You're stuck on a dessert island for an undetermined amount of time. You get three thing to live off of until the search party finds you. Well, that's an easy choice...
- Pineapple Infused Tequila
- An unending, page turning crime drama novel
- BLUE CHEESE STUFFED BUFFALO CHICKEN MEATBALLS
That's realistic, right? But for reals - besides the magic that is pineapple infused tequila - for people like us that could eat buff chick dip with shoe leather these meatballs are a GAME CHANGER.
Sorry for all the caps. I'm not yelling, I'm just excited.
making magic happen
Meatballs are good. Blue cheese is good. Buffalo chicken? One of the best culinary creations of the 21st century. Put all those great things together and you get a little round piece of heaven. After your first initial bite into the tender chicken, your mouth will be surprised with a contrast of spicy buffalo sauce to be relieved by a gooey, blue cheese center.
Beyond all those amazing elements, we're going to go ahead and make this even better. Cook it in a crock pot.
In goes the cheesy goodness
Hide the cheese in the chicken
Toss it all in the crock pot
Ok, ok....we're going to throw some butter in there too. The slow cooker is going to reduce the hot sauce over the 2 hours of cooking time. So if you're a buffalo lover but don't care for super make-your-eyes-water-where's-my-glass-of-water spice - add the butter. [That's a technical description for spice, btw.]
Snack Enhancements
Once these beautiful babies are taking a nap in the crock pot land of goodness you're free for two hours to do whatever the heck ya want. For example, google clips for the SNL Schweddy Balls skit because that's all that was going through your mind while making 40 chicken meatballs. But that's just one example, I mean, you don't have to do that...
After two hours are up, it's time to serve up these spheres of culinary bliss. A side dish of blue cheese dressing is always a win. If you're going all in on blue cheese, you might as well double down. For those you saying, "Hey! Where the veggies at?" Well, let's chop up some celery nice and small and sprinkle it all over the plate for the perfect amount of crunch in every buffalo spice bite.
And just like that it's game time.
May your snacks be as exciting as the Super Bowl without any of the stress.
Blue Cheese Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground chicken breast
- 1 cup breadcrumbs (unseasoned)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 8 ounces blue cheese (cut in pieces)
- 2 ½ cups hot sauce (Frank's Red Hot brand recommended)
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (cut in pieces)
For the garnish
- 2 ribs celery (finely chopped)
- 1 cup blue cheese or ranch dressing (for dipping)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, breadcrumbs, eggs, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly to ensure ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Using about 1 tablespoon of the chicken mixture, lightly flatten out into a disk and add a piece of blue cheese (about ½ inch piece.) Close the chicken around the cheese and roll into a ball. Cheese should be completely encased by the chicken so it will not leak through into the sauce while cooking.*
- Repeat the chicken, cheese, rolling process until all the chicken is used.
- In a crock pot, add ½ cup of hot sauce to the bottom to prevent meatballs from sticking or burning. Layer meatballs and add the remaining 2 cups of hot sauce so the meatballs are evenly coated.
- Scatter pieces over butter over the top of the meatballs. Cover and cook on high for two hours.
- After cooking, gently stir meatballs to evenly coat with hot sauce and to stir in any separated butter. Transfer to a serving dish and coat with remaining buffalo sauce from the crock pot.
- Sprinkle the buffalo chicken meatballs with chopped celery. Serve alongside blue cheese or ranch dressing for dipping.
Notes
- Ground chicken mixture will quickly stick to your hands. To make the process easier, keep a small bowl of water nearby and lightly wet your hands throughout the process.
- Hot sauce will not completely cover all the meatballs. If some of the chicken is not coated with hot sauce, stir about halfway through the cooking process.
Erika says
I am definitely adding these to my next family dinner appetizer bar.