Buffalo Chicken Meatball Subs With Blue Cheese Dressing
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Last week I shared my favorite vegetarian game day food, the roasted vegetable enchiladas. It’s packed with smokey, roasted veggies and is utterly delicious. But if you’re looking for something a little on the guilty pleasure side, well, you’ve come to the right place.
I was vegetarian for a while, so I don’t think I had ever had buffalo chicken wings until after I had graduated from college. My first job was in the heart of Georgetown, and I was young and had so few responsibilities. My friends and I used to to trek over to McFaddins for beer after work and it was there that I had my first wing. Someone else had ordered them and I took one red, sticky wing with some skepticism, and then instantly fell in love. I began to crave their super spicy wings. I was crushed when our new hangout spot slowly gravitated back towards Georgetown, to Mr. Smith’s. Sure, it was more convenient and more laid back, but they just didn’t have the wings!
A few things have changed since then. Joseph and I moved to Boston and began life on a grad school budget. I took work more seriously and had to work later. I grew older and less energetic than the 23 year old me that went out all the time…. And I had nearly forgotten all about my love of buffalo chicken wings when, about a year ago, I saw this post on Lady Gouda’s blog. Buffalo chicken meatball subs. With blue cheese dressing. Blue cheese dressing! Do you know how much I love blue cheese?! Where had this sandwich been all my life?
And even though I’m not a huge football fan, I absolutely love getting swept up by the excitement of the game and picking out football party food. I knew that I had to have these meatballs for the Super Bowl. And they were every bit as amazing and decadent as I had hoped. Plump chicken meatballs smothered in homemade buffalo sauce and loaded up with with blue cheese dressing is as perfect a football meal as I can imagine. Just start out with some amazing guacamole (regular or with cucumbers and pineapple!) or healthy five layer dip with baked chili tortilla chips and finish it all off with the best brownies known to humankind. Football has never looked so good.
Buffalo Chicken Meatball SubsBlue Cheese Dressing
Recipe from Lady Gouda
The number of servings here is really dependent on how big you make the meatballs and how hungry you are and thus, how many meatballs you put on each roll. We got 6 servings out of the recipe.
Joseph hates celery so much that it's not really allowed in our house. If you like celery, feel free to dice some up and put it in the subs.
You can also serve the meatballs as an appetizer. Make smaller meatballs and bake for about 15 minutes (makes about 32). Serve on toothpicks with blue cheese dressing for dipping.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground all-white-meat chicken
- 1 small onion, grated
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup parsley, chopped
- ¼ cup blue cheese, chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- olive oil, for drizzling
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup hot sauce, such as Frank's Hot brand
- good quality blue cheese dressing for dipping (store bought or see recipe below)
- 4-6 soft hoagie rolls
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 400ºF.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the ground chicken with the onion, garlic, parsley, blue cheese and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Form meatballs into 15 balls.
- Arrange the meatballs on a nonstick sheet pan and drizzle them with oil. Bake until the meatballs are cooked through and golden brown, about 20, turning the meatballs over about halfway through baking.
- When the meatballs are almost done baking, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the hot sauce and whisk to combine. Remove the meatballs from the oven and toss in the hot sauce to coat.
- Spread blue cheese dressing on both sides of the inside of the roll and add 2-3 meatballs. Drizzle a bit of the extra buffalo sauce and blue cheese dressing over the top. Serve with extra hot sauce in case anyone likes it spicy.