A Healthy and Tasty Meat-A-Ball

by Shauna Sever — February 20, 2008

Ground turkey is a lean, versatile protein source that has endless possibilities. Its neutral but meaty flavor makes it a fantastic, healthy alternative for a good meatball recipe. These crispy, oven-browned, meaty morsels will make you think they've been fried, but by baking in the oven, you save tons of calories and time, both in preparation and clean-up. The finished meatballs are perfect on top of spaghetti, naturally, but I also love to make them for tossing into a soup or vegetable stew. And they're great on their own as a kitschy cocktail party dish. This is a great basic meatball recipe but try different spices and seasonings to make them your own.

Turkey Meatballs

Though it might be tempting to go super low fat with ground turkey breast, the meatballs can turn out rather bland and dry. Go for the lean ground turkey with about 7% fat for best results.

1 (20 ounce) package lean ground turkey
1 egg, lightly beaten
A few handfuls dry Italian seasoned bread crumbs
½ small yellow onion, grated
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
Salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine ground turkey, egg, bread crumbs, grated onion, garlic, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl and mix well to combine. Roll the mixture into balls about the size of a walnut and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Bake the meatballs for 18-20 minutes or until browned and cooked through, turning about halfway.