Chicken Bacon Ranch Meatball Sub

When I say these are the most tender meatballs – I really mean it. Ground chicken isn’t always known for being tender, but the addition of the cheese gives it just enough fat to keep it juicy. This recipe for Chicken Bacon Ranch Meatball Subs is going to knock your socks off. All of those favorite flavors of cheese, bacon, and ranch layered together for a fun play on the classic meatball sub.

I have included my recipe for homemade ranch dressing at the bottom of this post. It’s a super simple recipe to pull together. You can sub Greek yogurt for the sour cream if you want to cut some calories out of the situation. You can also use your favorite bottled or jarred ranch dressing, and save that step. I do urge you to use thick-cut bacon for this recipe. When you cut bacon into pieces before cooking it, it tends to cook down a little more so than when it is whole. The thick-cut bacon holds up a little better. Alternatively, you could cook thinner bacon whole and then cut it up afterward.

The extra step of making the hoagie roll into garlic bread, is, well, extra but so super tasty. It doesn’t just add extra flavor to the sub, but toasting it also helps to keep the bread from getting soggy while you are eating it. And since you bake it at the same time as the meatballs, it’s not really adding time to the process at all. To make the sandwich easy to eat you are going to want to make sure your meatballs are all the same size. The best way to do that is with a #16 (2 ounce) food scoop. I use my food scoops for equal portioning all the time!

A great side for this sub is some seasoned fries. But really any fry will work with this. You could also go for a hefty kettle-type potato chip instead. These are some massive sandwiches (my daughter and I actually split one), so you may not actually need a side to go with them.

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!

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Chicken Bacon Ranch Meatball Sub

Tender meatballs layered with bacon, cheddar and ranch on a garlic bread roll

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Sandwich

Cuisine American

Keyword bacon, cheddar, chicken meatball, chicken sandwich, ground chicken, hot sandwiches, meatball sub, ranch dressing

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 6 Hoagie Rolls
• 4 tbsp Butter melted
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp Parsley
• ½ lb Thick-Cut Bacon cut in ¼-inch pieces
• 1 cup Ranch Dressing see recipe below
• 6 pieces Green Leaf Lettuce
• ½ Red Onion sliced
• 1 cup Cheddar Cheese shredded

For the Meatballs

• 2 lb Ground Chicken
• 1 cup Panko Crumbs
• 1 tbsp Ranch Seasoning see recipe below
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1 cup Cheddar Cheese shredded

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400degF.
• In a mixing bowl, combine meatball mixture. Use a #16 (2oz) scoop to portion out mixture. Line out on a baking rack (spray with cooking spray as needed) over a parchment paper lined baking sheet. You should have at least 24 meatballs. Place in oven to bake for 30 minutes.
• In a frying pan over medium-high heat, add bacon. Cook until crispy and remove to paper towel covered plate.
• Open hoagie rolls (don't split) on a separate baking sheet. Combine melted butter and garlic powder, then brush over rolls. Sprinkle with parsley. Place in oven for last 10 minutes bake time of meatballs.
• Start with a piece of lettuce on the roll, then add red onions, sprinkle of cheese, 4 meatballs, sprinkle of cheese, drizzle of ranch and sprinkle of bacon. Repeat with remaining rolls.

Notes