Thanksgiving Turkey Meatballs
These Thanksgiving Turkey Meatballs combine all of our favorite flavors of the holiday! Turkey can often be dry, but these babies are super moist because of the panade in the mixture. They’re also full of fresh herbs, onions, and celery, giving them turkey and stuffing vibes.
If you celebrate American Thanksgiving, you know that it’s a holiday that is typically centered on a roasted whole turkey and plenty of sides. However, not everyone wants to spend hours roasting and basting a huge bird. If you’re one of those people, or if you just love the flavors of the holiday, then these meatballs are a great alternative to the standard Thanksgiving protein. Plus, you can make them anytime you have a craving for these flavors, even if you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. This recipe makes about 60 to 70 small (1 inch) meatballs or 30 to 40 larger (2 to 3 inch) meatballs.
We recommend that you serve these up with your favorite gravy and some mashed potatoes for holiday perfection!
Ingredients in the Thanksgiving Turkey Meatballs
Here’s what you need to make these Thanksgiving turkey meatballs:
- Ground turkey – we recommend using 93% lean ground turkey for these meatballs.
- Onions and celery – our mom’s stuffing/dressing always starts with sauteed onions and celery, so we wanted to bring those flavors to these meatballs too.
- Herbs and butter – sauteing fresh minced herbs like sage, thyme, and rosemary in a little butter gives these meatballs stuffing vibes.
- Spices – to give these meatballs more flavor, we add onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Panade – turkey meatballs can be dry, but by adding a panade (breadcrumbs that are soaked in milk), makes these turkey meatballs stay super moist.
- Parmesan cheese – parmesan cheese gives these meatballs a richer, more umami flavor.
- Eggs – a whole egg and an extra egg yolk help bind the meatballs together. To avoid overmixing the meatball mixture, we recommend beating the eggs together first.
- Olive oil – ground turkey is very lean, so adding a little olive oil gives them some much needed richness.
How to make these meatballs
These meatballs are much easier to make than a traditional Thanksgiving feast! There are a few different steps required, but overall, they come together fairly easily and quickly, so you can enjoy the flavors of fall as soon as possible.
To make these Thanksgiving turkey meatballs, first preheat the oven to 400°F. While the oven is heating up, melt the butter in a pan set over medium heat. Add the onions and celery, a pinch of salt, and a couple of turns of cracked black pepper. Cook the vegetables for 6 to 8 minutes, or until they have softened slightly. Set the vegetables aside to cool.
Next, make a panade by mixing together the breadcrumbs and milk. Let the mixture sit until the breadcrumbs soak up the liquid.
In a large bowl, add the turkey, the cooled veggies, spices, remaining salt, and all of the herbs. Add the panade, parmesan cheese, the beaten eggs, and the olive oil.
Mix the meatballs together until everything is just combined. Overmixing will make the meatballs tough and unpleasant. Using a 1 ½ tablespoon size scoop for small meatballs (or a 3 tbsp scoop for large ones), scoop the mixture and roll them into meatballs. You can do this with spoons instead, but try to keep the meatballs the same size so that they will cook evenly. To keep the meatballs from sticking to the scoop (or spoons, if using) and your hands, you can spray the scoop and your hands with cooking spray first.
Distribute the meatballs onto two baking sheets lined with parchment for easier clean up later. Bake both trays of meatballs at the same time for 12 to 15 minutes (you may need to put one tray on a rack below the other), then swap the trays if they’re not on the same rack, and flip each meatball over. Bake for another 10 minutes until the meatballs are slightly golden and their internal temperature measures 165°F with an instant read thermometer.
Serve these meatballs with your favorite gravy and mashed potatoes.
Thanksgiving Turkey Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground turkey, 93% lean
- ½ large sweet or yellow onion, small diced
- 4 small celery stalks, small diced
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp + pinch sea salt, divided
- ⅛ tsp cracked black pepper
- 2 tsp fresh sage, minced
- 2 tsp fresh thyme, minced
- 2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup finely shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 whole egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Melt the butter in a pan set over medium heat.
- Add the onions and celery, a pinch of salt, and cracked black pepper. Cook for 6-8 minutes, or until slightly softened. Set aside to cool.
- Make a panade by mixing together breadcrumbs and milk and let sit until the breadcrumbs soak up the liquid.
- In a large bowl, add the turkey, cooled vegetables, spices, remaining salt, and herbs.
- Add the panade, parmesan cheese, eggs, and oil.
- Mix the meatballs together until just combined. Overmixing will make the meatballs tough.
- Using a 1 ½ tablespoon size scoop for small meatballs (or a 3 tbsp scoop for large ones), scoop and roll them into meatballs and distribute them onto two baking sheets lined with parchment. Tip: spray the scoop and your hands with non-stick spray to keep the mixture from sticking.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, then swap the trays and flip each meatball over.
- Bake for another 10 minutes until slightly golden and the internal temperature measures 165F with an instant read thermometer.
- Serve with your favorite gravy and mashed potatoes.
