Baked Turkey Meatballs, stuffed with quinoa and zucchini and served on lettuce wraps, is a recipe that will please even the pickiest eater.
It's amazing what kids will eat when you pack it in a meatball. My 8-year old son, lover of all vegetables and fruits, will not be convinced that quinoa is something that should actually be consumed by humans.
In fact, he does a rather convincing impersonation of a fish freshly yanked from the water whenever I dare to serve the healthy grain. Spluttering, gasping, practically flopping on the floor. If I wasn't putting on the performance of an annoyed mother - hands on hips, foot tapping rapidly on the hardwood floor - I might actually give him a standing ovation.
As I scooped the meatballs onto the plates, I beckoned my husband over to the stove and whispered, "These are filled with grated zucchini...and quinoa." {Snicker, snicker.} With knowing smiles and conspiratorial winks, we placed the plates in front of the boys, holding our collective breath.
Now, it helps that two of their favorite dinners are Baked Teriyaki Turkey Meatballs, served with rice and stir-fried veggies, and Italian Turkey Meatballs with pasta. The reaction to that dinner usually involves fist pumps and Tim Tebow poses. It does a cooking ego good. So, meatballs of any sort are bound to be well-received, right?
Right?
"Mum, these aren't good...they're great!" "Can we have them in our lunch boxes tomorrow? PLEEEAAASSSE?"
Mission accomplished. Flopping fish performance averted.
If you're craving a light meal, wrap the meatballs in lettuce leaves with a touch of sauce. For something more substantial, even Super Bowl-worthy (see my 25 Super Bowl Recipes), serve the meatballs in mini buns. Everybody loves a meatballs slider!
The recipe:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Thoroughly coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, cooked quinoa, grated onion, garlic, zucchini, parsley, dried chile flakes, soy sauce, oregano, ground pepper and egg.
Mix well to combine. Using a 1 ½ tablespoon portion of the turkey mixture, form meatballs by rolling between the palms of your hands. Place the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly.
Bake until the meatballs are firm to the touch and cooked through, about 20 minutes.
While the meatballs are cooking, heat the tomato sauce in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Transfer the meatballs to the tomato sauce and gently stir to coat the meatballs.
Spoon the meatballs and sauce into a bowl, serve alongside the lettuce leaves and Parmesan cheese.
Serve 2 meatballs and 1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese in each lettuce wrap.
Other meatball recipes:
Salmon Meatballs with Avocado Sauce
Cannellini Bean Vegetarian Meatballs
Honey Garlic Baked Turkey Meatballs
Printable Recipe
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Italian Turkey, Quinoa & Zucchini Meatballs Recipe in Lettuce Wraps
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ pounds ground turkey
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- ½ medium onion grated
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- ½ cup grated zucchini
- ¼ cup chopped Italian parsley plus more for garnish
- ¼ teaspoon dried chile flakes
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon ground oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 egg beaten
- 2 cups tomato sauce your favorite kind
- 9 medium to large butter lettuce leaves
- 6 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Thoroughly coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, cooked quinoa, grated onion, garlic, zucchini, parsley, dried chile flakes, soy sauce, oregano, ground pepper and egg.
- Mix well to combine. Using a 1½ tablespoon portion of the turkey mixture, form meatballs by rolling between the palms of your hands. Place the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly.
- Bake until the meatballs are firm to the touch and cooked through, about 20 minutes.
- While the meatballs are cooking, heat the tomato sauce in a large saucepan set over medium heat.
- Transfer the meatballs to the tomato sauce and gently stir to coat the meatballs.
- Spoon the meatballs and sauce into a bowl, serve alongside the lettuce leaves and Parmesan cheese.
- Serve 2 meatballs and 1 teaspoon Parmesan cheese in each lettuce wrap.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Kate
Best tasting healthy meatballs I've made so far! Used red pepper flakes instead of chilli flakes cause that was what we had in the house. Thanks cookin Canuck!
traci
These are awesome! Super wet tho...so I added about 3/4 cup panko. Otherwise it would have been meatball pancakes. Will certainly make again!
Jack
The meatballs look awesome. I am always trying to do new stuff with quinoa. For the lettuce wraps I would include some slaw done with some toasted sesame Asian salad dressing.
Lauren
These sound amazing! In fact they are in my oven as we speak! I'll let you know how they turn out! In the meantime I would recommend draining the water from the zucchini and mincing the onion instead of grating it to cut down on the water content. The meat mixture was far too wet to work with. I made due but I think adding those two changes would really help! Will let you know how fantastic
They are!
amber
Umm...I just put one cup (before cooked=much more than one cup after cooked) into this recipe. Is there anything I can do besides buy two more pkgs of turkey and triple the recipe?? Any tips appreciated 🙂
Dara (Cookin' Canuck)
Hi Amber - Yes, one cup of uncooked does definitely give you a lot of cooked quinoa! 🙂 I did a post a little while ago that gives tips on freezing cooked quinoa (so great to have frozen quinoa on hand!). That post also includes some of my favorite quinoa recipes, as well as links from other bloggers. Here's that post: https://www.cookincanuck.com/2013/03/how-to-freeze-quinoa-and-quinoa-recipe-link-up/ I hope that helps!
Suma
Can i use oats instead of quinoa?
Dara (Cookin' Canuck)
Hi Suma, I've never tried it with oats, so I don't know how it would turn out. Let me know if you give it a try. I'd love to know!
Erin
These are delicious!! But how do you get the balls so nicely formed? I have to basically spoon them onto the cookie sheet in little piles...the mixture seems really wet :/
Joan Frazier
These are incredibly good, and about as healthy as a meatball can get! Thanks.
Kate
I made these last night and they turned out great! I added sun-dried tomatoes and pesto for extra flavor - so good! Thanks for the recipe
Christy
Can I prep these into balls , then freeze? If so...how hot and for how long would I bake them once frozen?
Dara (Cookin' Canuck)
Hi Christy, I would suggest cooking the meatballs before freezing them. Cook according to the directions, let them cool to room temperature, place the entire tray of meatballs in the freezer to flash freeze them. Once they're frozen, you can take the meatballs off of the tray and transfer them to freezer bags or some sort of freezer-proof storage container.
When you're ready to use them, just take out the amount of meatballs you need. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and heat the frozen meatballs on a baking sheet for approximately 20 minutes.