Healthy Ground Turkey Meatball Recipe
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Healthy Turkey Meatballs are the perfect quick dinner! Low fat, high protein and delicious plain or in sauce! Easily made gluten free too.
Whether you’re Italian or not – there’s no denying that there are few better things in life than a big bowl of pasta and meatballs!
These Healthy Turkey Meatballs are loaded with flavor, high protein, and super easy to make.
Why You Should Make This Recipe
- Low fat: These meatballs are made with ground turkey making them is lower in fat than traditional meatballs which are often made with ground beef and ground pork.
- High Protein: These meatballs are high in protein making them a great snack or meal!
- Great for meal prep: These meatballs freeze well and are quick to make.
Healthy Turkey Meatball Ingredients:
Substitutions
Ground Turkey: You can sub ground chicken or ground beef for the ground turkey. You can also try our Ground Beef Meatballs Recipe or Ground Chicken Meatballs.
Egg: If you have an egg allergy you can skip the egg, but we do recommend it. It helps bind the meatballs.
Breadcrumbs: You can use whole wheat breadcrumbs or regular breadcrumbs.
Gluten Free: You can substitute gluten free breadcrumbs OR coconut flour to make this recipe gluten free.
Fresh Herbs: Fresh herbs are so much better than dried! If you have fresh basil or parsley on hand, sub in 1 tablespoon of minced fresh herbs for 1/2 teaspoon of dried herbs.
Extra Veggies: You can add in chopped spinach or kale for extra veggies. I like to pulse spinach in the food processor so it gets super fine. You can’t even taste it!
Parmesan Cheese: Cheese is optional in meatballs but we highly recommend it. It helps to make the meatballs super tender and flavorful.
Doubling the batch: You can easily double this batch of meatballs. We highly recommend it. See below for tips on freezing/storing.
How to make Healthy Turkey Meatballs
- Add all ingredients into a large bowl.
- Mix until combined.
- Roll the batter into about 1.5 tablespoon balls and place on cookie sheet. Tip: Use a cookie scoop for consistency!
- Bake at 400° for 10 minutes, then flip and bake for another 10 minutes on the other side.
How to make turkey meatballs on the stovetop: You can easily make these meatballs on the stovetop. Heat a pan with olive oil. Add the meatballs to the pan and cook for 10-15 minutes, turning every 3 minutes until all sides are browned.
How to make turkey meatballs in the air fryer: Air Fry at 400° for 12-15 minutes until golden brown, allow to cool + enjoy!
How to make turkey meatballs in the instant pot: We don’t recommend making these meatballs in the instant pot, but it is possible. Place meatballs on top of trivet, stacking as needed.
Cover instant pot and make sure the pressure release is set to sealing. Lastly, set instant pot to pressure cook for 7 minutes.
Liz’s Tips for the Best Meatballs:
Use a large cookie scoop for forming even, equal meatballs! I scoop the batter with a cookie scoop and then roll them for uniform meatballs.
Make a full batch or double batch and freeze some of these clean eating meatballs. It will make your life SO much easier. These freeze perfectly in a big ziploc bag and then you can just defrost them as you need them!
Cook the meatballs in tomato sauce after baking them. They’re delicious on their own, but so yummy when you let them cook low and slow!
Storage
Refrigerator: These meatballs will last in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Freezing: Freeze cooked meatballs in an airtight container for up to 6 months. You can also freeze in a reusable ziploc bag. We don’t recommend freezing the meatballs raw.
Reheating: I microwave these meatballs to reheat them, but you can also cook them on the stovetop until warm or put them in the toaster oven.
What to Serve with Turkey Meatballs
These turkey meatballs are perfect on their own but here are some other ideas:
- With Crockpot Tomato Sauce – The key to the best turkey meatballs ever is cooking them IN sauce after they have been baked. I like to let my meatballs cook low and slow for hours in our homemade sauce. Cooking in jarred sauce also works!
- Over pasta: We like to serve these over Homemade Ricotta Cavatelli – so yummy!
- Over zoodles (zucchini noodles)– If you don’t have a spiralizer you have to get one! As much as I love eating a bowl of pasta – spiralized zucchini is a great lower calorie option. We also like hearts of palm noodles.
- Over a salad – These meatballs are great over spring mix with a yummy dressing. We like our Greek Salad Dressing Recipe or with our Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing.
ground turkey meatball faqs
The healthiest meatballs are high in protein and low in carbs/fat. These meatballs are made from lean ground turkey and you can use almond/coconut flour instead of breadcrumbs to make them lower in carbs!
Turkey meatballs are healthier than beef for a few reasons. Ground turkey is lower in calories and fat than ground beef – making turkey meatballs a healthier choice than beef meatballs.
These turkey meatballs have roughly 70 calories per meatball.
Adding an egg to meatballs is a good idea. It works as a binder that helps hold the meatballs together
You can make meatballs stick together a few different ways. Breadcrumbs, milk, and eggs all act as binders for meatballs.
Turkey meatballs fall apart if they have too little egg, milk, or breadcrumbs in them.
You want to ensure you have the right ratio of meat and binders in your filling to make juicy meatballs that stay together.
Will meatballs fall apart without breadcrumbs? No, meatballs will not fall apart without breadcrumbs, but they might not be as tender. If you’re not using breadcrumbs in this recipe, you can sub with coconut flour and it will help to bind them.
Other healthy turkey recipes:
We love ground turkey! It’s so versatile and delicious. We have a whole list of the Best Healthy Ground Turkey Recipes but here are some of our favs!
Easy Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 egg
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- ½ cup minced onion
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic about 3 cloves
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Oven Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and prepare a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.
- Shape 2 tablespoons of the mixture into a ball, and repeat until 16 meatballs have been formed. Place on a baking sheet.
- Bake the meatballs for 20 minutes at 400 degrees F or until they are golden brown.
- Serve with your favorite sauce and pasta.
Instant Pot Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl until combined. Roll into approximately 2 inch balls and place on cookie sheet.
- Freeze meatballs for 10 minutes to make them easier to handle.
- Once meatballs have been frozen, place trivet insert into Instant Pot. Pour 1 cup of water into bottom of pot.
- Place meatballs on top of trivet, stacking as needed.
- Cover instant pot and make sure the pressure release is set to sealing. Set instant pot to pressure cook for 7 minutes.
- Allow pressure to naturally release for 5 minutes. Release any remaining pressure and remove with tongs.
- See Notes for additional tips/tricks for cooking meatballs in instant pot.
- Serve with your favorite sauce and pasta.
Air Fryer Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees.
- Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined
- Roll into approximately 2 inch balls and place in greased air fryer basket
- Air Fry at 400 for 12-15 minutes until golden brown, allow to cool + enjoy!
- Serve with your favorite sauce and pasta.
Made these last night and we all enjoyed them! I love that they came together so fast! Thanks for creating such great recipes!
I made this gluten free with coconut flour but I think I did something wrong. Does the coconut flour make the meatballs more dried out?
They should not be dry! Did you use fat free turkey? We recommend 93/7 or 90/10
Been making this recipe for a while, and absolutely love the ease of cooking these in tomato basil sauce in the crock pot. Super tender and very delicious!
These look great – I am going to make them tomorrow. How long should I put them in the crockpot with the sauce in the slow cooker? Thank you.
Hi Heidi- I cook the meatballs completely per the directions in the post and then add them to the tomato sauce. I usually cook them for 8 hours, but any amount of time will be fine. The longer they cook the more tender they are!
Thank you for this. My doctor placed me on keto for blood sugar issues/pcos/weightloss and I have a daughter allergic to dairy/beef/pork and my kids really wanted meatball subs for Christmas dinner and I had searched the internet for a while before I found this recipe that could give everyone what they want/ need. You saved Christmas!
So happy you liked them, Rachel! We have lots of Keto friendly/dairy/beef free recipes on our site – hope you find some more you can enjoy!
Obsessed is an understatement. I meal prep these every week because they’re so easy and so delish. I’ve tried making them a variety of ways with substitutes mentioned and every time it’s absolutely amazing. My favorite on the site
Thank you Kim!! I’m so glad you like the meatballs 🙂
We make these all the time for our lunch meal prep! So delicious!
Thank you so much, Amanda! So glad you like the meatballs!
YUM!!!!! These are amazing ! Even by themselves full of flavor, the fresh herbs make a difference.,
So glad you liked them!!
Made these for dinner tonight and they came out amazing! Definitely a family favorite! (Even my picky 3 year old loves them)
This makes me so happy to hear, Jessica! So glad you both enjoy them!
These meatballs are so good. I was nervous I would be able to taste the coconut flour, but I didn’t even notice with sauce on them. This is definitely a new staple in my house.
Thank you so much, Lindsey! You really can’t taste the coconut flour at all 🙂
I make these all the time, but this time made them with my favorite gluten free italian breadcrumbs and added some fresh parm like suggested – I honestly didn’t think it was possible to love them more but I’m OBSESSED. My only regret was not making more because they didn’t last more than two days!
Yay! So glad you like them. We always double the batch and put a bunch of them in the freezer!
I made these with dried herbs because my grocery store didn’t have any of the fresh ones that I needed and the meatballs were still absolutely delicious!! I added a jalapeño because I love spice but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Served them with whole30 compliant marinara sauce over zoodles. Going to be a weekly dinner for us! Thank you Liz!
So glad you liked them, Courtney! Love the addition of jalapeño
These are awesome for meal prepping! Super easy and this recipe makes a ton! So they will last all week. Also delicious.
Thanks Savannah! We love to meal prep them too 🙂 Glad you enjoy them!
One of my favorite go-to recipes on this site! Gluten free and packed with so much flavor, I always make a double batch with intention to freeze but we end up eating all of it in two days. It’s so good you can eat with or without sauce.
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you like them! They’re great plain.. in a salad.. with sauce.. possibilites are endless 🙂
so good!! i froze half of it and they were super easy!!
So glad you liked them, Gigi!
These are my favorite go-to meal prep recipe!! I love them. So good with pasta or on their own.
I made a batch of these to freeze so I would have meals for surgery recovery. There’s so many things you can do with these and they taste amazing!
Yay!! Totally agree- they’re perfect for stocking your freezer/fridge with! So easy and yummy!
Probably my favorite go to quick dish! I like to add some greens into the mixture and freeze the turkey when they’re cooked.
Thank you so much, Kaitlyn! We always freeze these too – they’re great to be able to defrost for a quick meal!
I have a granddaughter who LOVES meatballs, but I haven’t been able to make them for her since her family began eating grain-free. I am super excited because there isn’t anything in these she can’t have! So, even though I haven’t made them yet, I am giving them 5 stars, because there is hope! Woohoo!
You are so sweet, Linda! I can assure you – grain free meatballs ARE possible!! I grew up in a big Italian family. When you cook these in sauce all day on the stove they get SO tender – your grandaughter will love them!
These turkey meatballs are my go-to meal prep item. I love that they’re Whole 30 friendly, simple ingredients and can eat them for any meal. My personal fave is over zoodles with a good tomato basil marinara!
Thank you so much, Courtney!! I’m with you on the zoodles and marinara.. that’s the best!
The first time I made these I was skeptical because there’s no cheese and no breadcrumbs. I wanted meatballs without the dairy and the extra carbs, but I couldn’t help but wonder if they would actually taste good. THEY DO. THEY TASTE SO GOOD. When I tasted them for the first time, I actually said out loud (to no one by myself and my dog), “Holy (beep beep), these are amazing!!!” (I’m censoring myself so you can keep your blog PG.) Now whenever I’m making them, I double the batch. I make them every 2-3 weeks and always have these delicious and healthy meatballs in my freezer for those nights I don’t want to or don’t have time to cook!
Even I was skeptical about making a cheese and breadcrumb free meatball, but they really ARE delicious!! Love that you double batch them – I do the same thing!!
These meatballs were SO good! We used fresh basil and you’re so right, definitely makes a big difference! We’ll be making these OFTEN!
You’re the sweetest!! I’m so glad you like them!
Sounds tasty! I’ll have to tinker around with this to see if I can find a lower carb substitute for breadcrumbs that won’t compromise texture and flavor.
You could swap the bread crumbs for almond meal! 🙂
Sub oatmeal quick oats for breadcrumbs still very tasty
I’ve never tried quick oats as a sub in this recipe so I’m not sure if it would be successful. I have tried almond meal which is a lower carb option!
I used to smash meatballs in my face like no other! They were absolutely addictive 🙂
They’re sooo good!
Meat balls are something I DO not make often but I LOVEEEEEEE them so I must! They’re just so so so easy!
I love em’ too, girl!