Veggie loaded turkey meatballs – the ultimate make ahead meal prep recipe. Life just got a little bit easier.
Meatballs may not be the most glamorous things you make in your kitchen, but they sure can be a lifesaver when life gets busy. Make a big batch, freeze ’em, and simply reheat and eat when it’s time to get dinner on the table.
Do you ever find yourself at the end of the day feeling tired and uninspired in the kitchen? Does dinner time sneak up on you and you haven’t had time to plan what to cook? That’s where meatballs come in. There are so many ways to make quick and easy meals when you have a batch of nutrient-dense meatballs in the freezer. Dinner is saved!
Quick and Easy Meatballs Meals
- Simmer your favorite veggies in bone broth for 10 minutes. Add a handful of meatballs and simmer until meatballs are warmed all the way through. Boom. Meatball soup ready in less than 15 minutes.
- Simmer meatballs in your favorite marinara sauce until defrosted and warmed all the way through. Make your favorite noodles (we love zucchini noodles and butternut squash noodles) and pour on the meatball marinara. Another easy breezy meal ready to go.
- Make a big salad. Serve warm meatballs on the side. Drizzle with creamy green goddess dressing or healthy ranch dressing.
- Add meatballs to a frittata. This is a great thing to do when you have vegetables to use up in the fridge.
- Make a simple veggie stir fry. Chop up several meatballs and add them in. Serve over zucchini noodles or white basmati rice.
- Bake some whole potatoes or sweet potatoes until soft and tender. Cut in half and load them up with meatballs, steamed veggies and your favorite salsa or marinara sauce. Meatballs can easily be warmed up in a covered glass baking dish in the oven or toaster oven.
- Drizzle warm meatballs with a little bbq sauce and serve with mashed cauliflower and steamed greens. So simple. So satisfying.
I’ve shared a few meatball recipes in the past. We often have my spinach cilantro meatballs and my easy chicken broccoli meatballs on repeat because life gets full and my family wants to eat. I love having easy protein ready to go in the freezer. Today’s recipe is one of my fav meatball recipe because I’m always looking for ways to add MORE vegetables in.
And when I call these little meatballs loaded, I mean loaded!
These loaded veggie turkey meatballs are the epitome of versatile. I used ground turkey because that’s what my hubby likes. You can totally use beef, chicken, pork, or a combo of any of these. I loaded the meatballs with broccoli, kale, and carrots, but you can switch it up with any other veggies that make you happy. I added fresh cilantro to my meatballs, but you can use fresh parsley, basil, or dill if you like. I didn’t add onions as I wanted them to be kid-friendly (little one won’t eat them) but feel free to add some chopped onion if that’s your jam. And I used coconut flour as a binder, but you can use almond flour, cassava, or any other flour that you have.
And like most of the easy dinner recipes on my site, they are gluten free, paleo, and whole30 compliant.
Oh, and here’s a few tips that I’ve shared before about making meatballs:
….dry meatballs suck. I like to add an egg and a bit of extra fat (butter or ghee) to keep them juicy and moist (especially when using leaner meats like chicken or turkey.)
….use a food processor. Chopping your veggies in a food processor makes them super small and will give your meatballs a nice uniform texture.
…do not over cook. Because dry meatballs suck.
…slow your roll. Gently roll out your meatballs because tightly packed meatballs can wind up tough and chewy.
…use an ice cream scooper. Keeping all of your meatballs uniform means that they cook evenly and you won’t overcook some while you wait for others to finish cooking.
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Loaded Veggie Turkey Meatballs (gluten free, paleo, whole30)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 28-30 small meatballs 1x
- Category: make ahead
- Method: bake
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey (preferably thigh meat)
- 1/2 cup lightly steamed broccoli florets , finely chopped
- 1/2 cup kale, finely chopped (or any other green)
- 1/2 cup carrots, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped (or basil, parsley, or dill)
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tbsp butter or ghee, melted
- 1 tablespoons coconut flour (like this) **see note
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder (like this)
- pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400′ F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper OR place a cooling rack on top of baking sheet.
- Combine all meatball ingredients in a large bowl until well incorporated.
- Roll into about 28-30 small meatballs ( I use a small cookie scoop to get uniform balls) and place onto prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes, until baked through and slightly golden.
Notes
- I HIGHLY recommend using a food processor to chop you veggies. This makes for a super nice texture in the meatballs.
- I prefer to steam the broccoli before adding it to the recipe. I’ve tried grated raw broccoli and don’t love the texture. Simply steam broccoli in a steamer basket for 3-4 minutes until slightly soft and still bright green. Be sure to finely chop for best texture.
- Most people bake meatballs right on the baking sheet (lined with parchment paper), which works fine. I find that my meatballs cook a bit more evenly if I place them on a cooling rack on top of the baking sheet.
- I use 1 tablespoon of coconut flour as a binder. You can sub any flour that you have like almond or cassava, but you will have to use at 2-3 tablespoons of any other flour. Start with 2 and add another if mixture seems too sticky to roll.
Keywords: meatballs
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This looks great! How long does it keep in the freezer?
I would say, for best quality and taste, store meatballs in freezer 3-4 months. 🙂
Meatballs will keep up to 3 months in the freezer. 🙂
These were so good! I made these last week and I doubled the batch and freezed them for when I came back from vacation and I just defrosted them and had them for lunch and dinner this past week and they were delicious! I used spinach instead of kale and I added in some garlic and onion and they tasted great! I ate them for breakfast with pancakes and I’ve had them for lunch and dinner in a tortilla wrap with salad and avocado and they were so delicious. I highly recommend this recipe. I will definitely be making these again and they can totally be used for so many different things since they are so yummy. I could totally see myself making them into burger patties for burgers or even just to eat for breakfast with eggs and it’s so great that you can freeze them and just pull them out when needed. I just put them in the fridge to thaw and would just microwave them when I wanted to eat them and they turned out perfect. Thank you so much for the recipe.
★★★★★
Yay! I am glad that you loved them. Thank you so much for taking the time to write such an awesome review. Meatballs are the BEST when it comes to meal prepping. Enjoy!
I’m obsessed with these! They are perfect to keep in the freezer to heat up for a quick lunch for my 11month old and she just devours them. My husband and I enjoy them as well especially with paleo cauliflower Alfredo sauce and noodles. Such a great recipe! Thank you!!
★★★★★
Yay! That’s awesome to hear. I’m so glad y’all like them. 🙂
I am blown away at how delicious these meatballs are! I substituted the Kale for Spinach and used whole wheat flour. These are amazing. My 1 year old and I love them! Great way to get him to eat his veggies!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that you like them. And your little one too!
If I can cover the meatballs entirely with tomato sauce or alfredo, I might be able to convince my boys that they don’t have veggies in them!! I’ll definitely be trying these soon, thank you!
What can I use Instead of Butter or Ghee
You can use any fat that you like. Avocado oil would be good too.
Made these tonight & they are absolutely delicious, I freezed half of them, they will make excellent meal prep dinner. I subbed the flour for bread crumbs and used spinach instead of kale, and added sauteed onion, I also used 1/2 tsp of salt instead of 1 tsp (personal preference). I’m excited to turn these into chicken burgers next time.
★★★★★
Yay! I’m so glad you liked them. Thanks for sharing your subs. 🙂
How many carbs would you say this has for a serving?
How to reheat after freezing?
Planning on making this for my T1D
Making these for dinner tonight. Excited to try this recipe! They look so good!
Hope you love it. 🙂
No eggs for us (allergy) and it worked well. I served it over rice with a tzatziki sauce (yogurt, lemon juice, salt, and cucumber). Happy family! (None left for freezing!!!) 🙂
★★★★★
Yay! Glad you liked them.
I made these for dinner tonight and my husband and 10 month old baby loved them. I made sticks for my daughter so she could grab them easier and because they were so moist it was easy for her to eat them.
Yay! Love when kids are eating healthy real food!
Super easy to make and delicious
★★★★★
Yes! Thanks for your kind feedback. 🙂
Just wondering what the nutrition info and serving size is for this recipe. Thanks!
Hi, Kelsey! I don’t calculate. But if you want to know, you can use this —-> http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ Hope that helps. 🙂
Absolutely delicious! I swapped cauliflower for broccoli because that’s what I had on hand. Definitely going to make them again and again ?
I am so glad you loved them. 🙂
I love the added nutrients to this with the vegetables
These meatballs were so delicious! We loved all the veggies, I used spinach instead of kale, 3 tbsp panko bread crumbs, and 1/2 tsp of salt. I used an 85/15 ground turkey. Can’t wait to make these again and I love all your serving suggestions!
★★★★★
Yay! I’m so glad you loved them. 🙂
These were soooo good. Made enough to have for lunches. I followed the recipe exactly. I’ll definitely make these again and won’t change a thing!
★★★★★
Yay! So glad you like them. 🙂
OMG!!! I thought first time I made these and loved them it was a fluke but just made them again tonight and loved them more than I remembered! I also used spinach instead of kale and used ghee because thats what I had. Steaming the broccoli and using a chopper makes it so perfect and they are so easy!! I planned to make zoodles but got distracted and we just ate them right out of the oven with our salads. Thanks so much!!
★★★★★
Yes! So glad you are enjoying them. These are my fav meatballs too. I love them on salad. 🙂
Do you have the nutritional values listed somewhere? Thanks!
Hi, Stef! I don’t calculate. But you can use this free app if you want to know—-> https://www.myfitnesspal.com/ Hope that helps. 🙂
These were easy to make and my non-healthy family was surprised how tasty they were! I was saddened I didn’t make a double batch to freeze. Thank you for sharing this goodie.
Yay! So glad you all liked them. I love having these stocked in the freezer. I’ve been dropping them in a quick and easy bone broth soup for a 10 minute dinner. 🙂
I don’t usually leave comments on recipes, but this one definitely deserves some praise! I made a double batch of these (half for dinner, half to freeze for another day) and they are insanely delicious!! It was so easy to get all the veggie goodness loaded into them and all three of my kids devoured them (6yrs, 3yrs, 8mos). This will be my new go-to meatball recipe. Thank you so much for such a nutritiously satisfying recipe!
★★★★★
WooHoo! Gotta love it when all the kiddos will eat it. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave your feedback. I’m so glad you all love them. 🙂
Hi are the veggie measurements before or after chopping? Thank you!!
I measure after chopping. 🙂
These are super easy to make and they are delicious. Makes meal prepping a breeze. I will definitely be making these again. I ate these with cauliflower rice and sprinkled some red pepper flakes
★★★★★
Yay! So glad you liked them. 🙂
My husband is allergic to wheat so I used “Cup for Cup” (which is a multi-purpose gluten free flour and is my usual preferred substitute for flour). I started with 2 T and added at least 1.5 T more but the mixture remained stubbornly sticky. I finally added some panko bread crumbs. They came out tasty but next time I will try the coconut flour. Just sharing for Cup for Cup fans out there- (it works GREAT for baking.)
Thanks for sharing. I haven’t tried Cup for Cup so I’m not familiar. 🙂
This is one of the only ways I can get my toddler to eat veggies. He LOVES these- thanks for coming up with something so delicious and healthy!
★★★★★
These were amazing. Will definitely make them again!
★★★★★
Whoop! That’s awesome to hear. Thanks for the feedback. 🙂