| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 35 min |
| Active: | 40 min |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray, for the baking sheet and baking dish
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
- 1/4 cup grated yellow onion
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Kosher salt
- One 16-ounce box mezzi rigatoni or mezze penne
- One 24-ounce jar marinara sauce
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
- 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
Instructions
- For the meatballs: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
- Mix together the chicken, pumpkin, Parmesan, onion, parsley, salt, pepper and garlic in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate 20 minutes.
- Shape the mixture into balls using a tablespoon and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees F and spray a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- For the casserole: Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season generously with salt. Add the pasta and cook 3 minutes less than the package instructions. Reserve 1/3 cup pasta water and drain.
- Toss the pasta with the marinara sauce and pasta water in a large bowl. Transfer to the greased baking dish. Nestle the meatballs into the pasta. Top with the mozzarella and sprinkle with the Parmesan.
- Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 20 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes. Serve with grated Parmesan.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 648 |
| Total Fat | 25 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Carbohydrates | 70 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 7 g |
| Sugar | 9 g |
| Protein | 38 g |
| Cholesterol | 107 mg |
| Sodium | 959 mg |
Reviews
I made a double batch of meatballs, using ground turkey and baked 20-22 minutes since I was not baking it in a casserole. They were perfect! Lovely texture and very flavorful. Anyone saying they’re bland did not measure the ingredients, especially salt and pepper. Love the texture pumpkin gave it and this is glutenfree and no eggs, so good for those with allergies. We loved them! Will freeze some for another meal.
Delicious – a family favorite. This is my new standard meatball recipe.
So good!! Only had a pizza cheese blend (part skim Mozzarella, Parmesan, smoked provolone and Romano) versus the plain mozzarella and it was phenomenal!!
-5 ..flavorless slop. DEFINITELY NOT A RRPEAT.
I liked the chicken meatballs but gave recipe a 4 because I thought there was too much garlic. Will make again with less garlic.
This was delicious! I made it for my husband and 2 adult sons, one who is autistic and a very picky eater. Everyone loved it. I followed the recipe except for the garlic because I don’t like garlic. Two things I did to save time: I used my little mini-ice cream scoop (the one I use to make cookies) to make the meatballs. It’s about 1 1/2 tablespoons and I got 25 meatballs out of the recipe. It took me about 3 minutes to make all those meatballs. I cooked the meatballs on a sheet of foil sprayed with cooking spray on the baking sheet so I didn’t need to scrub the baking sheet. I also didn’t use a separate bowl to mix the noodles and sauce. I just combined them in the pasta pot after I drained the noodles. One less dish to wash. I cooked the meatballs at 400 for 15 minutes and they were done perfectly. Remember that they will cook a little more in the casserole, too.
I made this for our family Super Bowl party only I made the meatballs and sauce with mozzarella as a slider recipe instead of the pasta. Everyone loved the sliders and you can’t taste the pumpkin at all. It just seems to replace the egg in a meatball recipe plus adding moisture for the chicken. Great recipe!
Made this tonight, two batches one for my daughter to take home and finish cooking. OMG it’s so yummy. The meatballs were nice and moist. I did add extra sauce before baking cause we like pasta dishes that way. Even my daughter liked it, grandson too, both notorious picky eaters. And if that doesn’t say enough I don’t know what else would. lol
We’re having this for dinner tonight. I cooked half the amount of pasta and all of the sauce recommended. But I cooked the meatballs 25-27 minutes and I feel they weren’t done. I tasted a small one and it’s delicious. Hope the slightly bigger ones get cooked all the way thru.
I’ve been making this recipe since I first saw Katie make it on the show. We love it! I have to force myself not to make it too often so we don’t get tired of it :-). I have to be quick about putting the casserole together because as soon as the meatballs come out of the oven, my husband is right there snacking on them. When putting together, I layer half the pasta/sauce in the casserole dish, add half the meatballs and repeat. That way, there are meatballs in every bite. One other note – I refrigerate the chicken mixture before making the meatballs. It helps them hold together better. Now I’m hungry for it – think I’ll make this over the weekend.