This is a serious meal. I wouldn’t play with your emotions about something so important. Sure there is a little prep work but hand to heart, they make a ton of delicious meatballs.
Meal in a meatball
If your kids won't take more than a bite at dinner? Make that bite count. Maybe it sounds weird to put a sweet potato and zucchini in a meatball but it taste so good.
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 2 sheet pans
- blender or food processor
- 1 teaspoon
- 1/2 measuring cup
- Cookie scoop *optional
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground turkey 2 packs
- 2 medium zucchini
- 1 large sweet potato cooked
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup quick oats
- 1 tsp smoked paprika different than traditional paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ground black pepper to taste
- oil of choice to lightly grease pans
Instructions
- Cook sweet potato in advance. I often use a leftover one from a previous meal or toss in oven the night before.
- For sweet potato set oven to 425. Wash off throughly. Coat potato in avocado oil and some salt. Bake for 45 minutes or until super soft.
- For meatballs: set out ingredients, appliances and preheat oven to 375.
- Lightly grease 2 sheet pans.
- Peel zucchini (not necessary but hides any green specks if you think that would turn picky eaters off.
- Cut zucchini into big chunks and blend in food processor.
- Add a 2-3 pinches of salt to zucchini and blend again.
- Peel skin completely off of the prepared sweet potato and add to blender.
- Blend both together until well incorporated (this alone makes great baby food).
- Move to your large bowl, add eggs and whisk them.
- Add turkey, spices and oats to the bowl and mix well.
- Add veggie mixture to the bowl and mix until ingredients are well incorporated. Hands work best here.
- I use a cookie scooper to make meatballs uniform but can just use your hands.
- Makes about 2 pans full of meatballs but total depends on the size.
- If you cook both pans at once make sure to swap bottom rack to top rack and vice versa half way through the cooking process.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
- Cool for 5 minutes.
- Serve with favorite dipping sauce, we like Dijon mustard.
Notes
Great for leftovers or serves a crowd. If you do not like leftovers then after the meatballs have cooled freeze half the batch for later. If prep time is of concern break it up into sections. Cook potato up to 3 days before. Prepare meatball mixture and store covered in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Cooked meatballs keep well in fridge for 3-4 days.
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Live well friends,
Christy
