Cooking For One Recipes: Ground Turkey Meatballs (With Parmesan Cheese)

Welcome to Cooking For One Recipes!  This series is designed for those of us who don’t need recipes for big meals- just enough for one person to eat without a ton of leftovers.  Or, if you are feeding a large family, you can certainly alter the recipes to whatever amount of people you need!

For those of you who use Pinterest I have created a board that will have all the recipes from this series.  Be sure to follow it!

So, I’ve been on a bit of a health kick lately. One of the things I’ve been trying to do is substitute ground turkey in place of hamburger meat for my meals to see if you can really tell the difference.

Word of advice:  Make sure you use good quality turkey meat.  I read in Cooking Light that you need to be sure to buy the lean turkey meat or you could actually be taking in more calories (especially if you are a 95/5 or 93/7 hamburger meat kind-of-gal), so be sure to double check the label! I did some research, and you should too, to be sure you are buying the right turkey meat at the grocery store.

I went ahead and tried this awesome recipe for Turkey meatballs I discovered online, and it was delicious. This would be easy to separate into two meals – one for dinner, one for lunch. (Because let’s face it, who wants to come up with another meal to pack for lunch)? Just throw half in a container after cooking and you’re done:

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup soft fresh bread crumbs
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons dried leaf oregano and basil
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• Dash of salt and pepper

Preparation:

1)      Heat oven to 375°. Line a large baking sheet with nonstick foil or regular foil and non-stick spray.

2)      Combine turkey meat, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, egg, oregano, basil, parsley, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in bowl.

3)      Stir or mix on low speed of a stand mixer with paddle attachment until blended. I just used my hands, but personal preference! 🙂

4)      Shape into small meatballs, about 3/4 ounce each. Arrange the turkey meatballs on the baking sheet.

5)      Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until browned and cooked through. If you make larger meatballs, allow more time.

I served the meatballs with a side of ricotta cheese and fresh, chopped spinach. I poured canned tomato sauce on top and it was that simple!

Original Recipe can be found here.