Heavenly Ground Turkey Meatballs. Yay, it’s Wednesday! This means it is “little Friday” and almost the weekend, woo-hoo! It has been a super busy month thus far for me with attending wedding events, holidays, and trying to close on our house. I apologize if I am not posting as much yumminess (that’s a word, right?) for you all but I hope to change that once the crazy dies down a bit!
If you have something, you want to see me make — COMMENT BELOW!!
In my house, we are growing tired of eating the same few meals a week and are looking to change things up. I know I’m not the only one who runs into this problem. The main issue is that I find all these amazing ground turkey recipes to try out but never have the energy or groceries on hand to make all of them. I had tried ground turkey meatballs before, but this time, they came out perfect! Live, and you learn!
These ground turkey meatballs are a close rendition of my Easy Turkey Spaghetti Sauce but have SO much more flavor from searing the ground turkey meatballs and allowing them to simmer in the savory tomato sauce. This is going to be a staple in my house for sure!!
My family raved about them. They tasted a lot like ground beef to me – but without all the fat and cholesterol that typically comes along with eating beef. What could be better than that?!
Heavenly Ground Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
To Make The Sauce:
2 cans tomato - diced no salt added- 1 medium white onion - diced
- 3 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 can tomato paste - no salt added
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon basil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme, and sometimes basil and parsley)
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes - optional
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
To Make The Meatballs:
- 1 pound ground turkey (minced turkey) - thigh
- ¾ cup oats - old fashioned
- 1 tablespoon BBQ sauce (barbecue sauce) - (I use Chubby’s – organic and low sugar/sodium)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 medium egg
- ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce - low-sodium
- 1 tablespoon Italian herbs (oregano, rosemary, thyme, and sometimes basil and parsley)
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ tablespoon olive oil - extra virgin
Instructions
- In a dutch oven or large saucepan, saute onion and garlic in ½ tablespoon olive oil until translucent.
- Add tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, garlic powder, all-purpose seasoning, and red pepper flakes to the saucepan/dutch oven. Stir to combine. Add water to the pot until desired consistency is reached. For a thicker sauce, add less water than the above-mentioned ½ cup.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine turkey, oats, BBQ sauce, Worcestershire sauce, egg, all-purpose seasoning, garlic powder, and black pepper. Mix well and form mixture into small meatballs with hands and set aside.
- In a separate saucepan, add the remaining olive oil over medium-high heat. Add in meatballs about 5-6 at a time (do not the over-crowd pan). Let cook on each side for about 1 minute just until browned, then immediately remove from heat and add to pot with the sauce.
- Once all meatballs are seared and added into the sauce pot, simmer on low for 25-30 minutes, gently stirring occasionally. Meatballs should be browned in the center prior to consumption.
