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Baked meatballs are the best. Easy, flavorful and you can have some left over to freeze or use as a topping for another meal…like a pizza.
For some reason, I always thought meatballs were just so dang difficult to make. Either I couldn’t get them formed well and they would fall apart or I could never get them cooked all the way through….always something.
These little balls of meat can’t be allowed to get the best of me though, so I tested out several cooking methods until I came up with the best recipe.
For those of you who are following along with my postpartum Weight Watchers journey this year, I have to tell you how fantastic these meatballs are on this plan. For two meatballs it is 3 points. Just THREE POINTS!! So you can enjoy several meatballs and top with the sauce of your choice and not feel guilty or hungry after enjoying a plateful!
Now, when you hear the word ‘meatball’ your mind tends to immediately think marinara sauce, spaghetti and beef. However, these meatballs are different. For starters, these are made with turkey- ground turkey and turkey sausage. These are also baked without sauce (however you can bake them with marinara like I did for one batch as you can see from the pictures above) And all of these differences were incorporated into this recipe on purpose for one reason- versatility!
I have three different ways that I suggest enjoying these baked turkey meatballs for you below!
Three Different Ways to Enjoy The Meatballs
Naked over steamed fresh spinach & mozzarella cheese: 6 Weight Watchers points (4 meatballs, 1 cup spinach, 1/8 cup light mozzarella cheese)
If you add marinara when baking them, you can enjoy them over zucchini noodles: 4 meatballs, 1/2 cup pasta sauce like Muir Glen’s Italian Herb and a cup of zucchini noodles equal 6 weight watchers points.
Finally, you can get creative after enjoying any of the above meal ideas and turn the meatballs into a Meatball Cauliflower Crust Pizza! Just 6 Weight Watchers points per slice. Get the full recipe for my Meatball Cauliflower Crust Pizza here.
The Recipe
Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Then get out a 9" x 14" glass baking dish, spray with non-stick cooking spray and set aside for later.
Next you'll need a large mixing bowl and your food processor or blender.
Crush the wheat thin crackers in a plastic bag as fine as you can get them, then add to your mixing bowl along with the salt, Italian seasoning, egg and 3/4 cup fresh shredded parmesan.
Then in a food processor or blender, toss in the fresh basil, onion (peeled, trimmed and quartered first) and garlic. Chop together until minced very fine. You want all the pieces to be small so it mixes in nicely with the meat. Once that's done, scoop it all into a couple layers of paper towels or cheese cloth if you have it, and squeeze excess liquid out. Then add the minced onion to your mixing bowl with the rest of the items. Stir everything together until combined and moistened. Then add in the turkey sausage and ground turkey to the bowl and start mixing. I suggest using your hands to combine all the ingredients with the meat. You'll have more success getting everything thoroughly mixed together that way.
Once everything is mixed together, it's time to form the meatballs. Again, using your hands, grab a chunk of the meat and form a golfball sized meatball and carefully set it into your greased 9" x 14" glass baking dish. Repeat until you've used up all the meat. It should get you about 24 meatballs.
Uncovered, place your meatballs in the oven for 30 minutes.
*If you want to enjoy these with some tomato sauce, bake for 15 minutes and top with your sauce of choice, then place back in the oven for another 15 - 20 minutes.
Serving Size 2 Meatballs
Servings 12
xoxo Ashley
Ingredients
Directions
Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Then get out a 9" x 14" glass baking dish, spray with non-stick cooking spray and set aside for later.
Next you'll need a large mixing bowl and your food processor or blender.
Crush the wheat thin crackers in a plastic bag as fine as you can get them, then add to your mixing bowl along with the salt, Italian seasoning, egg and 3/4 cup fresh shredded parmesan.
Then in a food processor or blender, toss in the fresh basil, onion (peeled, trimmed and quartered first) and garlic. Chop together until minced very fine. You want all the pieces to be small so it mixes in nicely with the meat. Once that's done, scoop it all into a couple layers of paper towels or cheese cloth if you have it, and squeeze excess liquid out. Then add the minced onion to your mixing bowl with the rest of the items. Stir everything together until combined and moistened. Then add in the turkey sausage and ground turkey to the bowl and start mixing. I suggest using your hands to combine all the ingredients with the meat. You'll have more success getting everything thoroughly mixed together that way.
Once everything is mixed together, it's time to form the meatballs. Again, using your hands, grab a chunk of the meat and form a golfball sized meatball and carefully set it into your greased 9" x 14" glass baking dish. Repeat until you've used up all the meat. It should get you about 24 meatballs.
Uncovered, place your meatballs in the oven for 30 minutes.
*If you want to enjoy these with some tomato sauce, bake for 15 minutes and top with your sauce of choice, then place back in the oven for another 15 - 20 minutes.