Turkey Meatballs

These are good. No, great. No, fantabulous. :) I have made them a few times now and the one thing I like about them is that you can change them very easily to focus on a different ingredient. The first time I made them, It was all about the basil.

This time, it's all about the...

Garlic!! I love garlic, it's yummy, and smells good. I could write love songs to garlic. But I won't because I think that you would run away from this blog crying.

However you can tweak this recipe to focus on whatever spice you want. Heck, even cilantro.


I don't judge.


But anyway, this is really easy to put together (and I apologize for not having a decent picture of these ingredients, but I forgot)

You need 19.2 oz of ground turkey (or 16 oz, but the package I bought was 19.2 oz so I just used all of it), 2/3 cup of breadcrumbs (I just used progresso, I didn't make my own since I can't tell the difference), about 1/4 cup FINELY diced onion, 3-4 cloves garlic (you can use more or less depending on how deep your love is for garlic), about 2 teaspoons dried or fresh basil, chopped, one egg, and a sprinkle of onion powder and garlic powder (this can be left out but I love the flavor so I always add some)

Mix that all together. Really mix it. C'mon, keep mixing - your arm will get tired. But it's worth it. Then use a cookie scoop, one of the ones with the little thing that slides back and forth to get the stuff out, any size. The size I used made 25 meatballs. Scoop the meat mixture and roll it into balls.

They should end up looking like this:

Now refrigerate those babies and get started on marinara sauce!!

For the marinara sauces, you need 2 28 oz cans of diced tomatoes (or crushed or whole, it doesn't matter they will be pureed anyway), 5-6 teaspoons basil, either fresh or dried, a sprinkle of sage (about an eighth of a teaspoon), 4 teaspoons sugar, and about 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder. (I always add extra onion powder though, so make sure you taste it to make sure the combination is right for you)

Pour all of this in a food processor, and process it up until it is at the consistency you like best. I usually make sure there are absolutely no chunks.

Then set the sauce aside for while you do this:

Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil into a skillet on medium-low heat, and add 5-6 cloves of minced garlic. Saute garlic until golden brown. It will smell AMAZING at this point.

This picture makes me hungry.

Now take the pureed marinara sauce mixture and pour it into the garlic and olive oil, and stir it all up. Cook on medium low for 20-25 minutes.

While the sauce is cooking, take the meatballs out of the fridge and heat up about a tablespoon of olive oil in a small skillet. Cook about 8 meatballs at a time so they are browned on each side

Hungry yet? I am!

When they are done browning (keep in mind this is not meant to cook them all the way through) they should look like this:

Like the Disney princess plate? I got it in Disney World when my band went this Christmas.

Then you put all of the meatballs in the marinara sauce and cook for about 20 min. It could be less, it could be more, make sure you check the inside of one to make sure they are all the way cooked.

When they are done, ladle them into a bowl (yes, ladle, it helps give you more of the wonderful tomato sauce) And eat.

Yum. I love these meatballs more than normal ones, and I could eat that sauce with a spoon, so in the words of Pioneer Woman, "Lawsie that is good!" And healthy. But mostly good. Serve over pasta for extra special deliciousness!