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
Print RecipeIngredients
- FOR THE MEATBALLS:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium zucchini
- 1 1/4 pound 93% ground turkey (or chicken)
- 1/4 cup panko or bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 large garlic clove, crushed
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- FOR THE SAUCE:
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 1 jar or can of your favorite tomato sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
- Fresh chopped basil
- FOR THE SUBS:
- Your favorite rolls or naan bread
- Provolone cheese, sliced
Instructions
1. 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).
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Add in the jarred sauce, bay leaf and parmesan cheese. Simmer over low for about 10 minutes.
5. 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.
6. Add the meatballs into the sauce to finish cooking them over low in the simmering sauce – another 10 minutes or so.
7. Before serving, add in the fresh chopped basil.
8. 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.
9. Dig in!
