These Turmeric Turkey Meatballs are a great option for an easy weekday dinner. They are Paleo, gluten-free, healthy and delicious. Simply mix all the ingredients, bake for 25 minutes and enjoy with your favorite side dish.
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Healthy Turmeric Turkey Meatballs Made from Scratch
This turkey meatball recipe is super easy and simple. I am a strong believer that making meatballs from scratch does not need to be a huge undertaking. Using ground turmeric in this recipe amps up the healthy factor. These turmeric turkey meatballs are also great for meal prep because you can pair them with any of your favorite side dishes, pasta or salads and enjoy throughout the week!
Key Ingredients You’ll Need
- Ground Turkey: buy organic, pasture-raised whenever possible.
- Egg: a natural binder to hold meatballs together.
- Coconut flour: paleo and gluten-free alternative to breadcrumbs.
- Avocado Oil: to sauté the onion (and spinach).
- Onion: to sauté in avocado oil.
- Spinach (optional, but recommended!): to sauté in avocado oil with onion. I love using spinach in this recipe to add volume and fiber to meatballs.
- Turmeric: to add a slightly spicy flavor to meatballs.
- Garlic cloves or powder: because garlic makes everything better!
- Cilantro: to add a refreshing flavor. Parsley will also work well in this recipe.
How to Make Turmeric Turkey Meatballs
Place ground turkey, egg, turmeric, coconut flour, garlic powder, chopped cilantro, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Preheat the oven and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.
In the meantime, sauté the onions (and spinach, if desired) in avocado oil.
Next, add the onion sauté to all the ingredients and mix just until everything is combined. Do not overmix so the meatballs remain tender.
Finally, roll the meat mixture into balls and bake them in the oven at 400º F for 25 minutes.
What to Serve with Meatballs?
These meatballs are super versatile and will pair well with any of your favorite carbs or vegetable dishes. I love serving these with couscous, rice, mashed potatoes and a variety of other tasty side dishes.
Tips for Making This Recipe Perfectly
- Lightly oil hands to prevent the meat from sticking to your hands when you roll them into balls.
- To make the meatballs the same size, use a cookie dough scoop to scoop the meat into hands.
- Do not overcook the meatballs as the turkey becomes dry and crumbly if cooked for too long.
- Do not overmix the meat so the meatballs may remain tender.
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Mushroom Quinoa Salad – great side dish for meatballs
- Mediterranean Stew – perfect for a weekday dinner
- Turmeric-Spiced Carrots – flavorful compliment to grains
Turmeric Turkey Meatballs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 1 cup spinach (optional)
- 1 small sized yellow onion (diced)
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- ½ tbsp garlic powder (or 2 chopped garlic cloves)
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp fresh ground pepper
- 2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro or parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400º F.
- Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp of avocado oil over medium heat in a pan, add diced onions and sauté until lightly golden.
- If desired, when onions are lightly golden/caramelized, add spinach to the pan and sauté for a few minutes until spinach is wilted.
- Place meat, egg, turmeric, coconut flour, garlic powder, chopped cilantro, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl.
- Add the onion (and spinach) sauté mix to the rest of ingredients in the bowl and mix together.
- Lightly oil hands, roll mixture into balls and transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Bake at 400º F for 20 minutes. Broil on high 5 minutes to brown tops.
- Garnish with more cilantro or parsley and serve.
Notes
- This recipe yields 11-12 meatballs.
- Coconut flour is the ingredient that makes this recipe Paleo and gluten-free. You may use breadcrumbs instead of coconut flour, if you like.
- Lightly oil hands to prevent the meat from sticking to your hands when you roll them into balls.
- To make the meatballs the same size, use a cookie dough scoop to scoop the meat into hands.
- Do not overcook the meatballs as the turkey becomes dry and crumbly if cooked for too long.
- Do not overmix the meat so the meatballs may remain tender.
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These meatballs are outstanding. They are moist, flavorful, healthy, and easy to make. My friend and I ate them for dinner and we both were blown away with how good they were. I didn’t have any coconut flour or bread crumbs but wanted to keep it gluten-free so I crushed up some quinoa tortilla chips as a substitute. This worked great. I also only used olive oil but otherwise followed the recipe, including the sautéed spinach, and am so glad I did. Naira’s recipes are helping me have fun cooking while feeling good as I enjoy home-cooked meals. I will be making these again and again. Serve over a bed of spinach for lunch or pair with a side pasta dish. Or both at the same time.
Sarah, sounds like this will be a staple dish in your household moving forward :-). Glad you loved it! Even though spinach is optional in this recipe, I too like to include it. Thank you for sharing your experience and for the great tip about using crushed quinoa tortilla chips instead of coconut flour.