Skip to main content

Instant Pot Chicken Parmesan Meatballs

2.9

(3)

Chicken Parmesan meatballs topped inside red cabbage leaves with basil garnish.
Leslie Grow

It’s hard to go wrong with meatballs, but this particular version makes me happy on so many levels. The meatballs are tender and juicy, and once covered in a nice cozy blanket of tomato sauce and melted mozzarella, they’re pretty hard to resist. I like to serve them over sautéed zucchini noodles or in radicchio or cabbage leaves to add a little texture and crunch.

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    25 minutes

  • Yield

    4 servings

Ingredients

1 large egg
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 ounces)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (2 ounces)
1/2 cup crushed pork rinds or almond meal
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, plus 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil for garnish
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds ground chicken
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 (14.5-ounce) can whole peeled plum (Italian) tomatoes, undrained
1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a medium bowl, combine the egg, 1 cup of the mozzarella, the Parmesan, pork rinds, chopped basil, and garlic. Add the chicken and mix gently using your hands to combine. Form into 28 meatballs about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

    Step 2

    Select SAUTÉ on the Instant Pot. When the pot is hot, add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add about half of the meatballs to the hot oil and cook until browned on all sides, turning the meatballs as needed, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the meatballs to a plate. Repeat with the remaining meatballs and 2 tablespoons olive oil.

    Step 3

    Add the tomato paste to the pot. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Add the canned tomatoes and their juice, breaking them apart as you do so. Stir in the dried basil and garlic powder. Return the meatballs to the pot. Select CANCEL.

    Step 4

    Secure the lid on the pot and close the pressure-release valve. Set the pot to HIGH pressure for 10 minutes. At the end of the cooking time, use a natural release to depressurize.

    Step 5

    Top the meatballs with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella and let stand until melted before serving with the basil leaves.

Cover of the cookbook featuring soup with zucchini noodles, pork belly, egg, and jalapeño.
From Keto in an Instant: More Than 80 Recipes for Quick & Delicious Keto Meals Using Your Pressure Cooker © 2020 by Jen Fisch. Reprinted with permission by Harper Wave, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Buy the full book from HarperCollins or from Amazon.
Read More
An ex-boyfriend’s mom—who emigrated from Colombia—made the best meat sauce—she would fry sofrito for the base and simply add cooked ground beef, sazón, and jarred tomato sauce. My version is a bit more bougie—it calls for caramelized tomato paste and white wine—but the result is just as good.
This is what I call a fridge-eater recipe. The key here is getting a nice sear on the sausage and cooking the tomato down until it coats the sausage and vegetables well.
Spaghetti is a common variation in modern Thai cooking. It’s so easy to work with and absorbs the garlicky, spicy notes of pad kee mao well.
This marinara sauce is great tossed with any pasta for a quick and easy weeknight dinner that will leave you thinking, “Why didn’t anyone try this sooner?”
In this lasagna, soft layers of pasta and béchamel are interspersed with a rich tomato sauce laden with hearty Mediterranean vegetables.
Rather than breaded and fried as you might expect croquettes to be, these are something more akin to a seared chicken salad patty.
Cabbage is the unsung hero of the winter kitchen—available anywhere, long-lasting in the fridge, and super-affordable. It’s also an excellent partner for pasta.
This is one of the best fried chickens ever. From southern Thailand, gai hat yai is known for its crispy skin, great aromatics, and super juicy meat.