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These Marry Me Chicken Meatballs are the perfect midweek meal – tender chicken meatballs in a creamy sundried tomato and garlic sauce. Big flavours, so easy to make, and completely gluten free. Plus you can freeze extras for an easy meal the following week!

A pan of marry me meatballs - chicken meatballs in a creamy sauce.

Notes On This Marry Me Chicken Meatballs Recipe

💛 If you’re a fan of the viral Marry Me Chicken recipe then you’re going to absolutely love this! The chicken meatballs are packed with flavour, in that trademark sauce.

💛 Not only is this recipe gluten free, it’s also great for batch cooking and freezing. Make extra meatballs to freeze for next time, or freeze leftovers of the whole meal.

💛 You can make your own homemade chicken meatballs for extra flavour, but I won’t judge if you cheat and buy storebought meatballs. I’ve done that in a hurry before!

A bowl of Marry Me Chicken Meatballs served up with rice, fresh basil and parmesan.

Ingredients and Substitutions

There’s a printable recipe card below for these Marry Me Chicken Meatballs recipe with the full quantities. But here are the main ingredients and ideas for any swaps.

  • Chicken Mince: Feel free to use turkey mince or even beef mince, either will work well.
  • Gluten Free White Bread: I use any leftover bread – the crust ends or holey slices are great for this. Collect and freeze them for when you need to make meatballs!
  • Garlic: You can use fresh, chopped or garlic paste for this.
  • Herbs and Spices: For the meatballs I use oregano and paprika, and in the sauce I use oregano, thyme and chilli flakes. Omit the chilli if you don’t like any spice at all.
  • Sundried Tomatoes: Ideally you want the kind in a jar with oil, as I use the oil in the sauce. However, if you can’t find these you can just use some extra olive oil.
  • Gluten Free Flour: Use a plain gluten free flour blend – I use FREEE.
  • Double Cream: Or heavy cream in the US. Swap for a plant-based, gluten free cream alternative like Elmlea Plant if you need this dairy free.
  • Gluten Free Chicken Stock: I use the Knorr stock pots as they are certified gluten free, or you can make your own homemade gluten free chicken stock instead.
  • Lemon: I prefer freshly squeezed lemon juice but you can use bottled.
  • Parmesan Cheese: Essential for the flavour of the sauce – swap for some nutritional yeast instead for a dairy free version of this recipe.
Ingredient for Marry Me Meatballs laid out on a pink backdrop with text labels.

How to Make Marry Me Chicken Meatballs

There’s a printable recipe card below with the method. But here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy this gluten free Marry Me Meatballs recipe is to make.

Process shot for Marry Me Chicken Meatballs showing breadcrumbs in a food processor.
Step 1: Blitz the gluten free bread slices to make breadcrumbs.
Process shot for Marry Me Chicken Meatballs showing ingredients for the meatballs in a food processor.
Step 2: Add the meatball ingredients to the processor and blend.
Process shot for Marry Me Chicken Meatballs showing the raw meatballs on a plate.
Step 3: Shape the mixture into meatballs.
Process shot for Marry Me Chicken Meatballs showing the browned meatballs in a pan.
Step 4: Fry off the meatballs to brown.
Process shot for Marry Me Chicken Meatballs showing the sun dried tomatoes, garlic, herbs and flour in a pan.
Step 5: Fry off the tomatoes and garlic, then add the gluten free flour.
Process shot for Marry Me Chicken Meatballs showing the sauce and meatballs in a pan.
Step 6: Add the meatballs back in with the chicken stock and cream.
Process shot for Marry Me Chicken Meatballs showing the finished dish scattered with fersh basil and parmesan.
Step 7: Add the parmesan and torn basil leaves and stir in before serving.

Storing, Freezing and Making Ahead

TO MAKE AHEAD: If you want to get ahead, you can easily make the meatballs ahead of time. They’ll keep for 24 hours in the fridge, or you can freeze then defrost to cook.

TO STORE: Any leftovers will keep in the fridge for 1-2 days, and can be reheated in a pan or the microwave to serve.

TO FREEZE: You can freeze leftovers of this recipe and reheat from frozen, but I personally think it’s one of those that is best eaten fresh.

A pan of marry me meatballs - chicken meatballs in a creamy sauce.
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Marry Me Chicken Meatballs Recipe

Tender, gluten free chicken meatballs in a rich sundried tomato, garlic and parmesan sauce. Perfect served with rice, pasta or mashed potatoes.
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 20 minutes
Total: 40 minutes
Servings: 4 people
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Ingredients 

For the meatballs:

  • 500 g chicken mince
  • 2 slices gluten free white bread
  • 1 tsp chopped garlic
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 30 g sundried tomatoes, chopped

For the sauce:

  • 1 tbsp gluten free plain flour
  • 3 tsp chopped garlic
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • 100 g sun-dried tomatoes, (roughly chopped, plus some of the reserved oil for frying)
  • 100 ml double cream
  • 300 ml gluten free chicken stock, (I use Knorr)
  • 1 lemon, juice only
  • 50 g grated parmesan cheese
  • Handful fresh basil leaves, chopped

Instructions 

To Make The Chicken Meatballs:

  • Blitz the white bread, oregano and paprika in a food processor to make crumbs. Add the garlic, sun dried tomatoes and chicken mince and blitz again to combine (or mix together in a bowl, if your food processor isn’t big enough!)
  • Using wet hands (to stop them sticking) shape the mixture into 20 small meatballs – around the size of cherry tomatoes.

To Cook The Meatballs and Sauce:

  • Add a little of the oil from the sun dried tomatoes to a large pan and fry the meatballs for around 5 minutes, turning regularly, to brown. Do this in batches if you cannot fit them all in one go. Once browned, remove from the pan.
  • Place the pan back on the heat, adding a little more of the oil if it has gone dry. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, oregano, thyme and chilli flakes.
  • Fry for one minute, stirring well, then add the gluten free flour and fry for another minute.
  • Add the chicken meatballs back to the pan along with the chicken stock, cream and lemon juice.
  • Bring to the boil then turn down to a low simmer. Place a lid on the pan and continue to simmer on a low heat for 10-15 minutes.
  • Stir in the chopped basil and parmesan, then serve straight away with extra chopped basil on top.

Notes

  • To save time, you can either make the meatballs ahead of time and refrigerate (or freeze) them, or use shop-bought chicken meatballs instead.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 portion | Calories: 485kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 25g | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 16g
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More Gluten Free Chicken Recipes

If you like this Marry Me Chicken then make sure you check out these other delicious gluten free chicken recipes too…

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About Sarah Howells

Hi, I'm Sarah! Diagnosed with coeliac disease 20 years ago, I'm on a mission to create the best gluten free recipes since sliced bread. No fruit salads or dry brownies here.

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