Every Tuesday at 7:30 pm I meet with my wonderful Chinese tutor. So, dinner and the dishes must finish in time to drive to her home. Ideally, I plan the meal the preceding weekend, but sometimes the ideal and the real diverge. This past week I was eating a rushed lunch in the office when panic hit: what am I going to cook tonight? Without cookbooks handy, the internet came to the rescue. I had some ground turkey in the fridge, so I “googled” it and found a recipe in The Perfect Pantry. If you don’t know this blog, make sure to stop by, it’s a life-saver for designing meals with ingredients that are often in your cupboard.
TURKEY MEATBALLS
(adapted from The Perfect Pantry)
1+ 1/4 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used Panko)
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (full fat)
1 large egg
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh black pepper
2 Tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Heat oven to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (do not omit this step!), and reserve.
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, working the mixture well with your hands until thoroughly combined. Wet your hands with cold water and form the mixture into balls, either as bite size (for appetizers), or larger (for a main dish). Place them on the prepared sheet and bake for 15 to 25 minutes, depending on their size. When done, they’ll be a nice golden brown on the surface. You can carefully move them around after they’ve been baking for 10 minutes or so. Cut through one of them to judge if they are fully cooked, and serve.
ENJOY!
to print the recipe, click here
Comments: In her post, Lydia mentions that she prefers roast chicken to roast turkey. However, she’d rather use ground turkey than ground chicken. I’d never considered it in those terms, but… I’m on the same team!
The addition of yoghurt is a great twist on this simple recipe, giving it moisture and a tangy flavor. A quick saute’ of shredded zucchini with a salad and a slice of bread was all we needed for a delicious Tuesday dinner, even if it was a little rushed.
Note added after initial publication: It is a good idea to spray the parchment paper with some olive oil, as the meatballs can stick to the paper and be hard to move around (see comment by E Brandler below).
Note to self: spinach might be excellent mixed in with the ground meat.
One year ago…. Focaccia
Bewitching Kitchen 
They look wonderfully moist and tender, Sally! And shredded zucchini sounds like the perfect accompaniment!
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The yogurt makes all the difference – none of the dry turkey syndrome!
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I think spinach would be delicious! I’ve been on a turkey meatball kick this year and have tried several variations. But the Greek yogurt seems to make all the difference no matter what the seasoning. So glad you enjoyed them.
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Nice of you to stop by, Lydia!
Turkey meatloaf is also pretty nice, but I intend to stick to meatballs for a while too, and will be paying attention to your “experiments”
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Healthy and delicious for everyday meal. Sounds perfect.
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Always searching for quick meals… life is way too buy, isn’t it? 😉
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These were SO yummy but my meatballs still stuck to the parchment paper and couldn’t be moved around midway through. I’d suggest spraying the parchment paper with a bit of Pam or even just trying to spray the pan directly. Other than that they were DELICIOUS! Next time I am going to add some crusher red pepper flakes and give them a kick!
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That’s a very good idea, I am going to edit the post to include your suggestion… thank you!
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