Turkey Meatballs
I want to make a healthier version of spaghetti and meatballs tomorrow, so I'm thinking of doing turkey meatballs. I know that turkey's a very lean meat, so I'm worried about them drying out during the cooking process.
Does anyone have any advice as to how to keep them moist? Also, should I bake them, fry them, or cook them in the sauce? I'm leaning toward cooking them in the marinara, but I'm worried about the whole raw poultry cross contamination thing- or am I being silly?
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21 Comments:
It's weird but everytime I watch food TV, the recipe is mentioned on SE. Anyway, I saw Lydia making them a day or two ago and googled the recipe (a guy on a blog made them):
http://sseichinger.blogspot.com/2006/05/turkey-meatballs.html
Apparently, soaking the breadcrumbs in milk is her 'secret'
HeartofGlass at 7:48PM on 05/21/09
Yes! I love turkey meatballs. I don't have any tricks for keeping them moist, but I would definitely advise that you fry them up in a pan (and you really can't go wrong with a trusty cast iron skillet!). I don't know if you could safely cook them in your marinara, but I would be just as worried about cross-contamination, so I wouldn't personally do it.
Here are some pics of my last turkey meatball-centric dinner:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxcriden/tags/turkeymeatballs/
Good luck with your turkey meatball foray! :)
maxcriden at 7:55PM on 05/21/09
maybe you can add some egg or milk to keep the meat moist-that's what I usually do and it works..Since turkey has the tendancy to be a bit bland, in addition to the egg, I usually put in some grated garlic as well as grated cheese --either locatelli or reggiano --something a bit sharp to balance out the blandness & seasonings, breadcrumbs etc...
I prefer to fry up the turkey meat balls keeping them a bit undercooked before putting them into the marinara, so they don't dry out as they will cook more in the sauce...I think frying gives the sauce a richer flavor...If you prefer just cooking them in the marinara, I've done that too---as the sauce still has to cook anyway, so you won't be contaminating anything..but I still prefer the "fry" method..I hope this helps....ENJOY!
Italiancupcake at 8:05PM on 05/21/09
I'd recommend baking them if you're going for a healthier version since frying would kind of defeat that.
I make these Rachel Ray (gasp! I know that's a taboo name but I'm sorry they're good, so shoot me) meatballs many times:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/florentine-mac-and-cheese-and-roast-chicken-sausage-meatballs-recipe/index.html
You could substitute turkey for the chicken easily (ignore the pasta with spinach part if you'd like and just use the meatball recipe to go with your marinara).
I've done this without the ricotta numerous times (I through in some parm instead) and it still came out plenty moist. Hope that helps!
swampyankee at 8:17PM on 05/21/09
I made some outstanding turkey meatballs by grinding and adding a fair amount of pancetta and pork fat. Of course, that mitigates the healthy aspect in some people's opinion. They were pretty good, though.
For the most part, it is fat content that makes sausages, meatloaf and meatballs moist.
Bread, usually soaked in milk, in meatballs is essential for the correct texture. Without it they are too tough.
derosa at 8:22PM on 05/21/09
For chicken or turkey meatballs, I brown in olive oil, then 5 or 10 minutes in a pressure cooker. Done. If you then want to put them in your sauce with the defatted liquid from the pressure cooker, you should have no contamination problems. But, personally, fresh out of the pressure cooker, I find them very moist. I don't use a red sauce with them, choosing a light gravy instead.
zucchini at 8:24PM on 05/21/09
If you cook them from raw turkey long enough in the sauce, say in a crock pot you would eliminate the contamination issue. They would stay nice and moist but give them lots of flavor with the basil and oregano.
WSLunch at 8:41AM on 05/22/09
add tons of veggies for moisture and bake them with some water in the pan to help steam and keep moist. works for me! and keeps them healthy.
_greenbean at 9:19AM on 05/22/09
When I use ground turkey breast, I grate some zucchini and saute it with some chopped onions, garlic, and dried herbs, then mix it in with the meat and an egg. Sometimes, I mix in a little feta or goat cheese too. I've also had luck making a florentine-esque turkey meatball with grated parm, egg, a little bit of bread crumbs, and chopped spinach. That one is great with a nice red sauce and some pasta!
nosillak at 10:07AM on 05/22/09
I, too (GASP) use a Rachel Ray recipe. This is the one I use with fresh basil and sun dried tomatoes.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/mini-chicken-sausage-meatballs-with-gnocchi-and-tomato-sauce-recipe2/index.html
I interchange turkey or chicken with no issues. My red meat eater hubby loves these and actually requests that I make them
meem21 at 12:55PM on 05/22/09
I've used this great recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food for a few years now, and I also use the turkey meatballs in baked ziti and lasagna. You cook the meatballs directly in the sauce:
http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.3a0656639de62ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=a169d0f19132f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default&rsc=header_2&autonomy_kw=Spaghetti+with+Turkey+Meatballs
Giada also has a very recipe for turkey meatballs. I've made them fried as specified in the recipe, and I've also broiled them with very good results - I've switched to just broiling to save calories, esp. when passing them around as an appetizer for a party:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cda/recipe_print/0,1946,FOOD_9936_22338_PRINT-RECIPE-FULL-PAGE,00.html
To both recipes, I've also tried adding a defrosted package of chopped spinach that I thoroughly squeezed dry - it works very well.
MMinNYC at 1:13PM on 05/22/09
Another idea - the chicken meatballs from Ina Garten's Italian Wedding Soup - make them with Turkey:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/italian-wedding-soup-recipe/index.html
MMinNYC at 1:34PM on 05/22/09
I make chicken meatballs all the time, and I add a little hummus to it, I know that sounds weird but I like the flavor and the moisture it adds, I also use it in meatloaf.
huneybumper at 1:36PM on 05/22/09
Two secrets to great turkey meatballs: soak bread in milk (not breadcrumbs) and pecorino cheese (rather than parm). For some reason, pecorino and turkey just goes much better.
Chris De Noia at 3:06PM on 05/22/09
I use Alton Brown's baked meatball recipe using half ground turkey and half turkey Italian sausage instead of the pork/lamb/chuck mixture he uses, keeping everything else the same (he includes spinach in the recipe, which keeps them really moist and gives them some pretty color). The first time I made them, along with spaghetti, my husband ate so much he was moaning on the couch in pain later, asking, "Why didn't you stop me?"
buffy at 3:44PM on 05/22/09
The quality of the ground turkey has all to do with the resulting meatball. For instance, I can't stand that Jenny-O ground turkey. It looks like beige mush that got extruded through a meat grinder. I get great ground turkey from Fresh Market and to date, not even Whole Foods' turkey competes with it. That's step 1.
I add everything to my turkey meatballs that I do to my beef meatballs. An egg, some moistened bread (not crumbs), parm, S&P, parsley, garlic and onion. If you like, cut out the egg yolks but I find everything else is really necessary for a tasty, tender meat ball.
Test a small patty of the ground turkey - saute it plain with just a sprinkling o f salt. Judge how much additional moisture it might need. If you do wind up with dry ground turkey - you can add some moisture to it by adding olive oil. That's what I do with my turkey burgers. Turkey accepts olive oil very well and the oil keeps the meat moist. Between oil, egg white and moistened bread, I think you're looking at a pretty moist meatball.
therealchiffonade at 8:44PM on 05/22/09
Why not just buy some good lean beef and grind it yourself and enjoy a real meat meatball? Turkey can be the star at Thanksgiving.
dmcavanagh at 9:08PM on 05/22/09
Thanks to all for helped. I went crazy with the meatballs; sautéed mushrooms, spinach, onions and garlic- threw that in. Threw in parm, salt and pepper, fennel, fresh rosemary and parsley. I soaked bread, threw that in with a couple of eggs. I got the crappy Jenny-O turkey that someone above mentioned, with made the texture a problem. I couldn't really roll the mixture into balls because that turkey was literally mush. I ended up adding an entire small box of panko bread crumbs to the mix, which turned out perfectly and strangely enough did not dry them out, even after baking them. A happy tummy was had by all.
PumpkinBear at 3:45AM on 05/24/09
If you do not sear off the meatballs and put them directly in the sauce they impart a poultry greasy taste into the sauce that I am not particularly fond of. When I make poultry meatballs I always dress them with sauce after they have been seared and baked off OR pan fried and dressed and baked. It is a personal thing. The more seared/baked/melty cheese action you have less of that poultry taste.
JerzeeTomato at 10:38AM on 05/24/09
I use turkey for meatballs quite often and I always cook them in the sauce or broth, the one trick is that you need to keep them small so they dont fall apart. I always use fresh herbs and parm on mine which gives a lot of flavor. If you are looking for good recipies check out Giada she uses turkey in most of her meatball recipies.
pastamama27 at 2:01PM on 05/25/09
i used to be anti turkey and only ate ground pork and beef. but i gave this recipe a shot and let me tell ya, it was SO much better than beef/pork. by sauteing the veggies before molding into a ball keeps the meatball SO moist. Give it a shot and let me know what you think. i PROMISE, you will NOT be disappointed.
-with marinara
http://foodisluv.blogspot.com/2009/03/blog-post.html
-swedish meatballs
http://foodisluv.blogspot.com/2009/06/swedish-meatballs.html
foodisluv at 8:05PM on 06/12/09