Baked Turkey Meatballs

Close up of savory meatballs with garlic, butter, olive oil sauce with herbs..

5 from 4 votes

Classic comfort food made lighter with ground turkey. Many ways to serve, see suggestions at the end, how to roll perfect meatballs. Garnish with extra sprinkles of grated Parmesan and fresh chopped herbs if desired. Yield is approximately 32 meatballs with a serving of 6 per person.

Prep Time30

Cook Time15

Total Time45

Course: Appetizer, Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 224kcal

Author: Sally Cameron

Equipment

Rimmed baking sheet
Cookie scoop or disher, #40 or #50 or a 1 tablespoon measure
Baking parchment or foil

Ingredients

6 tablespoons Plain or Italian breadcrumbs (2 ounces) GF or wheat, packaged
6 tablespoons milk
½ cup finely chopped onion
¼ cup finely grated or ground Parmesan
1 large egg
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano or Italian seasoning blend
3 cloves garlic finely chopped or finely zested
½ teaspoon sea or kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
⅛ teaspoon red chile pepper
1 pound ground turkey I make them with 93% lean ground turkey

Instructions

Set up

Pre-heat your oven to 375°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet (half sheet size) with parchment or foil and a quick spray of non-stick or oil spray for easier clean-up.

Blend Meatball Mix

First, add the breadcrumbs and milk together in a small bowl and allow them to stand for 2 minutes. While they are soaking, add the rest of the ingredients to a medium bowl and stir. Mix in the soaked breadcrumbs, then the the ground turkey.
Gently mix the meat with your hands until fully combined. Use either food handler gloves or lightly oil or spray your hands. As your hands get sticky, wipe them off and re-spray, then complete rolling the meatballs.

Rolling Meatballs

Using a disher (see note at end) or a generous tablespoon full, gently roll the portions into round balls and place them onto the sheet pan. Meatballs should be about 1 ¼″ in diameter (almost 1 ounce).

Bake Meatballs

Bake for approximately 15-18 minutes or until a digital thermometer reads 165°F in the center.

Add Sauce and Serve

Serve with your sauce of choice, alone, or over one of the suggestions below.

Notes

To portion meatballs equally, use a small cookie scoop also called a disher. The perfect size cookie scoop for bite-sized meatballs is either the #40 or the size #50. Buy them online or at a restaurant supply. Using one is the fastest way to make meatballs.
The recipe yield is approximately 30 meatballs for the #50 size.
To serve: try meatballs over polenta, pasta, zucchini noodles, baked spaghetti squash, cauliflower rice, cauliflower puree, served alone in a bowl, or as an appetizer with toothpicks.
To get the garlic fine, use a microplane zester.
For larger meatballs: If you want to make them larger you can. Sizing in dishers is the opposite of what you'd think. The smaller the number, the larger the size. Adjust your baking time.
The sauce in the photo lead photo is 4 T unsalted butter, 4 T olive oil, 1 finely chopped or zested garlic clove (or sub powdered garlic) and chopped parsley. Melt together and stir.

Nutrition