These Easy Baked Turkey Meatballs are freezer-friendly and perfect for meal prep! Serve them with zucchini noodles for a low carb meal.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Spiralized zucchini – buy pre-spiralized zucchini or spiralize your own at home.
- Tomato sauce – use your favourite jarred tomato sauce.
Baked turkey meatballs
- Ground turkey – you could also make these meatballs with ground chicken or extra-lean ground beef.
- Breadcrumbs – panko, almond flour or parmesan cheese can also be used.
- Fresh parsley – swap out for 1 tbsp. dried parsley instead or leave this out altogether.
- Egg – you can leave this out but it helps bind the meatballs together.
- Yellow onion – white onion or shallots would be the best substitutes here.
- Dijon mustard – use a bit of stone-ground mustard instead.
- Garlic – I prefer freshly minced garlic but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
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How to make turkey meatballs
- Mix together the meatball ingredients.
- Roll the mixture into meatballs.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Spiralize zucchini and top with sauce.
- Serve and enjoy!
What to serve with turkey meatballs
While the meatballs are cooking, you can assemble any sides you want to pair with them (grains or veggies).
I paired these baked turkey meatballs with some spiralized zucchini and topped the zoodles with some jarred tomato sauce for an easy meal – it's a great way to make these meatballs lower carb while also eliminating any extra cooking time.
If you don’t have any zucchini noodles on hand, feel free to serve with another side dish of your choice like a nice salad, some rice or pasta.
Frequently Asked Questions
The breadcrumbs and egg in these meatballs will prevent them from falling apart since they act as a binder.
Yes! This recipe calls for one egg. You can leave the egg out, but it might make the meatballs more crumbly.
These meatballs will need to bake for 20 minutes at 400° Fahrenheit. The entire meal takes about a half hour, so it’s great for busy weeknights!
Storing and reheating
These meatballs are fantastic for meal prep! All you really need to do is pair them with a vegetable in meal prep bowls and you've got healthy lunches for the week. They’ll last in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Serve them with the spiralized zucchini and tomato sauce you see here, or you can even just enjoy them with a salad or coleslaw on the side. Eat Smart makes these awesome kale slaws that I'll sometimes add to the side if I'm in a pinch and then I've got a relatively low carb meal prep bowl!
To reheat these meatballs, just sprinkle a tiny bit of water over top so the meatballs retain their moisture, then microwave for 2 minutes or so. Serve with the zucchini noodles and tomato sauce and dig in.
Freezing this recipe
You can totally freeze these turkey meatballs. As long as you eat them within 3 months, they'll stay juicy and good as new so you can add them to last minute meal prep bowls or heat them up along with some pasta, rice or veggies for dinner – your choice!
Freeze the meatballs in a large Ziploc freezer bag that's labelled with the date you've frozen them, then just take out a couple of meatballs as needed or reheat them all at once. You can also store the meatballs in glass bowls to reduce your plastic consumption.
If you're reheating from the freezer, sprinkle some water over top, then microwave for 4 minutes until heated through. You can reheat them straight from the freezer with no defrosting time needed! From there, enjoy one or two at a time as a snack or add them to spaghetti sauce. The options are endless!
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More ground turkey recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning this recipe into meal prep.
- I get all my free-range ground chicken and turkey from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
- Get a meat thermometer to make sure your meatballs are cooked through.
- Store your meatballs in labelled freezer bags.
- Use these Ziploc bag holders to add your meatballs to more easily.
- Freeze these meatballs in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months.
Easy Baked Turkey Meatballs {Freezer-Friendly}
Ingredients
- 2-3 zucchini, spiralized (I just buy a 500g package from the grocery store pre-made)
- 1 jar tomato sauce (make sure there's no sugar added for Whole 30)
Baked turkey meatballs
- 1 lb ground turkey or chicken (you could even do extra lean ground beef too!)
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tbsp dried)
- 1 egg
- 1 medium-sized yellow onion, grated
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
Instructions
- Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and preheat oven to 400 F.
- Mix all ingredients for ground turkey meatballs in a large bowl, stirring until well-combined. Wet hands with water and roll into 1-inch meatballs, creating 20 of them. Add to baking sheet in rows and bake for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, spiralize zucchini or add prepared zucchini to meal prep bowls and top with a bit of tomato sauce. When meatballs come out of oven, add 5 to each bowl. Bowls will keep in fridge up to 5 days.
- If freezing, place in a thick plastic bag and label with date. Will keep in freezer up to 6 months.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
imsen says
LOVE this meatball recipe. It’s my go-to favorite recipe for meatballs.
Jasmine says
Can you heat the zucchini in the microwave with the meatballs?
Taylor Stinson says
Yes for sure! They’ll get cooked a tiny bit (just the right amount). That’s how I reheat this meal.
Kayla Gleaves says
Hi!! I am very new at this and starting a keto diet and I made this recipe which is great by the way! But I was curious how many carbs are in each meatball?
Taylor Stinson says
Hi Kayla – I’m so happy you enjoyed! I don’t have the carb count for each meatball unfortunately. You can plug the ingredients into an app like Myfitnesspal and it will let you know the exact carb count per meatball.
Hannah says
Would you recommend decreasing the baking time if I plan to freeze to ensure they do not dry out when reheating after thawing? Have you ever made these with Zucchini in the meatball as well? Assume you can freeze just the same?
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Hannah – have not tried the zucchini in the meatball but it sounds yummy! I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. And yes you could decrease the cook time up to 2-5 minutes. I wouldn’t suggest any more just because you don’t want the meat to be undercooked. Hope that helps!
Jamie says
Can you freeze the zucchini as well?
Taylor Stinson says
Honestly I wouldn’t! It’s just a suggestion of what to serve with them once you have reheated or if you are enjoying fresh 🙂
Kimberly says
I love these! So easy to make, delicious, and love that you can freeze them (makes life easier when I’m not sure what to make for dinner/lunch). Versatile too–I like the zucchini idea you suggested. I also made meatball subs and, at another time, had them with rice and veggies.
Mary Grady says
Hi
I’m in Chrome and I see no print option. You can do a File print but you get 23 pages worth.
Cheri says
Hi there – your print option does. It work for this recipe. Thanks
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Cheri – my print option should be working for the recipe yes!