Meatballs for Spaghetti

These are so yummy and moist. If you haven't tried ground turkey before, you really should! I enjoy it better than beef in these meatballs. If you really don't like or can't eat ground turkey, read the variation at the bottom for ground beef.

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 egg (see below for egg-free version)
1-2 Tbsp milk
1/8-1/4 tsp garlic powderDirections

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix well using your hands. Roll into ping pong to golf ball size balls. This makes about 24 meatballs. You can make them larger or smaller, just adjust cooking time to make sure they are done in the middle. Here they are before cooking.

Plop these into your favorite spaghetti sauce in a large pot (I use 2-26oz jars of traditional Walmart brand sauce). Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until done, stirring occasionally. Serve with your favorite pasta.

This makes a lot of sauce. I cook a whole 14.5oz box of angel hair pasta (favorite brand is Barilla plus) and mix it all together. This will feed my whole family at least twice. I divide it in half and put half of it in the freezer.

Variation: You can make these with ground beef, but unless you choose a very lean meat, I would bake these in something with a lip (like a casserole dish or jelly roll pan). You can drain off the excess fat that way before you put them into your sauce. For these size meatballs, bake for 10-20 minutes on 350.

If you want to reduce or totally eliminate the Parmesan cheese, you can do so by increasing your Italian bread crumbs so that the mixture equals a cup (ie: 3/4 cup bread crumbs to 1/4 cup cheese).

*Egg-free version: see note to the right about egg free substitutions. I prefer to use flax seed as my egg replacement for these.

Hide your veggies!: Add some very finely chopped spinach, zucchini, carrots, and/or onion to your meatballs as you are mixing them together. I use my hand chopper to chop them. Or you can add them directly to your sauce. So yummy and healthy!