Classic spaghetti has been a staple for the kids when time is short. Meatballs always makes a meal heavier, and sometimes rather than beef, I like to choose turkey for the “full heavy” as I like to call it.
As most know, pasta is also my ultimate comfort food, and opposed to the last, I will not be hibernating this year. Instead I will be making these meatballs, with a giant plate of linguine slathered in sauce whenever I get the chance.
The great thing about using sausage in meatballs is that you can easily alter the flavor depending on what you like or what you’re in the mood for. I always use sweet Italian sausage because that’s what we like, but you could substitute hot sausage without making any other modifications to the recipe.
PrintGround Turkey and Sausage Meatballs
- Yield: About 24 meatballs 1x
Ingredients
- 1 20.8 ounce package of ground turkey
- 6 sweet Italian sausages
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup plain Panko-style breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Remove the casings from the sausages and in a large bowl mix turkey, sausage meat, garlic powder, basil, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, and lightly beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly until all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Form mixture into 2 inch balls, making 20-25 meatballs, depending on the size of the sausages used.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over med heat. Brown the outside of the meatballs and transfer to a 9×13 inch baking dish. Cover the tops of the meatballs with your favorite marinara. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until there is no longer any pink when you cut a meatball in half.
- Serve over your favorite pasta.
Photos: Kasey Ahlquist
Instead of baking the meatballs could I put them in a slow cooker?
These were ultra tasty. Sausage is about all I can find at the store right now along with the frozen turkey I picked up, so this worked out well.
★★★★★
Best meatballs ever! Loved them.
★★★★★