Most turkey meatballs fail the same way: they come out of the oven pale, tight and dry enough to need a glass of water. This baked turkey meatballs recipe fixes that with two cheap tricks, a milk-soaked breadcrumb paste and a grated onion, so the meatballs stay tender even though the meat is 93% lean.
You get about 20 meatballs in about 35 minutes, no frying and no splattered stovetop. One serving of 5 meatballs has about 314 calories and 27 g of protein. Eat them with pasta, tuck them into a sub, or pack them for lunch all week.
21 meals, 100 g+ protein a day, plus a grocery list and prep schedule.
Ingredients for baked turkey meatballs
Makes about 20 meatballs, 4 servings. Prep 15 minutes, bake 16 to 20 minutes.
- 1 lb (454 g) 93% lean ground turkey
- 1/2 cup (54 g) plain dry breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) 1% milk
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (25 g) finely grated Parmesan
- 1/2 small onion, grated (about 1/4 cup, 50 g)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup (15 g) chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus a little for the pan
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
How to make turkey meatballs in the oven
- Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment and brush it lightly with oil.
- In a large bowl, stir the breadcrumbs and milk together and let them sit for 5 minutes until the crumbs look like wet sand.
- Add the egg, Parmesan, grated onion with its juice, garlic, parsley, olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and pepper flakes. Mix into a loose paste.
- Add the ground turkey and mix gently with your hands or a fork just until no streaks of crumb mixture remain. Stop as soon as it comes together.
- Wet your hands and roll the mixture into about 20 balls, roughly 1 1/2 inches wide (a 2-tablespoon scoop works well). Set them on the sheet, not touching.
- Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned and an instant-read thermometer in the center of a meatball reads 165°F (74°C).
- Rest the meatballs on the pan for 3 minutes, then serve or simmer them in warm marinara for 5 minutes.
Why turkey meatballs turn out dry, and how this recipe fixes it
Ground turkey has less fat than the beef and pork mix in classic meatballs, so there is less to keep it juicy once the proteins tighten in the heat. A few small choices make up for it:
- Use 93% lean, not 99%. The 99% fat-free breast meat cooks up like sawdust in a meatball. The 93/7 blend has enough fat to stay tender without making the meatballs greasy.
- Soak the breadcrumbs. Crumbs soaked in milk (cooks call it a panade) hold moisture inside the meatball and stop the meat from packing tight. Dry crumbs do the opposite and pull moisture out.
- Grate the onion. Grated onion melts into the mix and adds its juice. Chopped onion leaves crunchy bits and holes that make meatballs fall apart.
- Mix lightly. Overworking ground meat makes it bouncy and dense. Mix the wet ingredients first, then fold in the turkey just until combined.
- Use a thermometer. Ground poultry is safe at 165°F (74°C). Going 10 minutes past that “just to be sure” is where most of the dryness comes from.
If your mixture feels too soft to roll, chill it for 15 minutes rather than adding more breadcrumbs. Wet hands help a lot.
Turkey meatballs nutrition per serving
The numbers below were calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for each ingredient, using the raw weights in the recipe. Salt, seasoning and the oil brushed on the pan are not included, and nutrition changes if you swap ingredients.
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| Per | Calories | Protein | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 meatball | 63 | 5.5 g | 3.3 g |
| 1 serving (5 meatballs) | 314 | 27 g | 17 g |
| Whole batch (about 20) | 1,256 | 109 g | 67 g |
Most of the fat comes from the turkey, the Parmesan and the tablespoon of olive oil. If you want a leaner batch, cut the oil and use half the cheese; expect a slightly firmer meatball. For more meals built around lean protein, see these high protein recipes ranked by protein per calorie.
What to serve with turkey meatballs
- Spaghetti and marinara. Simmer the baked meatballs in sauce for 5 minutes so they soak up some flavor. Whole wheat pasta or half pasta, half zucchini noodles both work.
- Meatball subs. Toasted roll, marinara, a slice of provolone, two minutes under the broiler.
- Grain bowls. Rice or quinoa, roasted vegetables, meatballs and a spoon of Greek yogurt with lemon and garlic.
- Soup. Drop leftover meatballs into chicken broth with spinach and small pasta for a fast Italian wedding-style soup.
- Lunch boxes. Five meatballs, a scoop of rice and steamed broccoli reheat well. The ground turkey meal prep bowls guide has more combinations that hold up all week.
Easy flavor variations
Greek turkey meatballs
Swap the Parmesan for 1/3 cup crumbled feta, the parsley for a mix of dill and mint, and the Italian seasoning for 1 tsp dried oregano. Serve with tzatziki, cucumber and warm pita.
Asian-style turkey meatballs
Leave out the Parmesan and Italian seasoning. Add 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp grated ginger, 2 sliced green onions and 1 tsp sesame oil. Toss the baked meatballs in a quick glaze of soy sauce, honey and rice vinegar and serve over rice.
Spinach and turkey meatballs
Squeeze 1 cup of thawed frozen spinach very dry and add it with the wet ingredients. It is an easy way to hide a vegetable from picky eaters, and the meatballs stay moist.
Gluten-free turkey meatballs
Replace the breadcrumbs with the same weight of quick oats or gluten-free breadcrumbs. Oats need the same 5-minute soak in milk. If you like oats in savory dishes, here is what eating oats every day looks like.
Can you freeze turkey meatballs?
Yes, and they freeze better than most meals. Bake them, cool them on the pan, then freeze them in a single layer on the sheet for an hour before moving them to a freezer bag. That way they don’t freeze into one solid block and you can pull out five at a time.
Storage times from the federal cold food storage chart:
- Raw ground turkey: 1 to 2 days in the fridge, 3 to 4 months in the freezer. Cook it or freeze it soon after you buy it.
- Cooked meatballs (leftover cooked poultry): 3 to 4 days in the fridge, 2 to 6 months in the freezer. Freezer times are for quality; food kept frozen at 0°F stays safe longer.
- Reheating: heat leftovers to 165°F (74°C), the safe minimum temperature for leftovers. From frozen, simmer them covered in sauce for 15 to 20 minutes, or microwave in a covered dish, stirring halfway.
Planning a bigger batch? Double the recipe, bake on two sheets and add the extras to a freezer meal prep session. Pair them with a pot of easy turkey chili and you have two weeks of turkey dinners covered.
Can you make turkey meatballs without breadcrumbs or egg?
Without breadcrumbs, use quick oats or almond flour; almond flour gives a denser, richer meatball. Without egg, the panade and Parmesan hold the mix together well enough for baking, though the meatballs are more fragile, so let them rest on the pan before moving them. Skip the egg-free version if you plan to simmer the meatballs a long time in sauce.
Sources
- Ground turkey, 93% lean, raw (USDA FDC 172850), via getfoodfacts.com
- Bread crumbs, dry, plain (FDC 174928), Parmesan, grated (FDC 171247), Egg, whole, raw (FDC 171287), Milk, 1% (FDC 173441)
- Onions, raw (FDC 170000), Garlic, raw (FDC 169230), Parsley (FDC 170416), Olive oil (FDC 2710186)
- FoodSafety.gov: Cold Food Storage Chart
- FoodSafety.gov: Safe Minimum Internal Temperatures
Baked Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb (454 g) 93% lean ground turkey
- 1/2 cup (54 g) plain dry breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) 1% milk
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (25 g) finely grated Parmesan
- 1/2 small onion, grated (about 1/4 cup, 50 g)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup (15 g) chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tbsp olive oil, plus a little for the pan
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment and brush it lightly with oil.
- In a large bowl, stir the breadcrumbs and milk together and let them sit for 5 minutes until the crumbs look like wet sand.
- Add the egg, Parmesan, grated onion with its juice, garlic, parsley, olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and pepper flakes. Mix into a loose paste.
- Add the ground turkey and mix gently with your hands or a fork just until no streaks of crumb mixture remain. Stop as soon as it comes together.
- Wet your hands and roll the mixture into about 20 balls, roughly 1 1/2 inches wide (a 2-tablespoon scoop works well). Set them on the sheet, not touching.
- Bake for 16 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned and an instant-read thermometer in the center of a meatball reads 165°F (74°C).
- Rest the meatballs on the pan for 3 minutes, then serve or simmer them in warm marinara for 5 minutes.
Nutrition per 5 meatballs
21 meals, 100 g+ protein a day, plus a grocery list and prep schedule.
