Hello from the beach! I hope you guys are having as great a week as we are! We’ve been headed to the beach in the morning - building sand castles, zooming trucks around, splashing in the water - and then hitting up the pool in the afternoons. The kids are practicing their swimming, jumping in from the sides and just living it up. It’s been so great to have a week off (mostly) with these crazy kiddos. 🙂 And not to be short, but I’m ready to get back to it, so without further ado, let’s get to today’s recipe! I’m always tempted to buy frozen meatballs at the store. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve picked up various brands and bags and thought I might cave and buy them. But I can’t not look at the ingredient list. And every time I do, I think, I don’t really want to buy this. I don’t know what all of that stuff is. I’m sure I could make them better and cleaner at home.
So finally, I did. It took me a while because I kept thinking they needed to be complicated and involved. Wrong! These easy baked turkey meatballs are super basic, with wholesome ingredients, and they couldn’t be easier. Mix everything in a bowl, roll up your meatballs and bake them off. Done and done. And the flavor is crazy good! They are tender and perfectly seasoned and ready to be drenched in sauce and devoured. The store-bought version has nothing on us!
Notes on easy baked turkey meatballs:
Grated onion is best, but I know it’s a pain in the butt. You can also finely chop the onion but do try to get it very finely chopped so you don’t have big onion pieces in your meatballs. (Guilty as charged: I’m lazy and frequently give the onion a basic small dice and call it a day. The meatballs are still delicious, but the kiddos are definitely more suspicious. Look at that, I rhymed! ) After you get these easy meatballs in the oven, start cooking some spaghetti noodles, throw together a simple spinach salad and you’ll have dinner on the table in no time. If you want to use my easy homemade spaghetti sauce with these, like I do, just get the sauce going before you fix the meatballs and everything will be ready at the same time. I use 93% lean ground turkey but you could substitute lean ground beef if you prefer. You can adjust the seasoning, too, to suit your family’s tastes. Add another clove or two of garlic to emphasize that or some extra red pepper flakes for spicy meatballs. You can increase the cheese to ½ cup to make them extra cheesy if you like.
There’s lots of ways to use these meatballs too! Don’t just stop at spaghetti! You can also use these baked meatballs for meatball subs, meatball pizzas, appetizers, meatball lasagna, meatball and veggie noodle bowls - anything you like! And if you like to get creative with your meatballs, try these Caprese meatballs (with little mozzarella balls tucked into each one), these cheesy chicken meatballs - another kid favorite, or these baked Asian turkey meatballs for a fun flavor twist.
Tips for how to freeze meatballs:
- I cook all of my meatballs before freezing, so then they are ready to reheat and serve.
- Once the meatballs are cooked and cooled, you can place them in a freezer ziptop bag or a freezer-safe container.
- Label the bag and pop it in the freezer for 5-6 months.
- To defrost, it’s best to take the bag out of the freezer and let the meatballs thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
- Then you can reheat them on the stove or in the microwave and you’ll be ready to eat! If you’ve been looking for a homemade turkey meatball recipe, I hope you give these a try. You’ll love how easy they are to make, how delicious they are to eat and how perfect they are to freeze for another night. (Speaking of, I definitely packed a bag of these to bring down to the beach with us for a spaghetti-and-meatballs dinner one night. We all loved it!) Hope you do, too. Enjoy! XO, Kathryn P.S. You should check out my cheesy chicken meatballs too! Seriously yummy!
Serve these meatballs with pasta and marinara sauce, or stuff them into a hoagie for a meatball sub. Or serve them as an appetizer with toothpicks and sauce for dipping. I use the 7% fat ground turkey; it’s lean but still has good flavor. You could also sub lean ground beef here, if you prefer. You can easily double the recipe and bake extra meatballs to freeze. Cool then place the extra baked meatballs in a labeled freezer Ziploc bag and remove excess air before sealing. To reheat, just pop a batch in the microwave. Start with 1 minute then add time in 30-second intervals until they are heated through. You also can heat them on the stove in a pan as you warm up your marinara sauce.
Wilton Cookie Baking Supplies, 5-Piece Cuisinart AMB-17BS 17-Inch Chef's Classic Nonstick Bakeware Baking Sheet
