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Why You’ll Love These Instant Pot Chicken Meatballs
I think everyone loves buffalo sauce-flavored anything, right? I’ve already made buffalo chicken dip, buffalo chicken salad, and even buffalo chicken chili, so these meatballs were kind of inevitable.
These buffalo chicken meatballs are one of those dinners that make the whole kitchen smell like game day food without standing over a frying pan or dealing with a tray of wings. The sauce cooks right into the meatballs, so every bite stays juicy with that buttery, vinegary buffalo kick. I also love that these work just as well for meal prep lunches as they do for football Sundays.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Ground chicken: The base of these paleo chicken meatballs. Ground chicken stays tender in the Instant Pot and soaks up the buffalo sauce really well.
- Almond meal: Helps bind the meatballs while keeping them grain-free and paleo-friendly.
- Sea salt: Balances the heat from the buffalo sauce.
- Garlic cloves: Fresh garlic gives the meatballs a deeper savory flavor than garlic powder.
- Green onions: Adds freshness and a little sharpness.
- Hot sauce: Gives these buffalo chicken meatballs that classic tangy buffalo flavor. I like Frank’s Red Hot, but always check labels if you need a paleo or Whole30 buffalo sauce option.
- Butter: Softens the sharpness of the hot sauce and creates that signature buffalo sauce texture. Use ghee for Whole30.
- Chopped green onions: For garnish. Adds color and freshness right before serving.
Recipe Variations
- Use ghee instead of butter to keep the recipe Whole30-compliant.
- If you don’t own an Instant Pot, the oven method listed below works great too!
- For spicier meatballs, drizzle extra hot sauce over the top before serving.
How to Make Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Step 1: In a large bowl, combine chicken, almond meal, salt, minced garlic cloves, and green onions. Mix until combined, but be careful not to overwork the meat.
Step 2: Grease your hands, then shape the meat into golf ball-sized balls. Set aside. Ground chicken can be annoyingly sticky to work with, so don’t stress if the meatballs look a little uneven at first. Once they cook, they firm up nicely and hold together really well.
Step 3: Make the buffalo sauce by heating up hot sauce and butter in the microwave or the stove top until the butter is completely melted. Use a spoon to stir.
Step 4: Add the buffalo sauce to the Instant Pot liner and spread evenly. Place the meatballs on top of the sauce. Close the lid, and make sure the pressure valve is set to SEALING. Cook on MANUAL for 15 minutes, then manually release the pressure right away.
Step 5: Serve warm garnished with chopped green onions.
Oven-Baked Buffalo Chicken Meatballs Option
If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can still make these Whole30 chicken meatballs in the oven. You can quickly sear the meatballs in a skillet first if you’d like a little more color before baking.
Bake them in a 400 degree F oven for 15 minutes until the centers are cooked through and the outside looks lightly golden. The sauce thickens slightly as it coats the warm meatballs, which makes them especially good straight from the pan.
Expert Tips
- Grease your hands well before shaping the meatballs. It helps more than you might think with sticky ground chicken.
- Don’t overmix the meat mixture or the texture can turn dense instead of tender.
- If the meatballs seem soft before cooking, that’s normal. The almond meal absorbs moisture as they cook.
- Reheat leftovers gently in a skillet over medium heat so the buffalo sauce stays glossy instead of drying out.
- I usually throw these onto a big plate with veggie sticks and my homemade ranch for easy dinners, but they’re also great stuffed into wraps, added to salad bowls, or spooned over rice when we want something a little heartier.
If you use your pressure cooker as much as I do, my Instant Pot cocktail meatballs and classic Instant Pot meatballs in tomato sauce are two more easy favorites.
Storage & Make-Ahead Tips
- These also work really well chopped into lettuce wraps or served over salads like this Whole30 buffalo chicken salad for an easy lunch.
- Store leftover buffalo chicken meatballs in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- To reheat, warm them gently in a skillet over medium heat while turning occasionally. This keeps the sauce from separating and helps the meatballs stay tender.
Recipe FAQs
I love Frank’s Red Hot because it gives the closest classic buffalo wing flavor. If you’re doing Whole30, make sure to double check ingredient labels before buying.
Yes, as long as you use compliant hot sauce and swap the butter for ghee.
Yes. You can shape the meatballs ahead and keep them in the fridge until ready to cook.
Ground chicken is naturally softer and stickier than ground beef or pork, which can make it a little frustrating at first. Greasing your hands lightly makes shaping the meatballs so much easier.
More Easy Meatball Recipes
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Paleo Greek Meatballs with Tzatziki Sauce (Whole30, Keto)
If you make this buffalo chicken meatball recipe, please leave me a star rating and comment below! I love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Follow me on social media Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for even more delicious recipes!
Easy Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb ground chicken
- 3/4 cup almond meal
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 6 tbsp hot sauce, like Frank's Red Hot
- 1/4 cup butter, or ghee
- Chopped green onions, for garnish
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine chicken, almond meal, salt, minced garlic cloves, and green onions. Mix until combined, but be careful not to overwork the meat.1.5 lb ground chicken, 3/4 cup almond meal, 1 tsp sea salt, 2 garlic cloves, 2 green onions
- Grease your hands, then shape the meat into golf ball-sized balls. Set aside.
- Make the buffalo sauce by heating up hot sauce and butter in the microwave or the stove top until the butter is completely melted. Use a spoon to stir.6 tbsp hot sauce, 1/4 cup butter
- Add the buffalo sauce to the Instant Pot liner and spread evenly. Place the meatballs on top of the sauce. Close the lid, and make sure that the pressure valve is set to SEALING. Cook on MANUAL for 15minutes. Release pressure manually right away.
- Serve warm garnished with chopped green onions.Chopped green onions, for garnish
Notes
- Grease your hands well before shaping the meatballs. It helps more than you might think with sticky ground chicken.
- Don’t overmix the meat mixture or the texture can turn dense instead of tender.
- If the meatballs seem soft before cooking, that’s normal. The almond meal absorbs moisture as they cook.
- Reheat leftovers gently in a skillet over medium heat so the buffalo sauce stays glossy instead of drying out.
- I usually throw these onto a big plate with veggie sticks and my homemade ranch for easy dinners, but they’re also great stuffed into wraps, added to salad bowls, or spooned over rice when we want something a little heartier.
- Store leftover buffalo chicken meatballs in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- To reheat, warm them gently in a skillet over medium heat while turning occasionally. This keeps the sauce from separating and helps the meatballs stay tender.
- These also work really well chopped into lettuce wraps or served over salads like this Whole30 buffalo chicken salad for an easy lunch.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Even my super picky son loves this recipe…I had too much trouble with the meatballs sticking, so i just browned them in a non-stick pan. So much easier. I also add some blue cheese and ranch dipping sauce too.
Thanks so much! So glad you enjoyed it.
The amount of crap I have to scroll through to get the details is annoying as hell. Do you get maybe $2 for this?
Hi there, you are free to click on “Jump to recipe” on top of the page to avoid all the “crap” that you had to scroll through. I understand ads can be annoying, but please keep in mind that bloggers like me spend countless unpaid hours to provide free content for you. If you are still unhappy, there are literally millions of other recipe blogs you can follow on the internet. Thanks.
Not from you! You get the recipe for free. If a little scrolling is too much for you cry about it. Oh that’s right you already did.
New to Instant pot. Mine says you need 1 1/2 cups of liquid to build pressure. Doesn’t seem like the sauce will equal that. I have an 8qt pot. Any suggestions?
Have you tried it with the recipe as is? It should be fine as long as the sauce covers the bottom of the pot. If not, you’ll get a “burn” signal. If you are nervous, you can double up on the sauce.
Mine went to Burn. I’ll try double up sauce.
One of my absolute favorite ingredients / condiments is Buffalo Sauce, so this was an AMAZING addition to my keto diet! Thank you! I also had the problem of the meatballs sticking (probably my fault; I may have not waited for my ghee to get hot enough before adding the meatballs to the pot, AND I used 2 lbs of chicken; though I did adjust the other ingredient amounts accordingly). I just added a little more wing sauce (~1/3cup), a little chicken bone broth (1/4 cup), and a little bit of heavy cream (1-2 tbsp) to give the Instant Pot more liquid to work with because I didn’t want to get the “burn” error. After cooking, I just pulled the meatballs out and pan-reduced the leftover sauce for roughly 8 – 10 minutes and it made an awesome, delicious and slightly creamy buffalo sauce for the meatballs!
Thanks so much for this recipe! Even though I tweaked it a little because of my own situation, it ended up being wonderful! 🙂
-Ryan
So happy you enjoyed it! Glad your adjustments worked out. Thanks so much for your kind words. 🙂
Hello!
I, too, don’t have the “poultry” option on my instant pot.
Would I use the meat/stew option and then cook on high pressure? Or use the pressure cook option and then cook on high pressure? (New to the instant pot world!)
You can just do Manual on High for 15 minutes. Hope you enjoy!
If I’m
Using ground beef instead can I still use the poultry button
You can actually cook beef meatballs for shorter. 10 minutes on Manual should do it!
Substituted Chipotle Smoked sauce instead of regular hot sauce, served over spaghetti squash.
Love this recipe! So good!!
Such a great idea to use chipotle smoked sauce. And thanks so much! 🙂
Hi, my instant pot actually didn’t have poultry button. Do I set it high pressure to 15 minutes? Many thanks in advance!
Yes, that should work!
Awesome! Thanks so much. 🙂
Why not just use Frank’s Red Hot or Frank’s Buffalo Sauce?
You can if you want! I just don’t like to use it because I try to avoid xanthan gum and canola oil when I’m dining at home. And buffalo sauce is so easy to make yourself.
Don’t you need a cup of liquid when cooking with pressure?
As long the liquid covers the bottom of the pot you are fine, which the buffalo sauce does. Also, the chicken will also release some juice and fat while it cooks.
Not true. I got a burn warning and had to toss the whole thing out.
So sorry that happened! For over a year this post has been up, I’ve never heard of anyone getting the burn signal for this, so I’m not sure what went wrong. Also, the next time that does happen, you can just open the lip and add more sauce, instead tossing the whole thing out. It probably just needed a bit more liquid!
The meatballs stuck and I had the burn warning come up too. I just left the sticky goodness and while I was trying to figure out how to add liquid the burn warning went off. I’m guessing that the juices from the meatballs added liquid.