This has to be one of the best recipes I have made yet – no joking around.
These turkey meatballs are little moist balls of flavorful heaven! I made them for dinner last night and Justin called dibs on the leftovers for lunch, so I will be making them again very soon because I could have seriously eaten more for breakfast today, they were that good!
Compared to traditional meatballs, these ones get an A+! They are made with extra lean turkey, light ricotta, oat-bran, and fresh herbs! For those who don’t know, oat-bran is a fantastic source of soluble fiber and works perfectly in the recipe as a substitute for breadcrumbs! Although the Bob’s Red Mill brand of oat-bran I used isn’t specified as gluten free, guaranteed GF rolled oats or oat-bran would work just fine to make these meatballs GF! (I adapted this recipe from the Center Cut Cook blog)
It took me less than 30 minutes to make these little meatballs from start to finish, and in the meantime I whipped up a quick salad, heated some organic primavera sauce (sugar free!), and made some whole wheat spaghetti for the hubby. I’m not a huge pasta fan myself so I only took a little spaghetti on the side and enjoyed the meatballs with the primavera sauce and a side salad!
Doesn’t this dish look just so wonderful?? The meatballs really do melt in your mouth, and yet they have a light taste so I didn’t feel stuffed after eating! A great summer evening dish!
- 1 pound extra-lean ground turkey
- ½ cup part-skim ricotta cheese
- ¼ cup oat bran (or GF binder)
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- salt and pepper
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a bowl combine all ingredients, use clean hands to mix together.
- Divide the mixture into 20 meatballs.
- Heat a non-stick skillet to medium-high heat and coat lightly with cooking spray. Brown the meatballs for a few minutes on each side only enough to brown the edges not to cook the meatballs fully. You may have to do this in batches.
- Place the browned meatballs on a lightly greased baking pan and bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until done.
- Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Christal
Nutritionist in the Kitch
Can these be baked in the oven? Or does the frying hold them together?
Yes the pan searing at the beginning helps to cook the edges and brown them and then they can bake until done in the oven!
Hey, these look great. Just wondering what the nutritional info/ calorie count for these could be.
Thanks!
Hi Jade! 5 meatballs = 225 calories! 🙂 there is a nutritional facts picture at the bottom of the post but may not be showing up on your browser!
I added fresh crushed garlic, chopped red onions and a dash or two of hot sauce to these and they were fantastic! Thanks for sharing.
Delicious additions! Thanks for the feedback Michele! 🙂
I made these for dinner tonight and just like you said they are little moist balls of flavorful heaven! I did not have fesh basil at home so used dried basil spice and I did not have time to brown them fisrt, just put them on a foil covered cookie sheet and baked for 20 minutes. I would suggest spraying the foil with cooking spray so they remove easier. I served them with sundried tomato pasta, homemade tomato sauce and some green beans. Ohhh so yummy!!
Yum, sounds delicious! 🙂 Yes, the ricotta works so well to make them moist! 🙂
This recipe is just amazing. I have substituted cottage cheese for extra protein, and because that’s all I had the first time I made these, but they turned out ridiculously good. They have become a weekend dinner staple for my house, and I now make extra for a lighter version of a meat ball sandwich for my lunch the next day. Thank you!!!!
The cottage cheese substitution is a great idea! I know, these meatballs were to die for, I will have to be making them again soon!! Glad you enjoyed!!
I didn’t see the recipe for the organic primavera sauce you mentioned.
Hi Vi! The primavera sauce was store-bought, I used a brand called “Organics”. I don’t mind using store bought pasta sauce as long as it is sugar-free and lower in sodium, a preferably organic ingredients!
“little moist balls of flavorful heaven” I love it!!! Can’t wait to try these!
This looks fabulous..will definitely make these. Thank you
Thanks Leslie! They are delicious!