Mini Turkey Meatballs

Giada De Laurentiis

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Show: Everyday ItalianEpisode: Antipasti Party

Picture of Mini Turkey Meatballs Recipe 3 Videos | Photo: Mini Turkey Meatballs Recipe
Rated 5 stars out of 5
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Total Time:
50 min
Prep
25 min
Cook
25 min
Yield:
42 mini meatballs
Level:
Easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 small onion, grated
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons ketchup
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
  • 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 pound ground dark turkey meat
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 26 ounces Simple Tomato Sauce, recipe follows, or store-bought marinara sauce

Directions

Add the onion, garlic, egg, bread crumbs, ketchup, parsley, Parmesan, Pecorino, salt and pepper to a large bowl and blend. Mix in the turkey. Shape the turkey mixture into 1 1/4-inch-diameter meatballs. Place on a large plate or baking sheet.

Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and saute until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Transfer the meatballs to a plate. Pour off any excess oil. Add the marinara sauce, about 3 cups. Return all the meatballs to the pan. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly and the flavors blend, 15 to 20 minutes. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Transfer the meatball mixture to a serving bowl. Serve with toothpicks.

SERVES 42 (appetizer)

Calories: 48

Total Fat: 3 grams

Saturated Fat: 1 grams

Protein: 3 grams

Total carbohydrates: 3 grams

Sugar: 0 grams

Fiber: 0 grams

Cholesterol: 15 milligrams

Sodium: 180 milligrams

Simple Tomato Sauce:

  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
  • 4 to 6 basil leaves
  • 2 dried bay leaves
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional

In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves and simmer covered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.

Add half the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.

If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.

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Newest Ratings and Reviews

Read all 230 reviews

  • on February 08, 2012

    Flag

    This is the BEST turkey meatball recipe out there!!! They come out SUPER MOIST and with SO MUCH FLAVOR!! I made them for my hubby and he just couldn't stop talking about them and how much I had to make them when we have visitors : Thank you so much Giada!!!

    people found this review Helpful.
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  • on January 31, 2012

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    AWESOME! I've made these meatballs at least a dozen times and I don't even have to measure anymore and they come out perfect everytime, my kids love them too. The only changes I made are, I use egg whites instead of eggs and I don't pan fry them. I cook them in my stone pan or glass pan, which I have sprayed with pam and put right in the over. The latest is I used this same recipe and made a meatloaf! WOW!!! This is a keeper!

    people found this review Helpful.
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  • on January 28, 2012

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    Bake them! I am by no means a novice cook but trying to pan fry them at the consistency noted in the recipe will only frustrate you. I even added more bread crumbs as some other reviewers recommended, but it was a major failure! To salvage the effort and meat, I turned the meatball crumb-mixture into a meat sauce, but it looked like a pathetic sloppy joe spaghetti. Still, the meat tasted good...

    people found this review Helpful.
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