Turkey meatballs are the perfect lightened up weeknight dinner! Serve them with some marinara over pasta or zoodles or just pile them on your plate and serve with some veggies. Simple, healthy, and filling!
It’s the start of a new year and that means it’s time to step away from the Christmas cookies and step up your healthy eating game.
I have the biggest success feeding my family healthier meals when I take something they already love and just lighten it up a bit.
Enter these baked turkey meatballs!
Everyone loves a good meatball and these are lightened up with ground turkey in place of beef and they’re baked to perfection rather than cooked in oil on the stove.
I could put down the entire batch of these turkey meatballs in one sitting, but I guess that would defeat the whole ‘healthy eating’ thing I’m going for here. But, man, these are good.
Table of Contents
What Readers are Saying!
“My grandson loves these! I put them on the stovetop and cook in chicken broth. They are amazing and healthy. Freeze well too.” -Deb
How to Make:
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To start your turkey meatball recipe, you’ll add some ground turkey (or chicken, if you prefer chicken meatballs!) and bread crumbs to a mixing bowl.
We’re going to add flavor with some minced onion and garlic, lots of fresh parsley, and a little Italian seasoning. Don’t forget the salt and pepper.
- Mix that all up using either a wooden spoon or your hands. Either works.
- Mix until everything is just held together. Don’t overwork the meatballs.
Place your meatballs on a large baking sheet that you’ve sprayed with non-stick spray and then pop them in a hot oven.
Helpful Tip!
- I use a large cookie scoop (affiliate link) to scoop out balls of the meatball mixture and then roll it into a nicely shaped ball in the palms of my hands.
- These will take about 15 minutes to bake. I always check poultry with a thermometer before serving. These should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees. We use and love this instant thermometer. It’s magnetic, so you can stick it to the side of your fridge and know just where to find it.
How to serve with these healthy turkey meatballs:
These turkey meatballs can be served any number of ways!
Pop a toothpick in them and serve them as a snack or appetizer. They’re super flavorful on their own, but some warmed marinara or BBQ sauce makes a nice dip. You could even dip these in our honey mustard dressing.
Heat some marinara on the stove and toss your meatballs in. Serve over pasta or zucchini noodles.
Treat them as a main dish and pile them up on your plate next to a serving of my roasted vegetables and a side salad topped with this homemade ranch dressing.
Pile them into a hoagie roll, top with some low fat mozzarella, and some marinara. How good does that sound?
I also think would be amazing served alongside an air fryer baked potato!
These baked turkey meatballs will be a hit no matter how you serve them!
Questions about this recipe:
Yep! We prefer to freeze these after cooking. Pop them on a baking sheet and place in the freezer for 1 hour. Remove from the freezer and place the meatballs in a ziptop bag. Reheat on the stove in some marinara sauce.
No. Poultry needs to be fully cooked and there should be no pink at all.
The internal temp should be 165 degrees F.
More turkey recipes!
- Turkey Meatloaf: It’s just as moist and delicious as a traditional meatloaf!
- Best Turkey Burger Recipe: Honestly. I like these better than beef burgers.
- Leftover Turkey Soup: Use up shredded turkey from the holidays or make it with ground turkey!
- Air Fryer Turkey Breast: Crispy skin, juicy and moist meat!
Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup minced onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons minced parsley
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a large rimmed baking sheet with non-stick spray.
- Add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and stir well to combine.
- Serve hot.
Rasika says
Trying out this recipe . Nice and easy . Thanks !
Crystal says
These were good but I will just make them differently next time. I didn’t have fresh parsley so used dried (one tablespoon) and it’s too much spices, next time I’ll definitely remember to get fresh parsley. I will also sautee the onions and garlic first next time, they are adding adding a lot of texture that I don’t necessarily love in meatballs. Overall, great and simple recipe!
Chris says
This looks like a great recipe! Thanks for sharing! I was wondering if I could cook them in the oven first and then add them to the crockpot with a sauce? Do you think they would come out as moist (versus browning them on stove)?
Karly says
I do think you could do that, but not sure if they’ll turn out quite as moist.
Sharon says
Probably a dumb question….
are the bread crumbs fresh or dried?
Karly says
Dried. 🙂
sue | the view from great island says
These look so deliciously crisp on the outside!
Stephanie T Bozzuto says
Do they freeze well? I would probably make a big batch and then freeze them for a really quick dinner.
Karly says
I think they’d freeze great!
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop says
Meatballs are always a hit in our house! This turkey version looks delicious!
HimalayanSalt says
These look so delicious. Thanks fro sharing the recipe.
Mireille | The Tortilla Channel says
Karly,
Love turkey and these turkey meatballs look delicious! So much lighter than ground beef meatballs.
Maggie A Martin says
I will give these a try tomorrow Karly. Sounds good and easy
Maggie
Maggie Martin says
I have been making these once a month for over a year now, Hubs, who doesn’t like anything loves these. I now make a triple batch and freeze them, they get dumped in the crockpot (still frozen) with whatever sauce I decide on and 2.5 to 3 hrs later the house smells good and they are ready.!
Easy, good and inexpensive.
Thanks again Karly
Maggie
Karly says
Oh, I love to hear that, Maggie! Thanks!
Lynn Householder says
Darn, I was hoping this was low carb! I make meatballs with almond meal, it lightens them up nicely.
Karly says
I’ve been sharing all of my low carb recipes over on thatlowcarblife.com, but you could easily make these low carb by swapping in almond flour (probably just 1/4 cup) and adding some powdered parmesan cheese. Ground pork rinds also make a great sub for bread crumbs, if you haven’t tried that yet. 🙂
Julie Fedele says
Please unsubscribe me from this website Buns in my oven!!
Eileen Wounded Shield says
UNSUBSCRIBE FROM ALL PLEASE??????
Karly says
I’m not sure what you’re subscribed to, but everything has an unsubscribe button that you can click yourself. 🙂
Susan says
These look so good! Could these be done in a Crock Pot?
Karly says
Yes, they could! You’d want to brown them on the stove first though to make sure they hold their shape. Then just finish the cooking process on low for 3 or 4 hours. 🙂
Rosa Tamm says
YUM! These look so delicious!
Can’t wait to try!
kitty price says
How many meatballs per serving?
Karly says
It will really depend on how large you roll your meatballs. I based the nutrition off of this recipe serving 4. I had about 12 larger meatballs or 20 smaller meatballs.
Deb Farley says
My grandson loves these! I put them stovetop and cook in chicken broth. They are amazing and healthy. Freeze well too.