Chicken Piccata Meatballs with Orzo
, Updated Sep 08, 2025
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Chicken Piccata Meatballs with orzo – this delicious chicken meatball recipe will tantalize your taste buds with its zesty lemon caper sauce. A wonderful one-pot meal that’s both hearty and healthy, not to mention simply bursting with flavor.
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I love the combination of capers and lemon in the classic Italian piccata sauce. In fact I love lemon and capers in pretty much anything – like my popular Greek Potato Salad recipe. I can guarantee that our pantry is never without a jar of capers, I am so obsessive about them.
Chicken Piccata is a beloved recipe in which floured thin chicken pieces are cooked in a sauce which combines lemon, capers, butter, virgin olive oil and white wine. In this piccata recipe variation, I am cooking chicken meatballs and orzo in the classic sauce.
I am sure you will enjoy this recipe as much as we all did – it is comes together in about 30 minutes and is beyond delicious!
Here’s What You’ll Need
- Ground chicken (chicken mince) – is finally widely available but you can also use ground turkey if you like
- Breadcrumbs and one egg help bind the meatballs – make sure you mix the ingredients really well.
- Onion and garlic powder, salt, pepper, dried parsley and lemon zest
- Grated Parmesan – you can use boxed grated Parmesan in the meatballs and save the freshly grated to garnish the dish with
- Olive oil and butter
- White wine and chicken broth (chicken stock)
- Lemon juice – fresh lemon juice is an essential element of this recipe but you can adjust how much to add depending on your personal taste
- Shallots and plenty of minced garlic
- Orzo pasta – by cooking the orzo in the sauce we infuse it with all the flavors of the piccata sauce
- Capers – my favorite type is French nonpareils which are small and firm
- Fresh parsley or lemon thyme to garnish
How to Make One Pan Chicken Meatballs With Orzo
PREPARE THE MEATBALLS
- Place the onion powder, garlic powder, dried parsley, salt and pepper into a mixing bowl. Stir in the breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan and the egg.
- Add the ground chicken and lemon zest, stirring well so that the ingredients are well mixed. Use a small cookie scoop to portion out the meatball mixture and roll them in oiled hands to form the meatballs, you will have about 20.
SEAR THE MEATBALLS
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan and sear the meatballs, in batches if necessary, for about three minutes per side until nicely golden. You don’t need to cook the meatballs through at this stage. Transfer the meatballs onto a plate and set aside.
MAKE THE PICCATA SAUCE & COOK
- Add the white wine to the hot pan and scrape any browned bits loose with a wooden spoon. Cook until the wine is reduced by about half then transfer into a bowl to use later.
- Melt butter in the pan, add the shallots and garlic and sauté over medium-low heat for about seven minutes. Add the orzo and stir to coat it in the butter.
- Add the lemon juice and half of the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Stir in the capers, remaining broth, reserved wine and the meatballs. Cook on a low simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15-18 minutes or until the orzo is cooked to your liking.
- Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning and lemon juice as needed. Sprinkle with the thyme or chopped parsley and a grating of Parmesan. Absolutely delicious!
Recipe Notes and Tips
- Don’t crowd the meatballs when searing them as they will steam rather than brown. You might need to cook them in batches to allow them some space to get that beautiful golden sear!
- I added orzo to make this a one-pot meal. If you would prefer to cook the chicken picatta meatballs on their own you can skip the pasta altogether. You will need to add less broth to make the sauce (see notes in the recipe card).
- Do give the orzo a good stir once in a while to check it is not sticking to the bottom of the pan. You might need to add a little hot water or extra broth if needed.
- Store leftovers in the fridge for up to three days. Add a splash of water when reheating – the orzo will absorb all of the sauce!
- Serve with a slice of my Air Fryer Garlic Bread or how about this Easy Sourdough Focaccia.
Related Recipes
Tried my lemony Chicken Piccata Meatball recipe? I’d love to hear how you liked them! Leave a comment and ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below — it really helps others find the recipe. Follow me on Pinterest for more easy recipes and don’t forget to tag me on @Instagram or TikTok so I can see your creations.
Chicken Piccata Meatballs with Orzo
Chicken Piccata Meatballs with orzo – this delicious chicken meatball recipe will tantalize your taste buds with its zesty lemon caper sauce. A wonderful one-pot meal that’s both hearty and healthy, not to mention simply bursting with flavor.
Video
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1 tsp onion granules
- 2 tsp dried Parsley or Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 35 g (⅓ cup) Panko breadcrumbs
- 35 g (⅓ cup) grated Parmesan
- 1 egg
- 450 g (1 pound) ground chicken (chicken mince)
- 1 tsp lemon zest
For the sauce and orzo
- 2 tbsp olive oil , to sear the meatballs
- 120 ml (½ cup) dry white wine
- 2 tbsp butter , unsalted
- 2 shallots , finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- ½ tsp each salt and black pepper
- 200 g (1 cup) orzo , uncooked
- 1-2 tbsp lemon juice (or more, to taste)
- 60 g (¼ cup) capers (or more, to taste)
- 580 ml (2 ⅓ cups) chicken broth (you can also use a stock cube)
- 1 tbsp lemon thyme or fresh chopped parsley
- freshly grated Parmesan , to taste
Instructions
PREPARE THE MEATBALLS
- Place the onion powder, garlic powder, dried parsley, salt and pepper into a mixing bowl. Stir in the breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan and the egg.2 tsp dried Parsley , 1 tsp garlic granules, 1 tsp onion granules, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp ground black pepper, 35 g (⅓ cup) Panko breadcrumbs, 35 g (⅓ cup) grated Parmesan, 1 egg
- Add the ground chicken and lemon zest, stirring well so that the ingredients are well mixed. Use a small cookie scoop to portion out the meatball mixture and then roll them in oiled hands to form the meatballs, you will have about 20.450 g (1 pound) ground chicken, 1 tsp lemon zest
SEAR THE MEATBALLS
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan and sear the meatballs, in batches if necessary, for about three minutes per side until nicely golden. You don’t need to cook the meatballs through at this stage. Transfer the meatballs onto a plate and set aside.2 tbsp olive oil
MAKE THE PICCATA SAUCE & COOK
- Add the white wine to the hot pan and scrape any browned bits loose with a wooden spoon. Cook until the wine is reduced by about half then transfer into a bowl to use later.120 ml (½ cup) dry white wine
- Melt butter in the pan, add the shallots, garlic, salt and pepper and sauté over medium-low heat for about seven minutes. Add the orzo and stir to coat it in the butter.2 tbsp butter, 2 shallots, 3 garlic cloves, ½ tsp each salt and black pepper, 200 g (1 cup) orzo
- Add the lemon juice and half of the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Stir in the capers, remaining broth, reserved wine and the meatballs. Cook on a low simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15-18 minutes or until the orzo is cooked to your liking.1-2 tbsp lemon juice, 580 ml (2 ⅓ cups) chicken broth, 60 g (¼ cup) capers
- Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning and lemon juice as needed. Sprinkle with the thyme or chopped parsley and a grating of Parmesan. Absolutely delicious!1 tbsp lemon thyme , freshly grated Parmesan
Notes
- Don’t crowd the meatballs when searing them as they will steam rather than brown. You might need to cook them in batches to allow them some space to get that beautiful golden sear!
- I added orzo to make this a one-pot meal. If you would prefer to cook the chicken picatta meatballs on their own you can skip the pasta altogether. You will need to add less broth to make the sauce (see notes in the recipe card).
- Do give the orzo a good stir once in a while to check it is not sticking to the bottom of the pan. You might need to add a little hot water or extra broth if needed.
- Store leftovers in the fridge for up to three days. Add a splash of water when reheating – the orzo will absorb all of the sauce!
- Serve with a slice of my Air Fryer Garlic Bread or how about this Easy Sourdough Focaccia.
Nutrition
Calories: 611kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 160mg | Sodium: 1688mg | Potassium: 973mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 417IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 154mg | Iron: 3mg
Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.
Delicious! Loved everything about it. I didn’t have two shallots, only a small one, but it was plenty. This is an excellent recipe and an instant favorite!
Thanks for the lovely comment Jen I really appreciate it!
We LOVED this dish! I added some chopped up capers and grated Parmesan to the meatball mix. I only had veggie Better Than Bouillon so that’s what I used to make broth. Next time I think I might add some broccoli for the final 15-18 minute cook just to get some veggies in there. Can’t wait to make this again!
So glad you enjoyed it!
This was fantastic! I could have eaten the whole pot.
I mistakenly thought I had orzo, but I didn’t, so I subbed in pearl couscous and it worked perfectly with the same method and cook time.
Definitely looking forward to making it again (with orzo this time!)