The Best Zucchini and Turkey Meatball Recipe

I want to share this Best Zucchini and Turkey Meatball Recipe of mine. Hopefully, maybe, just maybe, I might be able to throw some ideas out to my fellow cooks who just need some inspiration.

This Zucchini and Turkey Meatball Recipe morphed out of the most delicious meatballs from Skinny Taste’s Fast & Slow Cookbook.

My favorite part is the sneaky zucchini which not only boosts the vegetable value but also adds great moisture to the meatballs. And I’m not just saying this cause I love me some veggies. These meatballs are seriously so delicious and so moist! We all know the death of any meatball is a dry meatball. I know this is a bit sacrilegious to say, but I even prefer the ground turkey.

The Best Zucchini and Turkey Meatball Recipe

Eleanor Craig

This Zucchini and Turkey Meatball Recipe is seriously so delicious and so moist! You should definitely give this a try.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Share by Email Pin Recipe Share on Facebook

Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Total Time 1 hr

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 24 meatballs

Calories 47 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

FOR THE MEATBALLS:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium zucchini
• 1 ¼ pound ground turkey (minced turkey) - 93% ground turkey or chicken
• ¼ cup Panko breadcrumbs - or bread crumbs
• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese - grated
• ¼ cup parsley - fresh, chopped
• 1 large clove garlic - crushed
• 1 large egg - beaten
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

FOR THE SAUCE:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic - smashed
• ½ medium yellow onion - diced
• 1 jar or can Neapolitan Sauce or Pasta sauce Southern Hemisphere (Tomato Sauce in North America)
• 1 piece bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
• 1 handful basil - fresh, chopped

FOR THE SUBS:

•  
  1 pack rolls - or naan bread
• 1 small block Provolone cheese - sliced

Instructions

 

• Make the meatballs: Using paper towels, squeeze all the excess water from the zucchini. Put the zucchini in a large bowl with the turkey, panko, parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, egg, and salt and pepper. Mix all ingredients together until they are evenly distributed. Form golf ball-sized meatballs (about 24).
• Heat up the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides in batches, only putting in as many meatballs as will easily fit in the pan at once without overlapping. Once the meatballs are browned on all sides, move the meatballs to a plate. Don’t worry, and you’ll finish cooking them through in the sauce.
• Sauce: Make the sauce by heating up the olive oil in a saucepan. Saute the onions until they are translucent. Then, add in the garlic and cook for another minute until you can smell that garlic goodness.
• Add in the jarred sauce, bay leaf and parmesan cheese. Simmer over low for about 10 minutes.
• Pour the sauce into the pan used to cook the meatballs and scrape the bottom with a spoon to get all the browned flavor into the sauce.
• Add the meatballs into the sauce to finish cooking them over low in the simmering sauce – another 10 minutes or so.
• Before serving, add in the fresh chopped basil.
• Put about 3-4 meatballs on each roll or naan bread and top with a slice of provolone cheese. Broil the sandwich on low for a minute or two just to melt the cheese.
• Dig in!

Nutrition

Calories: 47kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 7gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 22mgSodium: 138mgPotassium: 105mgFiber: 0.2gSugar: 0.4gVitamin A: 101IUVitamin C: 3mgCalcium: 22mgIron: 0.4mg

Have you tried this recipe?Please leave a rating and comment.