Take a spin on classic meatballs and use turkey! For a lighter spaghetti and meatballs, give these Turkey Meatballs in Marinara Sauce. A bit of work but delivers high on flavour and great comfort food to head into the weekend.
When you’re feeding a family, sometimes it really can be difficult to get the balance right. As much as I do love cooking, there are lots of days when it’s it’s the biggest chore…EVER. And I couldn’t think of anything worse than getting the pots and pans out and firing up the stove. I know you guys get it, right?
There are days when we have cereal for dinner. Yes, fact. Days when everyone just sharks around until they can find something that satisfies the hunger. And at times that could be a tub of ice cream. Still not joking.
Take these meatballs. When I made these a few weeks ago, yes it wasn’t last night. I got smart and doubled the meatball part of the recipe. Go me being organized.
I turned them all into little meatballs and put half of them in the freezer, uncooked I’d like to add. So, I know there’s a dinner waiting in there for when I need that kind of ammunition up my sleeve.
And because I was on a roll, last week I did the same with beef and froze half of them as well. It works great for my family as I have a beef loving 14 year old and a not so beef loving 17 year old. See, I can be a good mom.
Being Organized
Cooking, quite often, is about the organization of things. If the stuff is in the house and you know what you plan to cook, it becomes a whole lot easier. Which is why I try my best to run to a meal plan and shop once a week. Sure it probably erases the spontaneity of having ice cream for dinner, but it lowers the stress. And I have enough stress, dinner doesn’t need to be one of them. Right?
Mind you ice cream on a stressful day could be just what you need.
Now, let’s take a little look at this dinner.
Notes about the meatballs
This takes time!
This dish gets all it’s wonderful flavour from the homemade marinara sauce. Something that I just not prepared to save time on. However, I do canning at home and usually make a big batch every month or so.
- The meatballs themselves don’t take too much time to make at all. So if you are organized and like to make sauces in advance, this dinner could come together pretty quickly. Even the meatballs can be made in advance and refrigerated before cooking. If you do make them and refrigerate them before hand, take them out of the fridge about half an hour before cooking.
- When cooking the meatballs, you don’t want to cook them all the way through. You are just looking to brown them. They will finish off cooking in the sauce. This will give you a more tender fall apart meatball.
All in all, this is a great dinner the whole family will love. Make it when you have time. If there’s not time, there’s always take out.
Happy cooking friends and enjoy your Friday!
Get the recipe!
Turkey Meatballs in a Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
For The Meatballs
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1/2 Onion finely diced
- 1/2 Cup bread crumbs fine
- 1 Egg
- 1 Teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 Teaspoon onion powder
- 1 Teaspoon oregano
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- Salt
- Pepper
- Small bunch of finely chopped parsley
- Olive oil for frying
- Extra parsley for garnish
- For the sauce:
For The Marinara Sauce
- 2 large cans 28 oz of whole tomatoes
- 1 Onion peeled and chopped
- 6 Garlic cloves crushed
- 1 Teaspoon oregano
- 1 Teaspoon basil
- Salt
- Pepper
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- Make the sauce first. In a large deep sided skillet set over medium to high heat, add the olive oil, onions and garlic. Stir well and leave to cook, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stir well and reduce heat to medium low. Leave to cook for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Stir occasionally while cooking. Add oregano, basil, salt, pepper and sugar. Stir well and transfer to a blender to blend the sauce. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, diced onion, bread crumbs, egg, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and chopped parsley. Mix well with your hands. Form into small balls and repeat for all the mixture.
- Over a high heat, heat enough olive oil in a large skillet to go about 1 inch up the sides of the pan. Add one meatball to test if the oil is hot enough. It should sizzle. Add as many meatballs to the pan as you can at one time. Just brown them for a few minutes on each side. You don’t want to cook them all the way through. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Repeat for all the meatballs.
- In a large clean skillet set over medium to low heat, add the marinara sauce and meatballs. Stir, cover and leave to simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Serve over pasta and garnish with extra parsley and parmesan if desired.
*A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
Thanks For Stopping By & Hope To See You Soon!
