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Healthy Turkey Meatballs

5 from 1 vote
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posted: 03/17/17

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This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy

These Healthy Turkey Meatballs are a family favorite and ready in under 30 minutes! Great authentic taste without all the work.

Plate of spaghetti and healthy meatballs.

POST FROM FEBRUARY 2014, PHOTOS UPDATED MARCH 2017

Today I’m going to share with you the BEST healthy meatballs! They are a family favorite, we could eat them once a week every week, and best yet, they make for a dinner that’s ready in 30 minutes.

Healthy meatballs on top of spaghetti and marinara sauce.

DELICIOUS WITHOUT SO MUCH WORK

If you ever run into the soul of my deceased and beloved Italian Grandmother, please do not tell her about this recipe. It flies in the face of everything she was about. If you want her great meatball recipe, go here for The Best Italian Meatballs.

ITALIAN OR AMERICAN?

Actually, my grandmother might have less to say on the subject if she knew that the traditional spaghetti and meatballs dinner is more American than Italian. Yes, Italy does make a great meatball, but traditionally they’re not served with pasta. That’s an American tradition.

YOU’LL LOVE THEM EITHER WAY

Regardless of their country of origin, these meatballs, these healthy meatballs, are the meatballs we make all the time! They are made with nice lean ground turkey, and they are baked on a cooling rack, so that all the fat drips off, and they aren’t fried in oil. They cook up so nicely, and they are done in the oven! So that means that once you pop them in the oven, and you put a pot of water on the stove for the pasta, you are nearly home free. Nice right? Last week I went from nothing ready to this full meal on the table in under a half hour. I’ve even started this dinner and then gone for a work out while Nathan finishes it off!

Win. Win. Win.

IS TURKEY HEALTHIER THAN BEEF?

Well, that all depends on which cut of meat you get. If the ratio of fatty meat to lean meat is high, then turkey isn’t necessarily any healthier than beef. But comparing apples to apples — or lean cut to lean cut in this case — turkey is healthier.

The real key is in the way these healthy turkey meatballs are cooked. Baking them on a wire rack means the grease can drip down. So you’re not soaking the grease back into each meatball as it cooks. It’s a much leaner way to prepare the food.

It’s nice to know you can enjoy great tasting food without all the guilt. And you know you’re serving your family a comfort food they’re going to love.

Healthy meatball with one bite taken out of it.

MORE GREAT PASTA DISHES

In my world, you can never have too much pasta on your plate. Leave me a shout out below in the comments if you love pasta. I want to hear about your favorite!

Here are a few of my favorites:

If you try these or any of my other amazing recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know.

5 from 1 vote

Healthy Turkey Meatballs

Serves: 20 meatballs
(tap # to scale)
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 35 minutes
These Healthy Turkey Meatballs are a family favorite and ready in under 30 minutes! Great authentic taste without all the work. 

Ingredients

  • 1 egg beaten
  • 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder not garlic salt
  • 1/2 TBSP dried oregano
  • 1/2 TBSP dried basil
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 1/4 pounds ground Italian seasoned turkey I used Jennie-O Sweet Italian Sausages

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 375. Line a jelly pan with tin foil and set a cooling rack on top of it.
  • In the bottom of a large bowl, combine the egg, bread crumbs, garlic powder, oregano, basil, and cheese.
  • Add the ground turkey (casings removed). Mix together until throughly combined.
  • Roll into into 1 to 1 1/2 inch balls and set on the cooling rack (I got about 24 meatballs out of it).
  • Bake for 15 minutes. Pick one of the meatballs in the middle of the batch and cut it in half to make sure that it is no longer pink inside.
Fat: 8g (12%) Saturated Fat: 3g (19%) Monounsaturated Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 87mg (29%) Sodium: 634mg (28%) Potassium: 199mg (6%) Sugar: 2g (2%)
Author: Lisa Longley
Course: dinner, healthy
Cuisine: Italian

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Healthy Turkey Meatballs

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Hi! I'm Lisa Longley, and I am committed to giving you simple dinner ideas and recipes that are easy to make; recipes that will fill your home with joy. I am the owner and author of SimpleJoy.com and I'm so glad that you are here.

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  1. Julie @ Julie's Eats & Treats says

    Skinny Meatballs? I’m all over that!

  2. Lily says

    First time to your web site. Had to laugh… the name Wine & Glue! Love it! I’ll be back!!

  3. Cindy Eikenberg says

    Hi Lisa! I love that your little ones call these “meatmalls!” Thank you so much for joining us and sharing at Best of the Weekend – pinning! Hope you had a happy Valentine’s weekend and enjoy the week!

    • Lisa Longley says

      Thanks Cindy!

  4. Cathy@LemonTreeDwelling says

    Hooray for turkey meatballs (the only kind in my book!!) :)

  5. Tonia says

    I love that your kids say “meatmalls”! My son used to call cupcakes “pupcakes”.

  6. Robyn @ simply fresh dinners says

    I’m hooked on meatballs these days, Lisa, and made some turkey meatballs myself lately. They’re kind of addicting! I love your recipe and will definitely be trying it.
    Thanks also for the tips on My Recipe Magic. Will definitely be heading over to check it out! have a great day.

  7. Laurie says

    These sounds super yummy! I loved your Tip Me Tuesday link this week. {thanks girl!} Would you like Tip Junkie to feature your blog post to over 200,000 creative women? If you upload this blog post into your Tip Junkie craft room using at least 2 images, 2 steps, and blog post URL then I can easily feature it in my RSS feed, home page, and all my social networks instantly. {squealing with delight} ~ Laurie {a.k.a. the Tip Junkie}
    http://www.tipjunkie.com/post/how-to-add-a-craft-room-project-on-tip-junkie/

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