These baked chicken meatballs are SPICY! If you can handle a solid roundhouse kick to your palate, you're in the right place. Poblanos, habaneros, and jalapeños, oh my! Loaded with spicy low carb peppers, this chicken meatball recipe is not for the faint of heart. I am one of those people that like to eat food so spicy it makes me cry. This recipe won't bring you to tears (hopefully?), but these baked chicken meatballs are definitely packing heat!
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If spicy food isn't your speed, I have this keto meatball recipe you should try instead!
How hot are habanero peppers?
Habanero peppers are super hot, guys. On the Scoville scale, a measurement of spicy heat, habaneros rate from 100,000–575,000 SHU (Scoville Heat Units). Not the hottest pepper in the world, but compared to something like a green bell pepper (0 SHU) or Anaheim pepper (500-2500 SHU), habaneros are on a whole different playing field.
Habeneros are the reason this baked chicken meatballs recipe is unforgivingly spicy. If you like a little bit of heat, but don't do well with fiery-depths-of-hell level spicy, just omit the habanero. Jalapeños and poblano peppers are not nearly as hot!
How hot are jalapeño peppers?
Working our way down the list of spicy peppers, jalapeño peppers score 2500-8000 SHU on the Scoville scale.
Jalapeños aren't terribly spicy at all, but the pith and seeds seem to bring more heat than the rest of the pepper. When I make jalapeño poppers for a crowd, I often scrape down the pith and take extra care to remove all the seeds, so the heat doesn't take anyone by surprise.
How hot are poblano peppers?
Poblano peppers are the least spicy pepper in our baked chicken meatballs recipe. Rating 1000-2000 SHU on the Scoville scale, poblanos are a relatively mild pepper.
Spicy Baked Chicken Meatballs Recipe
To prepare the spicy baked chicken meatballs, you'll want to mince all your peppers. To do so, you'll need to cut them open first, then scrape the seeds out. You can also scrape the pith down a bit to reduce the heat. Up to you!
Now combine the following ingredients with your hands: chicken, poblano, habanero, jalapeño, cilantro, salt, and vinegar. Form meatballs that are about 1-inch thick in diameter and whatever you do don't even think about touching your eyes with your pepper-coated hands.
Place each meatball on a baking sheet or casserole dish, brush with a thin layer of olive oil, and bake for 25 minutes. Super easy, delicious, and something different to wake up your taste buds! Enjoy your spicy baked chicken meatballs recipe!
Looking for other keto meatball recipes?
Try one of these:
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine chicken, minced peppers, cilantro, salt and vinegar with your hands. Form 1-inch meatballs with the mixture.
- Coat each meatball with olive oil, then place on a rimmed baking sheet or casserole dish.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi, I'm Tasha–nutritionist, recipe developer, and multi-published cookbook author.
I can't wait to try this recipe. Getting the ingredients this weekend. I've been looking for something that is "not" beef. Don't get me wrong, I love it but after going keto and using that as a reason to eat it more, I'm a little burned out! More to follow after I try it.
I go through phases, myself. Sometimes I want ALL the red meat, other days I don't even want to look at it. I am right there with you!
I certainly hope this recipe hits the spot. Let me know how it goes! <3
Looking forward to try this, question though, it says 0 carbs, aren’t there carbs in peppers?
Definitely add the ingredients to my grocery list. I too am getting a little tired of the red meat since going keto. On the plus side have reduced my diabetic meds by 75%!
In the nutritional information, there is no carb or fiber count? Could you please inform? Thank you in advance!