I can’t believe it’s been more than a month since I made these spinach-turkey meatballs – part of a dinner spread I prepared for my husband and two friends. (Where does the time go?) It was a last-minute menu addition to ensure we had enough food to go around.
Meatballs are one of my go-to “quick-and-dirty” dishes. I like that you can throw all the ingredients in one bowl and then shape, bake and sauce them in under an hour – et voilà, done! No muss, no fuss. You can even cook them in advance since they reheat easily on the stove top or in the oven – a definite plus if you’re serving them at a dinner party or bringing them to a potluck.
Turkey meatballs can be quite tough and dry, but the addition of spinach, cheese and fresh bread crumbs keeps these morsels tender and moist. After they bake, toss them with homemade marinara sauce and they’ll stay juicy for days. Leftovers are delicious in a salad or on toast.
Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit.
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ½ small onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried chili flakes
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ¼ small onion, finely diced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1¼ pounds ground turkey, preferably 93% lean or less
- 1 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove excess moisture
- ½ cup grated Asiago cheese
- ½ cup fresh bread crumbs (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- In a medium sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic, oregano and chili flakes; season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add tomato paste and 1 tablespoon water and cook, stirring constantly, until tomato paste begins to darken, about 3 minutes.
- Add tomatoes, crushing with your hands as you add them. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, 20-25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Preheat broiler. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray.
- Combine all the meatball ingredients in a medium bowl and mix with your hands. Form into 1½" balls and arrange on the baking sheet. Brush meatballs with oil.
- Broil meatballs, rotating sheet halfway through, until browned all over and cooked through, 15-18 minutes. Add to marinara sauce.
