If you love meatballs but are looking for a lower fat option, these ground turkey meatballs are tender and delicious!! This healthy gluten free meatballs recipe is sure to please even your pickiest eaters!
Juicy and moist, your family will love every delicious bite! If you love meatballs as much as we do, you will want to check out my best gluten free meatball recipes!
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Meatballs are a staple in our house. You can enjoy them as appetizers, healthy snacks, over spaghetti, or in a meatball sub. They are a great source of protein, and they make a great part of a healthy meal.
One of the reasons I love this recipe is because the meatballs slowly cooked in a tomato sauce in your slow cooker. The flavor of the sauce cooks into your meatballs making them tender and perfect for a gluten free submarine sandwich!
For this healthy gluten free meatball recipe, I used ground turkey to make my meatballs. Ground turkey can be challenging, especially if you use the leanest made with turkey breast, to keep moist.
Note that you can use any ground meat you like because this recipe is so versatile! Low-fat meats include ground turkey and ground chicken and higher-fat meats include ground pork and ground beef.
This simple gluten free turkey meatball recipe comes with two different cooking options; slow cooker or stovetop.
🥘 Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground turkey (or another ground meat)
- Gluten free breadcrumbs
- Egg
- Milk
- Parmesan cheese
- Basil, salt, pepper
🔪 Instructions:
In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, gluten free bread crumbs, egg, milk, and seasoning. Mix well so the bread crumbs and seasonings are mixed evenly through the meat mixture.
Use your hands to roll the turkey mixture into balls and drop into the pasta sauce.
Use a spoon to cover the meatballs with sauce. Cover and cook the meatballs one of two ways:
Cook in a slow cooker - to cook these meatballs in a slow cooker, add your pasta sauce to the slow cooker. Drop in the raw meatballs and spoon sauce over them. Cover with a lid and cook for 3-4 hours on the high-temperature setting or 4-5 hours on low.
Cook stovetop - to cook these meatballs stovetop, add your sauce to a large pot. Drop your raw meatballs into the sauce and spoon the sauce over them. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
🥗 Serve with:
- This kid-friendly Kale and Apple Salad recipe makes a great side.
- Cream cheese mashed potatoes are always a big hit!
- These pizza stuffed Hasselback potatoes are a big hit with the kids!
📋 Recipe FAQ:
You can easily use other ground meats. If you want to reduce the amount of fat, try ground turkey or chicken. Ground beef also works very well!
If you can't find gluten free bread crumbs, feel free to use gluten free panko, crushed corn chips, crushed crackers, or something you have on-hand.
You want to make sure your meatballs have an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
You can choose to make them any size! Note that smaller meatballs cook much faster so if you are making cocktail/appetizer sized meatballs, you will want to reduce the cooking time.
Yes, you can bake these meatballs. The only difference is they will not slowly cook in the tomato sauce the same way.
📋 Recipe
Gluten Free Ground Turkey Meatballs
A delicious gluten free ground turkey meatballs recipe. These meatballs slowly simmer in tomato sauce. They can be made in a slow cooker or stovetop.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1/4 cup gluten free bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried basil (*See note)
- 1 jar pasta sauce (*See note)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the ground turkey, gluten free bread crumbs, seasonings, egg, and milk.
- Mix the mixture to evenly distribute the ingredients.
- Use your hands to roll the meat into medium sized balls.
- If you plan to cook these with a slow cooker, add jarred sauce to the slow cooker. Drop your meatballs into the slow cooker. Cover with sauce. Cook on high heat for 3-4 hours or low heat for 4-5 hours.
- If you prefer to cook these meatballs stovetop, the process is similar to the slow cooker. Add your sauce to a pot and drop in the raw meatballs. Cover the meatballs with sauce. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes.
- Serve over pasta, in a sub sandwich, or as appetizers.
Notes
1. If you prefer to use fresh basil, use 1 tablespoon.
2. To make these meatballs dairy-free, omit the parmesan cheese, or use a vegan parmesan cheese. VioLife vegan brand parmesan is one of the best I have tried lately.
3. If you prefer to use a homemade sauce, refer to the post for several great sauce recipes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 143Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 69mgSodium: 352mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 13g
**If your gluten free flour blend doesn't include Xanthan Gum, please add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon! **Please note this nutrition information is calculated by a recipe plugin and is an estimate based on the ingredients used in this recipe.
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