From time to time Shane and I watch Chopped together. If you’ve never seen it, it’s a show on the Food Network where chefs are essentially given baskets containing several ingredients (usually very odd combinations) which must all be used to make a dish that will be judged. On one episode ground turkey was among the ingredients and one of the contestants went on a rant about what an absolutely awful, flavorless ingredient it was – he was truly disgusted to find it in the basket. We laughed then, and it’s sort of become a running joke in our house, because we happen to really enjoy ground turkey and eat it fairly often. It’s versatile and relatively healthy, what’s not to like?
Since we always have ground turkey in the freezer, I’ve constantly got my eye out for new recipes we can make to keep things interesting. I bookmarked this one over on Cookin’ Canuck a few weeks ago and adapted it just slightly for a quick and delicious dinner one night recently. I omitted the onions from the meatballs and subbed panko for regular breadcrumbs. Dara used five-spice powder in her version, but I never have that on hand so I grabbed allspice instead. It works in a pinch. The teriyaki sauce was very flavorful; it made me wish I’d served the meatballs over rice so the rice could soak up all of the saucy goodness. I like my pasta lightly sauced, but when it comes to rice, I say the more sauce the better 🙂 This is definitely a recipe to stick in your file for nights when you’re short on time but still want to make a tasty meal at home. Thanks Dara!
Baked Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs
adapted slightly from Cookin’ Canuck
Meatballs
1 1/4 lb. ground turkey
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons grated ginger
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easy clean-up) and spray with cooking spray.
Add all of the ingredients for the meatballs to a large bowl and use your hands to combine until evenly distributed – try not to overmix. Using about 2 tablespoons of the mixture (I just eyeballed it), form the meatballs by rolling the mixture into a ball in your hands. Arrange the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until browned and cooked through.
To make the sauce: Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients in a small pan and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens slightly, about 10 minutes.
When the meatballs have finished cooking, remove them from the oven and brush liberally with the sauce then return to the oven for 5 minutes. Serve with remaining sauce.
This looks super easy and delicious! The worst part of making meatballs for me is browning them – I always end up with burnt oil – so any recipe that just lets me bake them is a-okay in my book! Thanks for another great one, Tracey!
I am all for having these in our regular dinner rotation. They were very tasty!
These look delicious, Tracey! I’m with you on ground turkey – I think it’s great. The beauty of it is that you can flavor it so many different ways. This looks like an especially tasty one, especially over rice as you suggested.
I’ve had meatballs on the brain lately–just bookmarked this 🙂
These sound super yummy! Can’t wait to try them out this weekend. 🙂
These look very nice…I can just see me lining these all up like this and Matt going down the line, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop into the mouth, chew chew chew chew chew and down…nothing left when he retired. Oh, yeah, can so see that happening. Those look great. Will bookmark for next time ground turkey is on sale, usually once a month.
I love turkey meatballs! These look perfect.
I’m a sucker for meatballs and these look SO good! I can’t wait to try them!
These look like tasty little bites to me! We saw that episode of Chopped also and had the same reaction as you to that chef’s comments on ground turkey.
Just found your blog… can’t wait to look around. these look DELISH!
xo,
Mini Baker
This looks amazing!!! And I love that it’s made with Turkey so it’s a bit healthier. I am going to have to check out that show. I love the Food Network!
These look so good! I’m all about ground turkey these days 🙂
Oh Tracey, those look so yummy! I love meatballs like those, and can see what a big hit they would be! My mouth is watering…
Tracey, I’m so glad you enjoyed that meatball recipe and that you were able to adapt it to fit the ingredients in your pantry.
These look awesome! I love Chopped, they are always so creative with the ingredients they are given!
Great dinner or appetizer!
This is quickly becoming one of my favorite blogs! And your photos are excellent!!
🙂
ButterYum
Mmmmmm….these look right up my alley!
Im trying to incorporate more ground turkey into our diet. Handsome doesn’t like it which is weird because he loves poultry. These sound like the type of thing he would eat first and ask questions later.
I like ground turkey too – it just needs to be dressed up a bit!
We like to watch Chopped, too. I’m glad I don’t have to make stuff with some of those ingredients, though.
I made these for my family last week, and they absolutely LOVED them. Thanks so much for the fabulous recipe.
These are freaking fantastic! I made them bite size and pan fried them to get a little more color. Holy cow – even my almost 2 year old love them. Also, I love your blog and can’t wait to get to the at least 2 dozen other recipes you posted that I bookmarked
I dunno if I’m blind or what but where is the teriyaki sauce?
@Anon – there are two headings under the recipe title – one for the meatballs and one for the sauce. It’s right there 🙂