Super healthy (and still tasty) baked turkey meatballs, comin’ right up!
In my house, Sunday means I’m making some kind of homemade marinara sauce. No, I’m not Italian, just addicted to delicious food, okay? And now Taylor is addicted to my PERFECT red sauce (not bragging or anything) so I gotta make it on the regs. But I digress. Usually we’re picking between the impossible choice of chicken parmesan or some kind of meatball/ bolognese situation with pasta. Good problems to have. I recently tried out this gluten-free and dairy-free version of my go-to meatballs. Scary, I know, but I’m less than 3 months away from the wedding! And guess what, they were delicious! They didn’t taste like my normal meatballs with all the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, but they were definitely yummy on their own. The almond flour really gives it a good, nutty flavor that keeps you coming back for more!
My sincere recommendation is that you quadruple this recipe and eat one serving tonight, portion a couple servings out for lunches this week, and freeze a couple batches for a rainy day. You’ll never regret it!
A few ways I LOVE to eat these simple, versatile baked turkey meatballs:
- Drenched in marinara sauce and served over pasta (or zoodles!)
- Served with some hot pepper jelly, (omg I got the best kind at our farmer’s market and am eating it on everything!) all you need is a toothpick and an appetite.
- Eat them on a sub (which may or may not break the whole gluten-free thing…)
- Skip Ikea and make your own creamy mushroom sauce to slather them in.
I mean honestly, these are super basic meatballs that will take on any flavor profile beautifully. That’s why you need to go make a big batch. NOW!!
Baked Turkey Meatballs (Whole30/ Paleo)
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Ally
Serves: 8-10 meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground turkey
- 1 egg
- ½ cup almond flour, plus more if needed
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, minced
- ½ tsp. salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Coconut oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F and line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easy clean up. Spray the baking sheet with the coconut oil spray to keep everything non-stick.
- Grab a large mixing bowl. Add the turkey, egg, almond flour, minced garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Using your clean hands, gently mix together all the ingredients until they are well combined. The texture will likely be a little stickier and gooier than typical meatballs.
- Get about 2-3 Tbsp. worth of the mixture in your hands and roll into a tight ball. If the mixture does not keep its shape, you can add a couple Tbsp. more of almond flour, remixing, until the meatballs hold their shape.
- Place the meatball on the lined baking sheet. Roll and repeat for the rest of the mixture. You'll end up with about 8-10 meatballs.
- Spray the tops of the meatballs with coconut oil spray to get them golden brown.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until cooked through and no longer pink in the center.
- You can use them immediately, or wait until they cool enough to pack up and store in the fridge (up to 4 days) or in the freezer (for a couple months!).
Best regards,
Thompson Henneberg