Baked Turkey Meatballs With Spinach
"This is NOT my recipe... but it's awesome. I made a white sauce to go with it. Delicious!
http://homecookingmemories.com/baked-turkey-meatballs-with-spinach-10-ideas-for-meatballs/"
- Ready In:
- 40mins
- Ingredients:
- 14
- Yields:
-
42 meatballs
ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1⁄4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1⁄2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1⁄4 - 1⁄2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional, adjust to your preference)
- 16 ounces frozen chopped spinach (defrosted, drained, and squeezed to remove excess water)
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1⁄3 cup chicken broth
- 2 1⁄2 lbs lean ground turkey
- 3⁄4 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 large eggs
directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a large baking sheet by spraying with cooking spray. I actually line my baking sheet with foil and then spray with cooking spray.
- In a frying pan on medium heat, heat olive oil until hot. Then add onion, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Sauté until onion is tender (about 5-6 minutes total time).
- Add spinach to pan and combine with onion mixture. Add Worcestershire sauce and chicken broth and mix well to combine. Cook until most of the liquid has cooked out (evaporated). I don't have much liquid in my pan after I combine all these, but it will depend on how well you drained your spinach. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
- In a large bowl, combine the turkey, bread crumbs, and egg. Add cooled onion/spinach mixture to the meat. I do all of this step with my hands, but you can use a spoon if you prefer.
- With your hands, create meatballs that are about 1 - 1 1/2 inches in diameter and place them on the baking sheet. Leave a little bit of space between each meatball. When you are done shaping your meatballs, you will probably have about 40-42 meatballs from this recipe. Don't need that many? Freeze them after baking or cut this recipe in half (but I say freeze them and then you've done the work only once and have a future meal).
- Bake until your meatballs are cooked through with an internal temperature of 160 degrees F - which was about 20 minutes for my oven. Remove from oven and serve as desired.
Questions & Replies
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How many oz or eat balls is a serving size? receipt makes 42 meat balls
Reviews
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This has become a family favorite. We have been making it for at least 2 years now. My son is allergic to eggs, so we substitute ground flax seeds and usually use fresh spinach instead of frozen. Great flavor combination! Easy and quick. We serve with a red sauce!
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This is the second time I have made these meatballs. The first time, I made them almost exactly as written, although I used fresh spinach instead of frozen. They were terrific. Tonight I had very little spinach, so I substituted fresh arugula and fresh romaine plus a little bit of fresh basil to round out the greens. As suggested by another reviewer, I also used whole wheat seasoned breadcrumbs, added a little fresh jalapeno to the sautéed garlic and onion, and a handful of parmesan cheese to the whole mixture before baking. They were absolutely delicious this time, too! I served it with whole wheat pasta and pre-made marinara from Costco. This is my new go-to baked meatball recipe. Thanks, emcglone. -
4.5 stars! Made this today and we loved them! I wanted meatballs I could bake and we are also trying to be healthier (although I did use some for Swedish meatballs tonight, which is not so healthy but yummy!). I used a 3# package of 85% lean turkey and 2-9 oz. packages of frozen spinach. I got LOTS of meatballs, about 70+ so mine are smaller than the poster's were. It was a lot of spinach, kinda too much, but the overall flavor was so good and most importantly, my little one ate them and said 'more, please'. I also used whole wheat Italian seasoned breadcrumbs; I mixed the Worchester sauce in with the turkey/egg/breadcrumbs simply because I've always done it that way. Next time I may try less spinach and either brown rice or quinoa instead of bread crumbs (trying to eat less processed stuff) but most definitely will make this again, and I have a ton in the freezer which is wonderful for quick future meals. -
These are just what I was looking for! So tasty and easy to make. I served them with a white sauce and veggies and it was a tasty and easy on the calorie dinner. Thanks for posting.
Tweaks
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4.5 stars! Made this today and we loved them! I wanted meatballs I could bake and we are also trying to be healthier (although I did use some for Swedish meatballs tonight, which is not so healthy but yummy!). I used a 3# package of 85% lean turkey and 2-9 oz. packages of frozen spinach. I got LOTS of meatballs, about 70+ so mine are smaller than the poster's were. It was a lot of spinach, kinda too much, but the overall flavor was so good and most importantly, my little one ate them and said 'more, please'. I also used whole wheat Italian seasoned breadcrumbs; I mixed the Worchester sauce in with the turkey/egg/breadcrumbs simply because I've always done it that way. Next time I may try less spinach and either brown rice or quinoa instead of bread crumbs (trying to eat less processed stuff) but most definitely will make this again, and I have a ton in the freezer which is wonderful for quick future meals.
