Asian Turkey Meatballs: A Lightened Up Recipe
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These Asian Turkey Meatballs are flavorful, easy, and make a perfect lightened up dinner option. You can also enjoy them as appetizers!
Hi everyone and Happy New Year! It’s Ashlyn here from Belle of the Kitchen, ready to share a new and healthy recipe as part of this month’s Ideas for the Kitchen exchange. If you’re looking to make a more healthful start to the New Year, Carrie and I have you covered with two new recipes using turkey as a lighter meat option. I’m a big believer that healthy and delicious can go hand-in-hand, and that’s exactly what you’ll find with these Asian Turkey Meatballs!
If you’re looking for Carrie, you can find her over on my blog today where she’s sharing her recipe for Easy Turkey Sausage Quinoa.
Meatballs Make an Easy Dinner
Meatballs are a family-favorite meal idea. Kids love them and they are pretty easy to make too. And they are so versatile too. You can make them spicy with sriracha or classic with marinara sauce.
These are so moist you don’t need a sauce. They are the main course all by themselves.
Skinny meatballs made out of turkey
Since it’s a new year, many of us are ready to start it off right by making more healthful choices. I know I enjoyed a few more cookies and treats than I probably should have over the holidays, but that’s what New Year’s resolutions are for, right? 😉
Thankfully, cooking healthy foods doesn’t have to be difficult, and with recipes like these Asian Turkey Meatballs, eating right can be pretty delicious, too.
Ground Turkey is a lean meat
I love using ground turkey breast in recipes, especially when I’m looking to save a few calories. It is important to note that the type of ground turkey that you purchase really affects how much fat or calories you will save over ground beef. If your goal is to achieve a lighter meal, try to find ground turkey breast and not just ground turkey. Ground turkey is made up of both light and dark meat and therefore has a bit more fat and calories than its breast meat counterpart.
Ground turkey breast is very lean meat, but these meatballs have a little milk, egg, soy sauce, and sesame oil to help keep them moist. They may actually feel a bit sticky as you’re forming them into balls, but just keep working with them and they will bake up just fine. There is also a yummy lime sauce to drizzle over them at the end that just adds to their moistness and flavor!
What To Serve with Asian Turkey Meatballs
I like to serve these Asian Turkey Meatballs over brown rice with some steamed veggies; especially some sautéed bok choy.
Bok Choy (or Chinese cabbage) pairs perfectly with these meatballs and is full of good for you vitamins like A, C, K, potassium, folate, and more.
Do you enjoy using ground turkey in recipes? What kind of tasty meals do you like to cook up with this lighter protein? We would love to hear your recipe ideas, so please share them with Carrie and me below!
Asian Turkey Meatballs
Equipment
- Oven
- 9 x 13 Inch Baking Pan
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1/4 cup low fat milk
- 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
- 20 oz. ground turkey breast
- 1 Egg lightly beaten
- 2 Garlic Cloves minced
- 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons Sesame Oil
Dipping Sauce:
- 3 TB soy sauce
- 2 tsp Sesame Oil
- 2 TB fresh lime juice
- 2 TB Water
- 1 garlic clove minced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large bowl, combine all meatball ingredients and mix well. Form into 20 meatballs (about a 1/4 cup each) and place in the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes or until cooked through.
- Meanwhile, prepare sauce by combining all ingredients in a small bowl. When the meatballs have finished cooking, transfer to a serving dish and drizzle with some of the prepared sauce.
- Serve meatballs over rice with remaining sauce, if desired. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Looking for more recipes using turkey? You might like this:
While you’re here be sure to check out these easy dinner ideas on Ideas for the Home by Kenarry® –
- Skillet Lasagna Recipe
- Sweet Barbecue Turkey Meatloaf: A Home Cooked Favorite
- Slow Cooker Sweet and Spicy Sriracha Meatballs
Originally published in January 2015. Updated January 2018.
Oooh, these look SO yummy! I like turkey meatballs more than regular meatballs so I will def add these to my recipe list!
I just love Ashlyn’s twist on traditional meatballs. Let me know if you try them!