This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
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
30 Minutes or Less
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.
I notice the serving size is not on the nutritional information. Or is the entire batch one serving? I am really trying hard to watch my portion control—I have no control so if I make these I need to measure out my portion and box up the rest 🙂
If you look in the gray text area, it says there are 6 servings. You can just divide the full recipe by 6 for individual portion size.
Just made this– the whole family loved it! In my case, I had to modify it so that my 3 year old, who cannot tolerate any spiciness, would be able to eat it. I sent my husband to the store for “mild hot sauce” (kind of an oxymoron) and he came back with mild taco sauce. I thought it was going be gross. It smelled wrong when I mixed it with the butter to make the sauce. And yet, somehow, after cooking in the IP it came out really great! Not taco-y at all. So that’s a suggestion for anyone who’s looking to make this not spicy. I can’t wait to make it again for a party or something when I can go for full-on heat.
Also, I doubled up on the sauce as another poster suggested. When I added in one batch of sauce, it just didn’t look like enough to cover the bottom. So I quickly melted some more butter and whipped up some more sauce. Super easy and quick.
So glad you enjoyed it! And thanks for the suggestion for anyone looking for a milder sauce!
These were amazing! My boyfriend couldn’t get enough. I used Frank’s hot sauce for the buffalo sauce, and they came out great. Thank you!
These were the first thing I tried in my instant pot and they are soooo good. I also used a bit of blue cheese to make the sauce a bit more creamy. But so good!!
Aw, so glad you enjoyed! Thank you so much for trying my recipe. 🙂
Burn, baby, burn. Browning them in the Instant Pot did NOT work out well. I would brown them first in a non-stick pan on the stove top and then take it from there.
So for me, trying to cook the meatballs in the IP was a disaster. Even though my pan was hot and I had plenty of ghee on the bottom, they stuck like crazy. So, I tossed the first batch, which was only about 7 of them.
I put the rest of the raw meatballs on a stoneware baking pan and drizzled the sauce on top of them, generously. I baked then at 409 degrees for 20 minutes, turned them and scooped sauce from the baking pan on top again. Baked another 15 minutes. Let them sit while pouring pan drippings over them again. Delish! My husband said they might be the best meatballs I’ve ever made. Thanks for the recipe!
Why 409 degrees? Just wondered because that’s an odd #
I’m sorry if I missed it but how many meatballs is this supposed to make and how many are in a serving?
The number will be different every time you make it since meatball sizes will vary. After you are finished, just divide the number of meatballs by 6 and that’s 1 serving!
Can I make these ahead and freeze them?
I’ve never tried but I don’t see why not. Just freeze them in individual portions and take them out when you are ready to eat! 🙂
Made these for the family and they were a big hit. I made a double batch for leftovers and because my youngest does not like spicy I left the sauce off of some of them. My youngest loved them without the sauce. Quick question the calories per serving is that one meatball? That seems really high for one meatball so I thought I would check.
Thank you so much and so glad you enjoyed it! The nutrition information is for 1 serving, not 1 meatball. There are a total of 6 servings so whatever number of meatballs you make, divide by 6, and that is the nutrition information you are looking at.
What would you suggest for a vegetable side dish? This is my 3rd time making this! I’ll serve it over rice but looking for a veggie dish to pair with it.
I love refreshing salads like this Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad or this Curtido.