You will love these turkey meatballs! They’re perfect on their own or overtop a bowl of mushroom rice, mashed cauliflower, or marinara sauce. They’re healthy and versatile while still loaded with flavors. You won’t be able to get enough of these meatballs.
Leaner than beef meatballs but still filled with protein, these baked meatballs are perfectly moist, tender, and packed with flavor. You will want to make them every night! They come together quickly and are baked on a sheet pan so cleaning up is a breeze. You can even double the recipe to freeze some for later. You won’t regret it.
Key Ingredients You Need
- Turkey — Ground turkey is lean and mild, so be careful not to overbake the meatballs and season generously.
- Panko breadcrumbs — The use of breadcrumbs in meatballs binds the meat and keeps the meatballs moist. As the meat cooks and releases moisture, the breadcrumbs soak them up, so the juices stay in the meatballs and don’t end up on the sheet pan.
- Onions — Some finely minced onions add extra texture and flavor to the meatballs.
- Egg — This helps bind the meatballs.
How to Make Turkey Meatballs
Step 1: Preheat the oven and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper before lightly spraying it with olive oil.
Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground turkey and breadcrumbs.
Step 3: Add minced onion.
Step 4: Add parsley, egg, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper.
Step 5: Form the turkey meatballs with your hands about 1.5” in diameter and place them on the prepared baking sheet, making sure not to overcrowd the pan.
Step 6: Spray the meatballs with a light coat of olive oil spray and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. You can choose to broil them for an additional 2 minutes to brown the meatballs.
Tips For This Recipe
- Avoid overcooking the meatballs, or they’ll dry out. Start checking the turkey meatballs for doneness at the 15-minute mark.
- The best way to check that your turkey meatballs are done is to use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature. Once the internal temperature has reached 165F, remove them from the oven.
- For uniformed meatballs, you can use a cookie or ice cream scoop. Making sure they’re all the same size helps them bake evenly and avoid having a couple of dry meatballs.
- Avoid overmixing the meat mixture as it can make the meatballs tough.
- If you don’t have enough ground turkey on hand, you can mix another meat such as beef, pork, or chicken with the turkey.
Frequently Asked Questions
Store leftover turkey meatballs in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave until warmed through. If you are serving the meatballs with a sauce, you can warm them up together.
You can freeze raw or baked meatballs. Place the meatballs on a parchment-lined baking sheet and flash freeze until firm. Then, transfer the frozen meatballs to an airtight freezer-safe container or bag. Thaw them overnight in the fridge before baking or reheating.
If the meatballs are rubbery, that usually means you’ve overmixed the mixture or pressed them too hard when shaping. Avoid overmixing and squeezing down when shaping the meatballs.
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Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs ground turkey
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- ½ cup minced onion
- ⅓ cup parsley minced
- 1 egg
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- olive oil I use a spray
Garnish
- fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly spray with olive oil.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground turkey, breadcrumbs, minced onion, parsley, egg, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper.
- Form the balls with your hands about 1.5” in diameter and place on the prepared baking sheet, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. Spray the meatballs with a light coat of olive oil spray.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meatballs has reached 165 F. Optional: broil for an additional 2 minutes to brown the meatballs.
Video
Notes
- Avoid overcooking the meatballs, or they’ll dry out. Start checking the meatballs for doneness at the 15-minute mark.
- The best way to check that your meatballs are done is to use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature. Once the internal temperature has reached 165F, remove them from the oven.
- For uniformed meatballs, you can use a cookie or ice cream scoop. Making sure they’re all the same size helps them bake evenly and avoid having a couple of dry meatballs.
- Avoid overmixing the meat mixture as it can make the meatballs tough.
- If you don’t have enough ground turkey on hand, you can mix another meat such as beef, pork, or chicken with the turkey.
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