chicken meatball sub recipe
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Chicken Meatball Sub Recipe
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
25 mins
 

This may be made with chicken, but it will beat any meatball sub you have ever tried. Even with the spinach in it. Try it!

Course: Main Course
Servings: 4 Subs
Author: On The Go Bites
Ingredients
Meatballs
  • 1 Tablespoon canola oil
  • 1/2 medium sweet onion like Vidalia
  • 2 strips uncooked bacon thick cut is best
  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1 cup panko bread crumbs if using fine breadcrumbs only use 1/2 cup
  • 10 ounces fresh spinach or 1/2 pound frozen spinach thawed and squeezed dry
  • 2 Tablespoons heavy cream or milk or 1/2 & 1/2
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
  • 4 pinches cayenne pepper ground red pepper
Other
  • 4 six inch sub rolls
  • 2 cups marinara sauce store bought or homemade
  • 4 slices provolone cheese or your favorite cheese
Instructions
First Thing

  1. Remove cheese from the refrigerator to bring to room temperature. Heat marinara sauce over low heat. Finely dice the onions.

Prepare the Meatball Mixture

  1. Heat oil and sauté the onions for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the fresh
    spinach and cook until spinach wilts, about another 5 minutes. Cool. Wipe pan
    with paper towel and reuse to cook the meatballs.

    While onions cook, dice the bacon.

  2. Mix the uncooked bacon with the ground chicken, use your impeccably clean hands as
    the best tool for this job. No need to overmix.

    Add the cooled onions, cream, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Form into 16 meatballs, 2 Tablespoons each. Sprinkle the tops of chicken meatballs with cayenne pepper.

Cook The Meatballs and Prepare the Chicken Meatball Subs

  1. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken meatballs until firm to the touch and no longer pink in the middle, about 4-5 minutes. Turn and cook another 5 minutes or so to brown all sides.

  2. Serve on your favorite sub roll with marinara sauce and provolone cheese.


    Toasting the rolls makes this chicken meatball sub recipe even better. Spread buns with
    mayonnaise or leave plain. Wipe the meatball pan with a paper towel. Add the sub
    rolls to the pan to brown over medium-high heat. It won’t take long to turn a
    beautiful golden brown.

Recipe Notes

Remove the cheese from the refrigerator first thing, that way the cheese will be room temperature and melt easier.  If you put room temperature slices of cheese on a hot, just toasted sub roll it will melt well.

You can toast the sub rolls on the stove top or you can broil them.  If you broil the rolls keep a sharp eye on the bread since it can burn quickly.  

Make Ahead Tips:

The chicken meatballs can be formed up to 2 days ahead of cooking.  Form the meatballs, place on a wax paper or parchment paper lined tray, cover and refrigerate.  Bring to room temperature before cooking.

Or better yet freeze the uncooked chicken meatballs.  I always double the recipe and make dinner for that night and then freeze the other half of the chicken meatball sub recipe for another meal.  Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.

If using frozen spinach, you can thaw and squeeze dry up to 2 days ahead of time.  Put squeezed spinach in a resealable baggie or container.

The onion can be chopped up to a week ahead of time and stored in a resealable container or a freezer baggie which is thicker and contains odors better than a regular baggie.  If you don’t have freezer bags, then double up a normal one to keep the onion odor contained.

The uncooked bacon can be chopped and stored in a container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

See post for ingredient substitutions, topping and side suggestions