Healthy Baked Turkey Meatballs Recipe (Low Fat)
Overview
Tired of regular fried meatballs? This oven baked turkey meatballs recipe is a delicious and healthy lean alternative for following your fitness goals while not making as big of a mess in the kitchen and also working great for meal preps. The recipe is incredibly simple and fast to make and works great with all your favorite sauces, salads and side dishes.
If you are looking for a great side dish for these low fat turkey meatballs then try out our roasted red potatoes recipe.
What are Turkey Meatballs made Of?
- Ground turkey breast – Ground lean turkey meat is a delicious and healthy option for meatballs. If for some reason you can’t find or are not a fan of ground turkey, this recipe also works with ground beef, pork or chicken as well.
- Bread crumbs – Bread crumbs in meatballs are used as a filler ingredient. It means that the bread crumbs capture all the delicious juices from the meat and at the same time keep the meatballs nice and juicy.
- Egg – An egg is important as it ties together all the ingredients in the meatball mixture and will help to hold its round shape while it’s cooking.
- Onion – finely chopped onion in the turkey meatball recipe will make the meatballs juicier and a rich and sweet taste.
- Garlic – For this recipe, one clove of freshly pressed garlic paste will do, but if you’re a big fan of garlic, add 1-2 cloves worth of more paste.
- Fresh parsley – Perfectly fine to go with dried parsley but let’s be honest, you can’t beat the fresh look and feel of fresh parsley in this recipe.
- Seasoning – All you need for seasoning for the meatballs is dried oregano, dried basil, salt and pepper. Additionally to give them a bit more flavor, I’m using a cajun seasoning mix, but this can be replaced with a mix of smoked paprika powder and ground cayenne pepper or any of your favorite spicy seasoning.
How to Cook Turkey Meatballs?
- Finely chop the parsley and onion. Be sure to finely chop the onion into tiny pieces as otherwise they might undercook and stay a bit too crunchy inside the meatballs.
- Prepare the meatball mixture – Combine in a mixing bowl the ground turkey breast, finely chopped onion and parsley, 1 whole egg, bread crumbs, garlic paste of a freshly pressed garlic clove and the seasonings.
- Mix everything together well with your hand or a spatula etc until an even mixture.
- Form the meatball mixture into even sized round meatballs – This recipe will be enough for 8 medium sized meatballs or 12 smaller meatballs. I recommend going with 8 medium sized meatballs as they will not overcook as easily in the oven as smaller meatballs.
- Place the turkey meatballs on a baking tray on a non-stick baking paper or baking foil and brush the meatballs with olive oil.
- Bake the meatballs in the oven – If you go with 8 medium sized meatballs, preheat the oven and bake the meatballs in the oven for ~20 minutes at 400°F / 200°C until they start to get golden brown. Optionally can turn the heat up in the last few minutes to 460°F / 240°C on a grill function if the meatballs are not browning up according to your liking.
If you go with the 12 smaller meatballs option, then preheat the oven and bake the turkey meatballs in the oven for ~15 minutes at 375°F / 190°C. If you have an internal thermometer to use, then wait until the thermometer reaches an internal temperature of 165°F / 73°C. - Optionally garnish with some freshly cut parsley and serve the meatballs by themselves or together with any of your favorite salad, pasta or other side dish and/or sauce and enjoy!
How Long are Turkey Meatballs Good For?
Properly cooked and stored ground turkey meatballs will last in the fridge in an airtight container for about 3-4 days, meaning that they will be perfect for meal prep. It’s still good to check the stored turkey meatballs from the third day for any signs of going bad. Signs of stored food going bad can be displayed as a rotten smell, change in color or a slimy cover that has appeared on the food. Main rule of storing is that the stored turkey meatballs should smell and taste similar to the day you cooked them.
If you’re thinking of freezing the turkey meatballs(cooked or uncooked), they will keep their quality for at least 3 months when stored properly in an airtight ziplock bag.
Baked Turkey Meatballs Recipe
Healthy oven baked meatballs recipe with 6 ingredients that’s quick and easy to make. Follow our instructions or check out our video to see the result. PS! This recipe can be easily made in the air fryer as well if that’s more convenient to you.
Ingredients (2 Servings)
- 0.9 pounds/ 400g ground turkey breast
- ⅓ cup / 35g bread crumbs
- 1 large egg
- 1 medium onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- Chopped fresh parsley for seasoning
- 0.5 tbsp of dried oregano
- 0.5 tbsp of dried basil
- 1 tbsp of cajun seasoning mix (or 1 tbsp of smoked paprika powder and 1 tsp of cayenne pepper powder)
- 1 tsp of Kosher Salt
- 0.5 tsp of ground black pepper
- ~1 tbsp of olive oil for brushing the meatballs
Nutritional value per recipe (2 servings):
835 calories / 35g carbs / 26.3g fats / 114g proteins / 3.5g dietary fiber / 6.7g sugar
Nutritional value per recipe (1 serving) :
418 calories / 17.5g carbs / 13g fats / 57g proteins / 1.7g dietary fiber / 3.3g sugar
Baked Turkey Meatballs Recipe (Low Fat)
Ingredients
- 0.9 lb ground turkey
- ⅓ cup bread crumbs
- 1 eggs large
- 1 onion medium
- 1 clove of garlic
- Chopped fresh parsley for seasoning
- 0.5 tbsp dried oregano
- 0.5 tbsp dried basil
- 1 tbsp cajun seasoning
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- 0.5 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil for brushing the meatballs
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients and finely chop the parsley and onion into small pieces.
- Combine the ground turkey breast, chopped onion and parsley, 1 whole egg, bread crumbs, garlic paste of pressed garlic and seasonings in a mixing bowl and mix well until evenly mixed.
- Form the meatballs into 8 medium sized meatballs (or 12 smaller if you prefer) and place on a baking tray covered with a non-stick baking paper or baking foil.
- Brush the meatballs with olive oil until all sides of the meatballs are evenly coated.
- For 8 medium sized meatballs: preheat the oven and bake meatballs in the oven for ~20 minutes at 400°F / 200°C or until the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 165°F / 73°C. For 12 smaller meatballs: preheat the oven and bake the meatballs in the oven for ~15 minutes at 375°F / 190°C or until the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 165°F / 73°C. *Optionally if you’d like the meatballs to get a bit more golden brown and crispy on top, you can turn the heat up in the last few minutes to 460°F / 240°C on a grill function.
- Serve the meatballs and enjoy by themselves or next to any of your favorite salad, side dish or sauce. Enjoy!
Video
Nutrition (per serving)
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