Baked Turkey Meatballs

I LOVE Italian food. Unfortunately, it isn't always the healthiest, so I try to make it at home more often than going out for it. This way I can control what goes into it and try to lighten it up when possible.

Instead of using beef to make Italian meatballs, I substituted ground turkey to make it healthier. Often times turkey meatballs turn out dry because they are so low fat. My mom taught me a great trick to prevent this from happening- MUSHROOMS! If you add just a small amount of chopped mushrooms into the meatball mixture, you will get a moist and delicious turkey meatball that's just bursting with delicious flavor. 

I like to bake the meatballs in the oven versus babysitting them on the stove. This gives them a chance to get nice and brown and crunchy on the outside without sitting in a ton of oil. 

Also, I wanted these meatballs to be sugar free because of the no sugar challenge that I'm currently doing. Because of this, I used oats instead of bread crumbs. This also makes these meatballs gluten free and extremely healthy.

Oats are my superfood in this recipe and if you want to find out some of the amazing health benefits of oats check it out in one of my other recipes here.

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground turkey (I used 94% lean)

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1 egg

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (any kind is fine- I used baby portabellos)

1/8 cup chopped parsley

1/8 cup chopped chives

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

2 tbsp. low-fat milk

salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2) Line 2 baking sheets with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray

3) Combine ground turkey, oats, mushrooms, parsley, chives, and Parmesan in a mixing bowl

4) Whisk the egg with the milk until combined

5) Add milk/egg mixture to the turkey mixture and use your hands to combine

6) Add salt/pepper if you wish

7) Using a tablespoon, scoop out a small amount of the mixture and roll it into a ball

8) Lay the ball on the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining mixture (this should make about 24 meatballs)

9) Bake for 10 minutes and then flip the meatballs over

10) Continue baking 5-7 more minutes or until totally cooked through

11) Serve with your favorite tomato sauce and some pasta. :)