Saucy, spicy, and so delicious, these buffalo chicken meatball subs with cool, creamy blue cheese dressing have all the flavor of buffalo chicken wings, but in a savory sandwich.
Buffalo sauce and chicken are one of those perfect flavor matches that were just made for one another. I’ve got several buffalo-style recipes on my site, like my buffalo chicken drumsticks and my crispy baked Buffalo chicken breasts. I recently combined my love of those flavors and made these irresistibly good buffalo chicken meatballs. But the buck didn’t stop there. Since I consider myself a sandwich connoisseur, I couldn’t resist making meatball subs out of the leftovers, and now I’m obsessed.
The recipe starts with super simple chicken meatballs baked in the oven and tossed with my favorite spicy, creamy Frank’s Redhot buffalo sauce that can be made on the spot or prepped ahead and reheated if you’re making for a crowd. Unlike chicken wings, these chicken meatballs are so much easier to prep, serve, and clean up after while still soaking in and slurping up all that buffalo sauce flavor. They’re then spooned into squishy soft bolillo rolls or hoagie rolls that are slathered with cool and tangy blue cheese dressing and then topped with blue cheese crumbles.
What’s in These Buffalo Chicken Meatball Subs
- Ground chicken — either use a combination of white and dark meat or just dark meat for the juiciest meatballs
- Green onions — red or white onion would work too
- Garlic
- Celery
- Eggs
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Plain dry breadcrumbs
- Canola oil, or any other oil that’s handy
- Frank’s RedHot Wings Buffalo Sauce because it is the best tasting in my opinion
- Butter
- Blue cheese crumbles, blue cheese dressing, or ranch dressing for dipping (you’ll need about 2 tablespoons per sandwich)
- Bolillo rolls or hoagie rolls
The Best Meat for Chicken Meatballs
Because of their lower fat content, chicken meatballs can taste dry if overcooked. To remedy this, I use either a combination of ground chicken breast and thighs or just ground chicken thighs. If you have a food processor (I love mine) it’s easy to make your own ground chicken. Cut the chicken into large chunks then process in batches. It’s quick and budget friendly too.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Meatball Subs
These subs are so easy, thanks to a simple meatball recipe. Here’s how to make them:
Make the Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Don’t overmix the meatball blend. Over-handling the raw meat mixture will make a dry or tough meatball so while you want all of the ingredients to be evenly distributed, do so with a lighter hand.
Use a 2-inch cookie scoop to form same-size meatballs. Make the meatballs similar-sized so they cook evenly.
Bake the meatballs at a high temperature, then raise it for the last 5 minutes. A light brush of oil to the tops of the meatballs then baking at high heat seals the moisture inside the meatballs while caramelizing the outside. A blast of high heat at the end gives the meatballs a final browning.
Make the Blue Cheese Dressing
You can make this easy blue cheese dressing recipe, or make a stripped-down version by whisking together sour cream, mayonnaise, blue cheese, salt, pepper, and either white vinegar or lemon juice, to taste. Feel free to cut the dressing recipe in half, as you’ll only need about 2 Tablespoons per sandwich.
Assemble The Subs
Warm the buffalo sauce on medium then add the meatballs, tossing to coat. Split the rolls and toast or warm up in the oven. Slather split sides with blue cheese dressing and fill each roll with 3 meatballs. Serve with crumbles of blue cheese on top and more blue cheese dressing if desired.
How to Make Buffalo Chicken Meatballs in the Crock Pot
To make these buffalo meatballs in the slow cooker, whisk the 2 cups of buffalo sauce with the butter in the Crock Pot insert on high heat until melted. Form the meatballs and add to the slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for 2 hours or LOW for 4 hours.
