These little bites are bursting with Thanksgiving flavors and perfect to make anytime of the year!
My Thanksgiving turkey meatball recipe was a happy accident a few years ago. I was craving Thanksgiving dinner but had to wait two months for the real thing. I didn’t want to roast a whole turkey so I started thinking about what I could do with ground turkey. Meatballs were an obvious choice, but I decided to fill them with traditional Thanksgiving flavors.
This year I used ground turkey from Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative to make my Thanksgiving meatballs. If you’ve been following for a while, you know that I love Grass Roots. They sell grass-fed, pasture raised meat from small US based farms. Not only is the meat more nutritious than conventional meat, but it tastes better too. And all of the meat is raised without antibiotics, growth hormones, or GMOs.
This recipe should get you through your Thanksgiving cravings for the next 22 days until the real thing. It’s also a great recipe to serve as an appetizer at parties year round.
Ingredients
To make my Thanksgiving meatballs, I use ground turkey mixed with Thanksgiving spices and stuffed with mashed potatoes. You can use your favorite mashed potato and cranberry sauce recipe or follow the recipes below. I like my cranberry sauce very tart, but you can add more sugar to make it sweeter if you prefer. You could also replace the mashed potatoes with your favorite stuffing recipe.
Meatballs
Ground turkey
Butter
Olive oil
Onion
Garlic
Celery
Ground sage
Ground nutmeg
Ground ginger
Salt and pepper
Potatoes
Yukon gold potatoes
Butter
Cream or whole milk
salt and pepper to taste
Cranberry Sauce
Fresh or frozen cranberries
Orange
Sugar
Thanksgiving turkey meatballs
- Total Time: 65
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
1 lb of ground turkey
2 tbs butter
2 tbs olive oil
½ large onion, finely chopped
1 glove garlic, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
1 tsp ground sage
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
2 large Yukon gold potatoes
1 tbs butter
4 tbs cream or whole milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1 tsp orange zest
juice of 1 small orange
2 tbs sugar
Instructions
- Place a large pot with water over high heat. Peel the potatoes cut into quarters. Add to the water once boiling and cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes and put them back into the empty pot. Add butter and mash the potatoes until all the lumps are gone. Add the milk and season with salt and pepper. Once the potatoes are done, set aside to cool then place in the fridge. You want the potatoes cold to stuff into the meatballs.
- To make the cranberry sauce, combine orange juice, orange zest, sugar and ¼ cup water over medium heat in a sauce pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in cranberries and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer until sauce has thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Heat a pan on medium with butter. Add the onion and celery. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequency. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, being careful not to burn. Remove from heat and let cool about 10 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, add ground turkey, cooked vegetables and spices. Using your hands, mix well until combined. To form meatballs, take a little more than a golf ball sized amount of the mixture and flatten out in your hand, almost as if you are making a thin burger. Take 1-2 tsp of the mashed potatoes (depending on the size of your meatball) and place in the center of the meat. Fold the meat over the mashed potatoes into a ball, making sure to seal the seam well. Repeat with remaining mixture.
- You can cook the meatballs in the oven or in a pan. If using the oven, heat to 375 degrees. Place meatballs on a large sheet pan coated in cooking spray. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, until done. Be careful not to overcook or the turkey will get dry. You can also cook the meatballs in a frying pan which makes the meatballs a bit crispier. If using a pan, heat a large pan over medium-heat with 2 tbs olive oil. Working in batches, add meatballs. Flip occasionally to brown on all sides and cook for about 15 minutes, until done. Serve with cranberry sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
If you are using your own potato and cranberry sauce recipe, skip to step 3.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 50
- Category: Thanksgiving
- Cuisine: American
This post is part of a partnership with Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative, but all opinions are my own.
These take a while to make because there are a few components but they are so worth it!