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Baked Turkey Meatballs Recipe with Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce – These easy and nourishing turkey meatballs are absolutely fabulous in every way imaginable! These baked turkey meatballs are loaded with flavors. Topped with a simple garlic herb butter sauce, they’re impossible to resist. Serve the turkey meatballs over cauliflower rice for a low-carb or keto-friendly dinner. Enjoy!
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Ingredients list for the Baked Turkey Meatballs Recipe
- 2 lbs (900g) ground turkey
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, chopped
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons fresh minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper flakes, optional
- 1 tablespoon grated or shredded parmesan, for garnish
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh sage, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce, optional (we used Sriracha)
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
- 3 clove garlic, minced
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Baked turkey meatballs
These baked turkey meatballs are fork-tender, filling, and full of flavor – the perfect base for a low-carb, nourishing dinner. Baked turkey meatballs are super easy to make, and baking the turkey meatballs in the oven means you have more time to get the rest of dinner done! Turkey is leaner than other meats like beef or pork, making these meatballs lighter but still super tasty.
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Directions
1. How to make this baked turkey meatballs recipe: Preheat your oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Lightly spray a baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Combine ground turkey, mozzarella, parmesan, egg, onion powder, garlic, Italian seasoning, crushed chili pepper flakes in a large salad bowl. Use a cookie scoop to form the turkey meatballs all the same size and arrange the turkey meatballs in the baking dish.
3. Bake your turkey meatballs for 15 to 20 minutes or until cooked through. Remove the baked turkey meatballs from the oven and drain the excess fat with a spoon, if necessary.
4. In the meantime, make garlic butter herb sauce: melt butter in the microwave by 30 seconds increments, until completely melted. Add lemon juice, chopped parsley, rosemary, thyme, sage, minced garlic, hot sauce, salt, and pepper to the melted butter and stir well.
5. Drizzle the baked turkey meatballs with the garlic butter herb sauce and sprinkle with grated parmesan if you like. Return the turkey meatballs in the oven and finish baking for 5 to 10 minutes, making sure not to dry up the meatballs.
6. Remove from the oven and serve the baked turkey meatballs with a side salad or over cauliflower rice as pictured. Enjoy!
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Tips for the baked turkey meatball recipe
- Try to keep the turkey meatballs the same size as much as possible so that they can cook evenly.
- Don’t over-mix or overwork the turkey mixture. This can make the turkey meatballs tough and difficult to cook.
- You can also mix 1 lb (450g) ground beef and 1 lb (450g) spicy pork sausage instead of using ground turkey.
How to bake turkey meatballs in the oven
- Gently roll out the meatballs because they can end up tough and chewy if they’re packed too tightly. Turkey is leaner than beef so can dry out quickly so add a little butter or oil if you feel the meatballs will be too dry.
- Use a cookie scoop: Keeping all of your turkey meatballs of the same size means that they will cook evenly. This way you won’t overcook some of the meatballs while the others are not done yet.
How do you make turkey meatballs that don’t fall apart?
Add an egg to keep turkey meatballs compact, juicy, and moist. The egg will act as a binder to keep the turkey meatball together and prevent them from falling apart. Also, keep your ground turkey and other ingredients as cold as possible and make the turkey meatballs mixture in a chilled bowl. This way you’ll keep the fat from melting and breaking down before you bake the turkey meatballs.
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
How do you make meatballs more flavorful?
To make the turkey meatballs more flavorful we use many spices: Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic, chili pepper flakes, rosemary, thyme, sage, and many more. The addition of parmesan and mozzarella makes the meatball cheesy and delicious.
What to serve with baked turkey meatballs?
We recommend you serve the baked turkey meatballs over cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles if you want to stay low-carb, or over rice, pasta, or even couscous!
What to do with leftover turkey meatballs?
You can keep the baked turkey meatballs for up to 2 days in an airtight container in your refrigerator. Reheat in the oven for 10-15 minutes. These turkey meatballs freeze very well too! So make a big batch, freeze, and simply reheat the turkey meatballs and eat when you want a quick dinner on the table
More turkey meatball recipes
Turkey meatballs are fun to make and eat. They are versatile and easy to customize to your liking. Here are a few other turkey meatballs recipes you might like:
- Cheesy Meatballs Casserole {Low Carb}
- Garlic Butter Turkey Meatballs with Lemon Zucchini Noodles
- Easy Turkey Patties
- Creamy Spinach Turkey Meatballs
Photo credit: © Eatwell101.com
Leave a Reply
Jill
2024-04-05 06:47:15
So flavorful and delicious. Will be making these again soon!
Angela C
2024-02-27 19:38:26
This is a super awesome recipe. It’s so delicious and easy/ quick preparation!! Will be making again and again for sure !
Mareed.
2023-01-10 17:21:34
Delicious. Ground turkey can be a bit bland, but this had pizazz.This recipe is a keeper!
Hailey
2022-10-27 21:56:41
This is one of my all time favorite recipes. I have made it every other week for months now lol
Kara
2022-10-23 20:40:25
So delicious!! The lemon adds such a great flavor!
Jessica
2022-06-05 19:51:38
This was so yummy!
Mary
2022-04-27 20:02:02
FABULOUS!!!
Lori
2022-03-13 20:09:49
What a tasty recipe for ground turkey! It’s easy to make and it tastes delicious and smells great. Served it with cauliflower. I think it would go great with spaghetti squash too. I will make this recipe again.
Katherine
2022-03-10 10:39:47
I'm planning on making this with spaghetti squash! YUMMY
Momcat
2022-02-08 21:25:57
Delicious, I cooked them in a small convection oven and served them to my husband &son with rice. I took riced cauliflower. Always looking for recipes that can be used for low carb meals but also satisfy the family. My husband said to file this one, it’s a keeper!
Kathleen
2022-01-25 19:50:28
Delicious! Husband said “wow this is good!” Yay me! Thanks for the recipe.
Bev
2021-12-29 20:31:00
They were very nice. Had to adjust a few ingredients , but hubby loved them
Stephanie
2021-10-19 14:13:48
These were fantastic, such great flavor in between the itialian seasonings, hot sauce and flakes and the lemon! I skipped ahead so I ended up adding the Sriracha and red pepper flakes to the pound of Italian seasoned turkey I had. Due to using the one pound, one egg made it a little sticky/runny so I added some panko. Served with couscous and asparagus.
Amy McCord
2021-09-17 11:12:59
Fantastic! Loaded with flavor! I served mine over cauli-mash. Will be making again, and again, and again....Thank you for sharing! BTW, these even passed the picky husband test!
Lucy
2021-03-08 12:21:10
I have to believe the herbs are fresh, as "chopped" is mentioned.
Terri
2021-03-06 19:40:05
Could you please clarify if Thyme, Sage, and Rosemary are dried or fresh?
Amanda
2021-02-22 14:17:35
For this recipe are you using fresh or dried rosemary, thyme and sage?
