If you love creamy polenta, then this is the recipe for you. This creamy polenta with meatballs is so comforting, cozy and hearty, making it perfect for those colder winter nights. The pillowy soft ricotta chicken meatballs are tender and delicious smothered in your favourite marinara sauce.

There's just something about a cozy, creamy bowl of polenta. I love finishing polenta off with a bit of half and half cream and butter for a little extra richness and creaminess. Adding meatballs on top with some marinara sauce brings this simple and humble dish a little something extra. For the meatballs, we're using ground chicken and mixing them (gently) with fresh, whole milk ricotta cheese. This makes the meatballs almost fluffy, soft and seriously delicious. To make things a little easier, use your favourite jar of marinara sauce to simmer the meatballs in.

Ingredients

Here's everything you'll need to make these creamy polenta with meatballs.

• ground chicken
• whole milk ricotta cheese
• garlic  
• egg
• panko
• parsley
• kosher salt
• lemon zest
• marinara sauce
• polenta
• half and half cream (10% cream)
• butter
• fresh basil
• parmesan cheese

How to Make Polenta with Meatballs

The first part to making this creamy polenta with meatballs is of course, making the polenta.

Cooking polenta is a little bit of a labour of love, but well worth it. This recipes uses a medium or coarse cornmeal/polenta, which is why it takes between 40-50 minutes. Personally, I don't really enjoy instant polenta (it just isn't the same), but if you do, use that instead. It will make things a lot quicker.

Pour the water into a dutch oven or medium sized pot and turn on high heat. After a few minutes, sprinkle in the polenta while whisking to combine. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently with a whisk. Let the polenta boil just until it's thickened slightly and the polenta starts to spit.

Immediately reduce the heat to low and continue cooking, stirring frequently with a silicone spatula and scraping the bottom of the pot. Cook until the polenta is thick and pulls away from the sides, about 40-50 minutes total.

With 10 minutes remaining on the polenta, pour in the cream and stir to combine.

When the polenta is done cooking, stir in the butter. Season with salt and enjoy right away.

If the polenta thickens too much, just add a splash of water and stir over low heat.

Divide the polenta into bowls and top with meatballs and fresh basil. Garnish with parmesan cheese and enjoy!

How to Make Ricotta Chicken Meatballs

In a large bowl combine the chicken, ricotta, garlic, egg, panko, parsley, salt and lemon zest. Mix until just combined, being careful not to over mix.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Using a cookie scoop, portion out the meat mixture into round balls, about 2 1/2 to 3 tbsps per ball. Place the balls on a baking sheet.

Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven to a broil (on high) and bake for two to three minutes, until browned and cooked through.

When the polenta is cooking, heat up the marinara sauce in a large pan, over low heat. Add the meatballs during the last few minutes to warm through.

Tips

• Soak the polenta: if you want to save some time (and you remember to do this the night before) you can soak the polenta first in water. Then pour the water and polenta mixture into your pot and cook until it's thick and creamy, the same way as directed in the recipe. It will take off about 30 minutes to cook, rather than 50 with un soaked polenta. You can see this post from Serious Eats all about soaking polenta and how to cook it. It's the basis behind my cooking method here as well.
• Keep stirring: polenta can really stick to the pot when you first start cooking it, so be mindful and stir continuously especially in the beginning.
• Thick polenta: if your polenta is looking too thick, just add some water, or a splash more of cream and stir to combine.
• Serve right away: the polenta tastes and looks it's best right after it's done cooking. It will thicken and harden as it sits off the heat and without stirring. Be sure to serve the polenta with meatballs right away.
• Dark meat: I typically use dark ground chicken meat (or turkey) rather than white meat as it has a lot more flavour and won't dry out as much. If you can, use a mix of the two or all dark meat.
• Prep ahead: to make this a simpler weeknight meal, make the meatballs ahead and then reheat them on low with the marinara sauce until warmed through.

Substitutions

• Cream: you can omit the cream and use whole milk instead if that's what you have on hand. It just helps make the polenta super creamy.
• Dairy-free: use a dairy-free cream, or omit. You can also omit the parmesan in the polenta. As for the meatballs, omit the ricotta, although it will make the meatballs a little less pillowy and soft.
• Panko: use another type of breadcrumb.
• Gluten-free: use a gluten-free breadcrumb.
• Basil: use chopped fresh Italian parsley instead.
• Ground chicken: use ground turkey, pork or lean ground beef instead.

Ingredients & Products I Recommend:

Kosher salt:

I exclusively use Diamond Crystal kosher salt for all of my recipes. I prefer the texture, taste and consistency of this brand and highly recommend it for everyday cooking.

Marinara sauce: 

I love keeping Rao's marinara sauce on hand because it's delicious, made with simple ingredients and makes things a lot easier if I don't have prepared sauce on hand.

Polenta: 

I use Bob's Red Mill polenta because I love the brand and the consistency of the product.

More Recipes to Try

Looking for more weeknight dinner ideas? Try these...

• Creamy Gochujang Pasta
• Greek Pork Tenderloin Sheet Pan Dinner
• Mushroom & Lentil Pot Pie
• Delicata Squash Pizza
• Creamy Ricotta Pasta with Sausage
• Spaghetti Squash with Ground Turkey & Brown Butter
• Slow Roasted Salmon with Citrus & Fennel
• Air Fryer Chicken Schnitzel
• Crispy Pan Fried Chicken Thighs with easy Pan Sauce
• Moroccan Chicken Meatballs
• Chipotle Ground Chicken Tacos
• Pan Fried Gnocchi with Sage & Brown Butter
• Easy Gouda Mac & Cheese
• Honey Lime Chicken Thighs & Sweet Potatoes
• Thai Red Curry Turkey Meatballs

Ready to make this? Let's go!

If you make this creamy polenta with meatballs, please let me know by tagging me on Instagram, or leave a comment and/or review below!‍

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