Mini Turkey Meatballs
At 22 cents a meatball, Mini Turkey Meatballs are quick and easy to make! How many times do we need a quick lunch, dinner or appetizer. Meatballs are perfect for a quick pasta dish, tossing them into my One Pot Lasagna Soup or adding to a plate of cooked rice with a sweet and sour sauce! The options are really endless. Our meatball recipe is the perfect starter to any type of sauce or swapping out ingredients to change them up!
Food prep and make ahead meals is important to expanding your options on making a delicious meal without investing a lot of time. I look for ground turkey on sale at $2.99 a pound and then triple this recipe to stock up our freezer. Read on for Mini Turkey Meatballs step by step instruction on forming the meatballs and how to bake, fry and freeze them!
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How to Make Mini Turkey Meatballs
We use basic staples in our Mini Turkey Meatballs recipe. You can feel free to switch out similar type ingredients or add to this recipe. For example you might add ¼ cup of grated onions or a half teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Start with 1 pound of Ground Turkey.
- We keep it traditional by adding bread crumbs. Italian Seasoned bread crumbs is a great option but plain bread crumbs also works. You can always add more seasoning.
- A cage-free egg is added for moisture. Give it a good whisk before adding so it properly incorporates into the mixture.
- Seasoning is important to add flavor to our meatballs. Since we use Italian Bread crumbs, dried basil and oregano are our selections. But feel free to change it up a bit!
- Lastly, a nice Parmesan Cheese adds a little fruity and nutty flavor plus helps bring together the meatballs!
- When forming the Mini Turkey Meatballs, wet hands makes the job easier!!
- Use a tablespoon to measure out same size meatballs!
- Line a cookie sheet with foil for easier clean up. Spray with a non-stick spray to reduce the meatballs from sticking and to add a bit more moisture.
- Baking helps keep them moist as long as the oven is not too hot and they are not overbaked. If frying be careful to not overcook!
Forming the Mini Meatballs
We use two different options to form our mini-meatballs. The first is measuring each meatball using a tablespoon or small cookie scoop. This allows for a consistent size meatball and even cooking. Another option is to flatten out the meatball mixture, then cut it into 8 sections. Then take each section and divide into 3 mini-meatballs. The tablespoon yield 28 Mini Turkey Meatballs whereas dividing the ground turkey mixture provides 24 mini-meatballs.
How to Bake Mini Turkey Meatballs
Baking the Mini Turkey Meatballs is a healthier option since you eliminate the olive oil. But they do have a different appearance since we are not browning them. At first glance one might wonder if they are cooked! But rest assured they are baked until they reach 165 internal temperature. Once I tried browning them using the broiler but it made them too dry. So that is not something I recommend. If you want browned meatballs, then use olive oil in a frying pan! Now could you brown them first and then finish baking them? Personally, I would select either baking or frying since they are mini meatballs and will cook quickly!
But regardless of which option you select, be careful not to dry out the Mini Turkey Meatballs. Turkey has less fat than ground beef. We bake our meatballs at a lower temperature of 375 degrees and start taking a temperature at 10-minutes. Remember they are miniatures so they will cook quickly!
How to Freeze Mini Turkey Meatballs
Mini Turkey Meatballs are the perfect make ahead meal since they freeze nicely! There are two options for the freezer. Cook or bake all the meatballs, cool and then place them into small containers sufficient for a meal. Then label including the date and place in the freezer.
The other option is to flash freeze the formed Mini Turkey Meatballs before cooking them. When forming the meatballs place on a parchment lined cookie sheet then place into the freezer. Once frozen, remove the meatballs and add them to a freezer-safe bag or container. Place a label on them that includes the date and return to the freezer until ready to cook them.
When you are ready to use the meatballs, remove them from the freezer the day before and place them in the refrigerator to thaw. Never thaw on the countertop. The exterior of the meatball can thaw while the middle is still frozen. Bacteria can start to form on the meatballs. Always think about food safety. Another option is defrosting in the microwave on a defrost setting or on low. I only use this option for frozen cooked meatballs.
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Mini Turkey Meatballs
Pin RecipeEquipment
- Medium size bowl
- Cutting board
- Large frying pan, if frying them
- Large baking sheet, if baking them
- Containers to store them
Ingredients
Mini Meatballs Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil if frying the meatballs
- 1 pound Ground Turkey
- 1/4 cup Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs
- 1 Egg whisk
- 1 tbsp Dried Herbs basil, oregano, Italian
- ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese
- ½ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Pepper
Instructions
Mini Turkey Meatballs Instructions
- In a medium size bowl, add the Ground Turkey breaking it up.
- Mix in each of the ingredients until everything is blended together.
- Be careful not to overmix the Ground Turkey mixture.
- Using a tablespoon form the meatballs. Place them on a plate, baking sheet, or cutting board.
Oven Preparation
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place the meatballs on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 12 to 17 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meatballs reach 165 degrees.
- Remove from the pan, cool and store.
Stove Top Preparation
- Add olive oil to a heavy frying pan.
- Turn the burner on medium to heat the oil. Do not overheat the oil to minimize the oil from splattering and burning the meatballs. The oil should sizzle when placing a meatball into the pan.
- Carefully add the meatballs to the frying pan turning after they turn brown.
- Cook until the internal temperature of the meatballs reach 165 degrees.
- Remove from the pan, cool and store.
Recipe Notes
- Mini Turkey Meatballs are the perfect make ahead meal since they freeze nicely! There are two options for the freezer. Cook or bake all the meatballs, cool and then place them into small containers containing enough for a meal. Then label and place in the freezer.
- The other option is to flash freeze the formed Mini Turkey Meatballs before cooking them. When forming the meatballs place on a parchment lined cookie sheet then place into the freezer. Once frozen, remove the meatballs and add them to a freezer-safe bag or container. Place a label on them that includes the date and return to the freezer until ready to cook them.
Love that you include the nutritional info with your recipes! Bravo.
Glad you noticed! I just updated my template to include the full nutritional information. Before it was only providing calories. Personally I look at the protein, carb, and fat ratio over calories.
We had meatballs tonight, and I have enough for 2 for 6 weeks
That is great! I love making larger batches for the freezer. Yesterday I made a double batch of Sloppy Joe’s. We are set for awhile. 😀.
https://supperplate.com/sloppy-joe-mix/
That’s once a week.
That is perfect!
A quick one for you, please?
I caught a tip while going through this post – how you prepared the meatballs after cutting up the and forming the individual titbits! So, I want to make sausage rolls with left over minced beef used for making sausages. I’m looking for a simple sourdough recipe, if you have? My starter is coming on nicely and I’m really going to give this one a go!
PS – the tip… I’ll roll out my meat as you have and then slice lengths to wrap in the dough! 👍😁
I am glad the tip helped you! I don’t have any sourdough recipes. If I do come up with one I will let you know. 😀