I almost always do our grocery shopping first thing on Saturday morning. I’ll work to finish the meal planning and get the list together on Friday night (exciting, right?) and then I’m up early and at the store not too long after it opens at 7 am on Saturday. Not only are there fewer people in the store, but the shelves always seem really well stocked at that time. I made the mistake of going late at night once (again, in an attempt to avoid crowds – sensing a theme here? :)) and pickings were very slim, especially in the produce department. Lesson learned. Nothing beats the feeling of being back home with the shopping done and the groceries unpacked by 9 o’clock. Well, except maybe knowing there are plenty of snack options on hand for catching up on my DVR that afternoon…
Last weekend, for a variety of reasons, I never made it to the store. Monday night came – I had nothing planned for dinner and only a lone package of ground turkey with which to work. We eat ground turkey a lot so I could easily have scanned the archives for ideas, but of course I wanted to try something new. I remembered these meatballs Natalie had posted – they’re super quick and easy, and I loved the sweet and spicy combo with the honey and chipotle chiles in the sauce. The meatballs were a great last minute dinner, healthy and flavorful! Per Natalie’s recommendation, I doubled the sauce and was glad I did, but if you don’t need your meatballs swimming in it, you’d be fine halving what I have listed below.
Oh, I had also hoped to tell you about that rice you see hiding behind the meatballs, but it wasn’t to be. Somehow I managed to screw up a recipe with the word “easy” in the title. We’re talking barely edible. Better luck next time I guess π
Honey Chipotle Turkey Meatballs
adapted from Martha Stewart
1 1/2 lb ground turkey
1/2 yellow onion, diced small
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons honey
2-4 tablespoons chopped chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (depending on your tolerance for heat)
4 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 375 F. In a medium bowl, stir the onion, garlic, salt, and black pepper together then add the turkey to the bowl and use your hands to mix just until combined (do not overmix). Form into 16 meatballs (each will be about the size of a golf ball). In a small bowl, stir together the honey, chiles, and vinegar.
Set a large ovenproof skillet over medium to medium-high heat and add the oil. Once it is shimmering, add the meatballs. Cook until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Move the skillet to the oven and bake the meatballs for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven (remember, the handle will be hot!) and pour the sauce over the meatballs. Bake for another 5 minutes (swirling the pan at the halfway point), or until the sauce has reduced to glaze the meatballs and the meatballs are cooked through. (Keep an eye on your meatballs in the oven – without eggs or milk-soaked bread for added moisture, they have the potential to dry out if overcooked.)
Makes 16 meatballs
Wow, these look terrific! Ithink I starred them when Natalie made them, too!
I love meal planning and grocery shopping! These are awesome and very well might make it onto my meal plan next week. Love the flavors here!
Ahh I think my BF would love these. He’s a big meat-eater, but the honey part makes me think I’d like them too. Thanks for the recipe!
That looks great! I use ground turkey at least once a week so its always nice to find a new recipe using it, and these look so delicious, I cannot wait to try this recipe
These look scrumptious!
And even if the rice in the back turned out to be inedible, the presentation still looks stunning!
Mmm! I love honey & chipotle together! I must make these ASAP!
Yup, I’m making these! My daughter will LOVE them!!
I am a curious duck in that I have pretty much given up browning anything. I just pop it into the oven and use a moderately high heat to get color. But, no matter, I want to make these meatballs and have just written “turkey” on my shopping list.
Those look positively scrumptious. I bet the honey adds such a neat little hit of flavor!
I just set ground turkey out this morning to defrost and I just so happened to have all of those ingredients in my house. Woo hoo for an easy and delish dinner!
Just saw this on Pinterest – so excited to try them out. I just started planning our meals for next month and this will be a great addition!
I love Saturday morning grocery trips! Mine tend to be more in the 9 AM range, but that’s still earlier than most of the crowds. I do the same Friday night preparation, too. Glad I’m not the only food nerd who enjoys this as a Friday night activity. I’ve drooled over these meatballs on Natalie’s site and now I’m drooling over them here. Looks like I need to get in gear and make them!
I made these a few weeks ago, and I doubled the sauce as well. I made my with a chipotle sauce instead of just the chilies. I really liked the dish.
These sound super yummy! Like you I menu planning and all my grocery shopping first thing in the morning on the weekend. π
Oh no, sorry about the rice. The meatballs sound great though.
Totally get what you’re saying! I usually do my meal planning on Thursday evening and then go to the store on Friday evening and then cook & bake all day Saturday & Sunday. It’s so much but I love it! The flavors of these meatballs are the bomb squad. I totally dig it. These will make it on my menu plan soon π
We didn’t get to the store last week either, however it looks like your dinners were much better than ours… we were digging into the pb&j π
These sound great! Mental note for the weekend.
this looks wonderful I haven’t had with turkey
Meal planning is something I need to get better at. It’s pretty hit or miss around here. Hubs is a big turkey meatball fan so I’m sure if this recipe made into a future meal plan, he would be happy. The spicy sweet combo sounds tasty!
I am going to be making these next month – I started planning out our meals for the entire month and it has saved me lots of time and money. How many servings is this recipe? I know it says 16 meatballs but how many does the average person eat?
Thanks so much! Love your blog!
Love meatballs! Pinning this recipe.
I always shop early in the morning on the weekend, or during the week (stay at home mom allows flexibility). The times I have to go on a Sat afternoon for something are torture!
@Carlye – I agree, meal planning saves me a ton – mostly because I’m not throwing away so much food! As for how many servings you’ll get from the recipe, it really depends. I had 1 pound of ground turkey so I made 2/3 of the recipe and there weren’t any leftovers. But my husband works out 2+ hours a day so he’s always ravenous come dinner time π My best guest is that the full recipe serves 4 or 5 “average” adults.
Those sound really good! I was at the grocery store really early on a Friday morning recently, and I was the only shopper – it was great!
so glad you enjoyed these! and you managed to make them look much prettier in pics than i did! π
I made these meatballs for lunch today and I was a huge fan. I am trying to find more ways to spice up lean meats like chicken and turkey and this recipe was perfect! Thank you so much!
Reminds me of my grandma, so how can I not adore this?! π
Yum. Made these last night and they were awesome! Perfect sweet/spicy balance. Served with Rice Medley from Trader Joe’s and roasted asparagus.
I love grocery shopping too! These meatballs sound like a perfect balance of sweet and hot – I’m a big fan of chipotle peppers – will definitely give this one a try!
i made these tonight after seeing them on both your blog + natalie’s blog + we all loved them! i doubled the sauce + am glad i did. delicious! i’m making a mini-batch tomorrow so i can photograph ’em + share them with my readers on my blog later this week or next. thanks for sharing!
I have made this recipe a few times now and it is SO good! I double the glaze and it is amazing, the sweet and spicy is my favorite combo. I served it over rice and couldn’t get enough, hubby and I are always painfully full after this because we can’t stop ourselves, so delicious! Thanks for a good one!