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Quick Turkey Meatballs

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For various reasons, Melanie likes ground turkey more than ground beef, and so I've been making turkey meatballs a lot. Obviously the problem with turkey is that it can be really dry since it's so lean, but one day we made a random hippy turkey burger recipe and it taught us the he secret to making ground turkey not be gross: ground mushrooms! 

If you grind up the mushrooms and mix them in, they kind of cook away but keep whatever you're cooking moist and give that umami flavor that's also missing from turkey. People who don't like mushrooms won't notice their presence at all unless they're specifically looking for them.

This recipe is also designed to cook up really really quickly - you can have these done in the time it takes you to boil the water for the noodles. The spices are loosely based on Lillian's meatball recipe but only use dry spices for convenience. They still come out a little dry, but especially with a wetter sauce (marinara, vodka, etc.) it all evens out. If using pesto, just add cherry tomatoes or similar on top and all will be well. The nicest thing about the broiler method is you get a good crispiness on the outside (and it's crazy fast).

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 1/4 lb mushrooms, blasted in the food processor or minced fine
  • Italian spices:
    • 1/2 - 1 tsp fennel (to taste!)
    • 1 tsp oregano
    • 1/2 tsp thyme
    • 1/2 tsp marjoram
    • several good shakes of garlic powder (1 tbsp?)
    • several shakes of Worcestershire sauce
    • optional: red pepper flakes
    • S&P
  • You may wish to add 1 egg and breadcrumbs to achieve your preferred level of moistness and cohesion, this isn't generally necessary though since the turkey is usually ground really finely

Preparation

Mix everything together. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet, roll the mixture into balls and place on sheet. Cool under the broiler until done - you may wish to turn them halfway through to get both sides crispy. Note that you really need to keep an eye on them doing the broiling, and you might want to experience with a high versus low broil - low broil takes way too long in our oven. They take less than 10 minutes to cook in our oven.

Not the prettiest photo ever, but you can see how the mushrooms have mostly become one with the meatballs and that they have a nice crispiness on the edges (this is the 'flipped' side)


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Comments

Marjorie Magidow Schalles said…
You left out diced, cold butter! This adds the lubrication missing from poultry. I also add powdered onion soup mix (available in bulk from the coop) and my personal favorite, tiny diced pieces of cheese (optional, natch).

We use this very recipe for everything calling for ground beef: meatloaf (add ketchup gravy), burgers, you name it! It WILL turn black in the fridge from the ground mushrooms, but don't let that scare you.
May 24, 2023 at 11:29 AM
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