If you are looking for a creative way to sneak a variety of vegetables into your family’s diet, this Recipe with Turkey Meatballs is for you! Not only are these meatballs full of veggies, but the Roasted Red Pepper Sauce adds an extra boost of plant-based nutrition.
Pair these meatballs with some veggie noodles, and you have an easy, nutrient-dense meal the whole family will enjoy!
Recipe with Turkey Meatballs
Although nobody will ever be able to tell just by taste-testing, the turkey meatballs are actually full of veggies! From carrots, to garlic, onion, and even cauliflower, these meatballs are packed with vegetables! Just like with my Healthy Turkey Meatloaf recipe, not only do the vegetables add a hefty phytonutrient-booster, they also contribute a delicious savory flavor to the meatballs. They even make the meatballs more moist! So not only do extra vegetables add nutritional value, they also add flavor, and tenderness!
However, creating the perfect Recipe with Turkey Meatballs with vegetables requires more than just throwing raw veggies into your ground meat. Here’s my secret to achieving the perfect texture and flavor.
How to Prepare Vegetables
The key to making the addition of a lot of vegetables work in this Recipe for Turkey Meatballs is to use a food processor to mince the vegetables. By using a food processor, you can chop the vegetables into very small pieces in just a few seconds! After the vegetables are minced, saute them extra virgin olive oil before mixing with the meat. This creates flavorful, and soft veggies that blend perfectly into the meatballs. While this is an extra step, it’s definitely worth it!
Red Pepper Sauce
The Red Pepper Sauce in this recipe adds even more flavor! Vibrant and red, it might look like your everyday marinara, but it’s everything but ordinary. The coriander, lime, and roasted red pepper puree, adds a distinct Middle Eastern flavor. This flavor is very different from an Italian-style red sauce. By slow cooking the meatballs in the zesty, savory saucy mixture, you’ll get a super flavorful and very moist turkey meatball.
While you can most definitely skip the Red Pepper Sauce and opt for a more traditional sauce recipe, this unique sauce adds a flavor you don’t want to miss!
Vegetable Pasta
While you can add this Recipe with Turkey Meatballs to whatever noodles you prefer, I love using veggie noodles! Here are my favorite vegetable-based noodles to combine this recipe with:
Spaghetti Squash: Cooking spaghetti squash is so easy and full of nutrition. You can roast, bake or microwave to add to any recipe.
Zucchini Noodles: This Zucchini Noodle Recipe with Shrimp is a delicious substitute for traditional noodles. Simple replace the shrimp for these meatballs!
Looking for more veggie-noodle ideas? Click here!
Ready for the full recipe? Let’s get into it!
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Recipe with Turkey Meatballs
If you are looking for a creative way to sneak a variety of vegetables into your family’s diet, this Recipe with Turkey Meatballs is for you!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 105 minutes
- Total Time: 135 minutes
- Yield: 20 meatballs 1x
Ingredients
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce:
- 12-ounces roasted red peppers, drained
- 14.5 ounces crushed canned tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- Juice from 1/2 lime
- 2 teaspoons raw honey
Turkey Meatballs:
- 2 carrots, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 cup frozen chopped cauliflower OR 1 cup fresh cauliflower blanched in boiling water for 3 minutes
- 1 pound pasture-raised ground turkey
- 1 pastured egg, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup gluten free panko crumbs, see notes below for alternative
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 Himalayan pink salt, plus more to taste
Instructions
Red Pepper Sauce
- In a food processor, add the roasted red peppers, crushed tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, salt, Worcestershire sauce, coriander, lime juice, and raw honey.
- Process until smooth and creamy.
Turkey Meatballs
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil a large baking pan.
- Place carrots, onion and garlic in a food processor and process until very finely chopped.
- Remove vegetables from food processor and add the cauliflower.
- Process cauliflower until very finely chopped.
- Heat olive oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the carrots and garlic and sauté 2-3 minutes, or until tender. Season lightly with salt.
- Add the cauliflower and saute for 2-3 minutes. Season with additional salt, to taste.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together the ground turkey and egg.
- Stir in the vegetables.
- Add the panko crumbs (or toasted bread crumbs), Worcestershire sauce, coriander and salt.
- Form meat mixture into 20 meatballs.
- Place meatballs on a baking sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
- Remove meatballs from the oven, and carefully transfer to a crock-pot.
- Pour the prepared sauce on top. Cover and cook on low heat for 1 1/2 hours.
- Serve warm, and enjoy!
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Notes
If you want to make the turkey meatballs gluten free you can substitute one slice of gluten free whole grain bread for the panko crumbs. You’ll want to toast the bread and then use the food processor to process into crumbs before continuing on with the recipe.
LOOKING FOR MORE EVERYDAY HEALTHY DINNER RECIPES?
If you liked the recipe for Slow Cooker Turkey Meatballs, be sure to check out a full month’s menu of delicious healthy dinner recipes (including weekly shopping lists!) in our Clean Cuisine Dinners digital cookbook.
