The BEST baked turkey meatballs EVER!
Eating something tasty but healthy can be a challenge for many families, these meatballs will hit the spot. Deciding what to eat that doesn’t require hours in the kitchen and make something that the kids will love is hard work. This recipe does all of the above. They’re healthy, quick and the kids will love them. My 11 year old said it was his new favourite meal so I’ll take that!
These meatballs are inspired by my love for Italian cuisine and are great served with some spaghetti, or you can swap the spaghetti out for some courgetti or squash. Equally they can be a great lunch on their own or with some vegetables
This can be very cost effective when trying to cook on a budget. You can double up on this recipe and pop some in a container in the freezer for a quick meal anytime.
You can use whatever meat you like for this recipe, they are equally nice with lamb or steak. It is easily adaptable to your taste.
I wanted to make these meatballs as healthy as possible so I made a couple of swaps.
- I baked them rather than frying them. This saves you a LOT of calories and quite honestly they taste a better. When you fry meatballs, particularly lean meat like turkey, it can often dry them out and it affects the taste. Not the case with these
- I used lean turkey mince that was less than 5% fat, you can use steak but it is quite often higher in fat and therefore calories
This meal also comes in at great value assuming you have a few basic store cupboard ingredients
The BEST turkey meatballs EVER
Equipment
- 1 Baking Tray
- 1 Saucepan
Ingredients
- 500 g Turkey Thigh Mince
- 1 Red Onion
- 1 Brown Onion
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1 tbsp All Purpose Seasoning
- 1 tbsp Onion Granules
- 1 tbsp Salt and Pepper Mix
- 1 tbsp Fresh Chopped Parsley
- 1 Egg
- 500 g Passata
- 1 tsp Tomato Puree
- 1 Stock Cube ( I used Chicken )
- 100 ml Water
- Basil to sprinkle on top at the end
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil ( 1 for the meatballs and 1 for the sauce)
Instructions
- Add you turkey mince to a bowl along with the red onion ( diced ), 1 crushed garlic clove, salt/pepper, onion granules, all purpose seasoning , the chopped parsley and the egg
- Mix all these together thoroughly so all spices and mixed in and the onion is evenly distributed
- Shape into balls of a similar size
- Add 1 tbsp oil to the baking tray and space meatballs out
- Cook in oven for 15-20 minutes , gas 4
- While these are cooking you can make the tomato sauce
- Add the chopped brown onion, 1 crushed garlic clove to the pan and lightly fry until the onions soften
- Add the passata, stock cube and the water and cook down for 10 minutes
- Once meatballs are cooked, add them to the tomato sauce and cook for a further few minutes so they can absorb some of the sauce
- Serve with some chopped basil on the top
