These Air Fryer Chicken Meatballs are the perfect family dinner. They come together quick and are bursting with flavor.
Air Fryer Spicy Chicken Meatballs Recipe
If you’re tired of making meatballs the same way all the time using ground beef and ground pork, try this Air Fry Firecracker Chicken Meatballs recipe. These meatballs consist of ground chicken with various spices dipped in a spicy sauce that you’ll make from scratch. They’re hot, crispy, and absolutely delicious.
They come together quick and then are cooked to perfection using your Air Fryer! No need to turn on the oven for these easy chicken meatballs!
Why You’ll Love this Firecracker Meatballs Recipe:
- Crispy outside: These meatballs come out crisp on the outside with the perfect soft and flavorful center.
- Customizable: You can adjust the level of heat you’d like these meatballs to have by adding more or less of the red pepper flakes.
- Versatile: You can eat these tasty meatballs as an appetizer or serve them as the main course with your favorite sides.
How to make Air Fryer Firecracker Chicken Meatballs
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
- Add your olive oil into a boil with the salt, garlic, beaten eggs, paprika, chives, and onion, mixing it all well.
- Place your ground chicken into the bowl and add the panko and Parmesan cheese into it. Combine the ingredients without over mixing them.
- Roll your meatballs into small balls and place them in the Air Fryer basket.
- Spray your meatballs with a non-stick spray of your choice and cook them for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.
- Turn your meatballs, spray them again, and cook for up to seven more minutes.
- Remove them from the basket, dip them one at a time in your sauce, and fry for an extra two minutes.
Are these meatballs spicy?
The Air Fryer Firecracker Chicken Meatballs are a bit spicy! They have that perfect kick to them. If you’d like to lessen the heat, you don’t have to use as much hot sauce. It all depends on what you like.
Do I have to use chicken?
You don’t have to use ground chicken. If you don’t like it or don’t have it available to use, it’s fine to use ground turkey, ground beef or even pork for these meatballs.
How long do these need to cook in the Air Fryer?
Let your meatballs cook in the Air Fryer for 10 minutes. Turn them, spray them, and allow them to cook for an additional five to seven minutes.
You’ll need to remove the meatballs, dip them in the sauce, and then add them back to the fryer to cook for an extra two more minutes. They will cook for a total of 19 minutes.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- Be sure to add the red pepper flakes after you’ve given your sauce time to thicken.
- Stir your sauce often to help it get thick without causing it to burn.
- If you don’t have ground chicken, you can make this same recipe using any ground meat you have.
Try something different with these Air Fryer Firecracker Chicken Meatballs. They’re tasty, delicious, and easy to make in the Air Fryer in no time!
More chicken meatball recipes we love
If you’ve made this recipe, please be sure to let us know by leaving a star rating or a comment below. Enjoy!
Air Fryer Firecracker Chicken Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 large eggs beaten
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 Tablespoon chives chopped
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 pounds ground chicken or turkey
- 1 cup panko
- ½ cup parmesan cheese shredded
- 2 Tablespoons parsley chopped
For the Firecracker Sauce:
- ½ cup hot sauce Franks, Sriracha, or other
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
For the Meatballs:
- In a mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, beaten eggs, smoked paprika, chives and onion powder and mix well.
- Add the ground chicken, panko and parmesan cheese, and combine but do NOT overmix.
- Make meatballs using 3 tablespoons per meatball. Place in the air fryer basket. The meatballs can be put pretty close, but not squished in. They will shrink slightly when cooked. You may need to cook this in batches.
- Spray the meatballs with nonstick cooking spray and place the basket into the airfryer.
- Set the airfryer for 400° for 10 minutes. Turn the meatballs and spray again. Fry for an additional 5 to 7 minutes. Check one for doneness.
- Remove one meatball at a time and dip in the Firecracker sauce, making sure to coat all sides well. Place back in the basket. Repeat until all have been coated. Fry for 2 more minutes.
- Remove and serve with the sauce.
For the Firecracker Sauce:
- In a small saucepan, combine the hot sauce, brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic powder, and salt.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until sauce thickens and gets sticky.
- The sauce will thicken more as it cools, so don’t over thicken. If sauce gets too thick, add a teaspoon of water at a time till the right consistency.
- Add the red pepper flakes when sauce has thickened and stir in to combine.
Elizabeth says
Before I cook these, I have a question. The top of the recipe card says to cook for 12 minutes. Yet your instructions say 10, then 5-7, then 2 more for a total of 17-19 minutes (which seems too long for chicken in the air fryer). So which is it? Thanks for your yummy recipes!
Becky Hardin says
Definitely monitor and end it when you believe it is cooked
M. Petty says
Great recipe! Love the flavor! Mine were done after 1st 10 minutes, so definitely monitor time.
Becky Hardin says
Cook time varies depending on the size of the meatballs and differences in air fryers!
Heather says
Loveddd this recipe. I ended up baking these on stoneware on 375 for 20 minutes instead as I made a huge batch and didn’t have room in the air fryer. Came out amazing regardless!
The meatballs have a ton of flavor and stay juicy with the oil and egg. My only tweak was adding Worcestershire for added flavor. For the sauce I used sriracha and extra soy sauce. So very good.
Served over basmati and red bell pepper for a healthy dinner.
Becky Hardin says
Sounds delicious! Thanks so much for sharing, Heather!