøre 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna
Lyder som en fantastisk opskrift, som jeg må prøve . Kan man undlade soltørrede tomater? Jeg er ikke så vild med dem.
Hej Lotte
Tusind tak 🙂 Uhhh de er jo en stor smagsgiver til retten, så undlader du dem, ville jeg tilføre noget andet der giver umami.
Det kan f.eks. være 100 g stegt bacon og 2 spsk tomatkoncentrat – det vil give en god base for saucen og smagene 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna
Jeg kom en anelse Cajun krydderi i kødbollerne. Det var ikke så ringe endda 🙂
Hold da op hvor er den lækker ♥️ total scoremiddag også synes dog det ser ud til, på dit billede, der er mere sovs. Men måske skal jeg spæde den op med lidt vand. Tak for opskriften ☺️
Hej Trine
Tusind tusind tak for de søde ord:)
Måske det kan skyldes faconen eller størrelsen på panden, at det ser ud til der er mere sauce – for der er kun det i som står i opskriften:)
Men du kan sagtens spæde op med ekstra væde, f.eks. lidt pastavand hvis du serverer den med pasta:)
Warm wishes, Dianna
Hej. Den smagte skønt – ny ynglingsret – også for vores børnebørn. Vores svigersøn tåler ikke mælkeprodukter, så vi brugte rismælk og undlod parmasan i den ene portion. Det fungerede fint.
Hej Gitte
Tusind tak for dejlig feedback, hvor er det dejligt at høre:)
Warm wishes, Dianna
Wow, hvor smager den bare godt
Hej Louise
Åhhhh tak for din dejlig besked og feedback 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna
Nøj det er en lækker ret, smagte vidunderligt!
Hejsa
Hvor gør det mig glad at høre, tusind tak for de søde ord 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna
Kan den fryses ( stor portion ) og eller gen opvarmes , når der er spinat i – er der ikke noget med det ny opvarmning i forhold til mad m persille og spinat ?
Tak for god inspiration
Hej Bodil
Det kan du roligt gøre, man skal blot sørge for at varme maden grundigt igennem 🙂
Men spinaten kan godt miste den flotte farve når den opvarmes på ny, så du kan evt. vente med at tilsætte spinaten hvis det er 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna
Orv … den skal på næste uges madplan 💪