Baked turkey meatballs
Baked turkey meatballs that stay juicy, with Parmesan, garlic and a milk-soaked panko binder. 26 g of protein a serving, 18 minutes in the oven, and they freeze well.
- 285
- kcal
- 26g
- protein
- 16g
- fat
- 8g
- carbs
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 18 min
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil, for the pan
- 1/2 cup (30 g) panko breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 lb (450 g) 93% lean ground turkey
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup (25 g) finely grated Parmesan
- 1/2 small onion, grated on a box grater
- 2 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Method
-
1
Heat the oven
Heat the oven to 400°F and brush a rimmed baking sheet with the oil.
-
2
Soak the panko
Stir the panko and milk together in a large bowl and leave 5 minutes, until the crumbs are soft.
-
3
Mix
Add everything else and mix with your hands until just combined. Overmixing makes meatballs dense and springy.
-
4
Shape
With wet hands, roll into about 20 meatballs of 1 1/2 inches (a heaping 2 tablespoons each) and set them on the sheet with a little space between them.
-
5
Bake
Bake 15 to 18 minutes, turning them once halfway, until browned and 165°F in the center. Take them out as soon as they reach it: lean turkey dries out quickly past that.
Keeping turkey meatballs juicy
Ground turkey has much less fat than the beef and pork mix in classic meatballs, and fat is what keeps meatballs moist. Without some help, lean turkey meatballs come out dry and crumbly. Four things make the difference:
- A panade. Breadcrumbs soaked in milk hold moisture inside the meatball as it cooks. It is the single most useful step.
- Grated onion. Grating instead of chopping turns the onion into juice that spreads through the mix, with no crunchy pieces.
- Gentle mixing. Mixing too long makes the proteins bind tightly, and the meatballs turn dense and bouncy. Stop as soon as everything is evenly combined.
- Not overcooking. Turkey is safe at 165°F. An instant-read thermometer is the easiest way to avoid going far past it.
Which ground turkey to buy
Use 93% lean ground turkey, which is a mix of light and dark meat. 99% lean ground turkey is all breast meat, and makes noticeably dry meatballs even with a panade. 85% lean turkey makes the juiciest meatballs, with about 70 kcal more per serving.
Baked, not fried
Baking cooks all the meatballs at once, with no splattering and no turning a dozen times. They brown less than fried meatballs. For more color, run the sheet under the broiler for the last 2 minutes. If you are serving them in sauce, you can also bake them for 12 minutes, until browned but not cooked through, and finish them in simmering marinara for 10 minutes, until 165°F in the center.
How to serve them
- With marinara and pasta: 1/2 cup of marinara adds about 70 kcal a serving, and 2 oz of dry spaghetti about 200 kcal.
- Lower-carb: over zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash with marinara.
- In a sub: on a whole-wheat roll with marinara and a little mozzarella, broiled until melted.
- Greek-style: swap the Parmesan for feta, the Italian seasoning for oregano and mint, and serve with tzatziki, cucumber and pita.
Meal prep and freezing
Cooked meatballs keep 4 days in the fridge. To freeze, cool them completely and freeze in a single layer on the baking sheet, then move them to a freezer bag. They keep 3 months, and you can take out as many as you need. Reheat from frozen in simmering sauce for 15 minutes, or in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Raw meatballs can be frozen the same way and baked from frozen for 22 to 25 minutes.
Gluten-free
Use gluten-free panko or 1/3 cup of quick oats in place of the breadcrumbs, soaked in the milk the same way.
What they are worth nutritionally
A serving of 5 meatballs has about 285 kcal, with 26 g of protein, 16 g of fat and 8 g of carbohydrate. The same meatballs made with 80% lean ground beef would have about 120 kcal and 14 g of fat more per serving. The numbers do not include sauce or pasta.
