Recipes

We’re going to show you how to create delicious and nutritious oven-baked turkey meatballs that incorporate a 50-50 blend of vegetables and ground meat. This innovative approach not only enhances the flavor and nutritional value of your meatballs but also helps reduce the overall cost of your meal. By starting with raw onions, carrots, and celery and converting them into a savory vegetable medley, we’ll be able to create tender and moist turkey meatballs that are bursting with flavor. To take it up a level, we are going to add Frank’s hot sauce and blue cheese TWICE–both into the meatballs and drizzled and sprinkled on top.  Let’s get started!

Ingredients

• 1 pound of ground turkey
• 1 medium onion
• 2 medium-sized carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• ¼ pound of frozen spinach, defrosted and well-drained or 3 cups spinach leaves
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped, or 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp of salt
• ½ tsp of black pepper
• 1 tsp of ground cumin
• 1 tsp of dried oregano
• 1 tsp of smoked paprika
• ¼ cup Frank’s hot sauce, divided + more if desired
• 1 Tbsp tapioca flour or cornstarch
• 1 cup crumbled blue cheese, divided

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
2. Prepare the vegetables (this can be done in advance)
   ● Peel and finely dice the onions.
   ● Grate the carrots–no need to peel them!
   ● Dice the celery into small pieces.
3. Add the chopped onions, grated carrots, and diced celery to the skillet. Sauté the vegetables for 5-7 minutes until they become soft and translucent. Adding 2-4 Tbsp of water 2-3 times throughout the cooking process as this will expedite the process by softening and steaming the vegetable mixture. When soft, add the garlic and cook for an additional minute.
4. If using fresh spinach, add it here and cook until wilted. Remove the vegetable medley from heat and let it cool to room temperature.
   
5. Chop the mixture 8-10 times so that the vegetables are smaller and can be incorporated well into the ground turkey.
6. In a mixing bowl, combine the ground turkey, the cooled vegetable medley, and the spinach.
7. Add the salt, black pepper, ground cumin, smoked paprika, dried oregano, Frank’s hot sauce and tapioca flour to the mixture. Mix everything together until well combined. Gently mix in ½ cup of the blue cheese crumbles. Shape the turkey mixture into 18-20 balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
   
8. Bake the turkey meatballs in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until they are cooked through and have a golden-brown exterior.
9. Remove the meatballs from the oven. Push the meatballs together and drizzle with the remaining hot sauce and sprinkle with the remaining blue cheese. The heat of the meatballs will melt the blue cheese.