This Greek-inspired turkey meatball sandwich is a handful of comfort food! The meatballs include roasted peppers and the meatballs are paired with tomato sauce and tangy feta cheese.
Feel sorry for my family...very sorry. After celebrating my fortieth birthday nearly two weeks ago and being treated to a wonderful surprise party by my husband and friends, I am now sinking into the post-holiday blues, which means that a grumpy little troll (that would be me) will be wandering aimlessly around the house for several days.
These are the kind of blues that makes a girl want to stuff juicy turkey meatballs into hoagie rolls and eat to her heart's content. Seems like a logical panacea. Well, that and a case of Heath bars. The January doldrums actually started last week, but then were quickly swept aside by another surprise my family had in store for me.
At about 10 pm on Thursday night, I was tucked into bed, engrossed in my book when the doorbell rang. At that time of night, a visitor at the front door is never a good thing. I crept downstairs, baffled as to why my husband had not investigated the disturbance, and cautiously peeked through the front window. At the sight of my face plastered to the glass, the people on the front porch broke into an enthusiastic version of Happy Birthday. My parents had flown from Canada, in cahoots with my husband and kids, to surprise me. It doesn't get much better than that. After a weekend of wonderful dinners, fun activities with the kids, and treasured quiet moments in each other's company, my parents have headed home and we are back to our regular pre-holiday routine. While there is comfort in regular life, it will take me several days to bounce back to form...and a few bottles of Tums to deal with that case of Heath bars.
In keeping with healthy eating goals, I wanted to make an easy weeknight meal that would be at home in my post, New Year's Recipes for Good Health. Ground turkey is mixed with Greek-inspired flavors of roasted red bell peppers (try roasting your own), oregano, and myzithra (or feta) cheese. While regular hoagie rolls would work well, I was inspired to try the whole-wheat rolls found in Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg's books, Healthy Breads in Five Minutes a Day. This is a book well worth adding to your collection. I have made several recipes from it, and the bread consistently turns out tender and flavorful. Plus, the recipes seem to be foolproof, a bonus for a bread-making novice like me.
How to make turkey meatball sandwich
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Thoroughly coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, roasted red bell peppers, grated onion, garlic, parsley, dried oregano, egg, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.
Mix well to combine. Using a rounded 2 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.
In a large saucepan, heat your favorite marinara sauce over medium heat until simmering. Add meatball and stir to coat. Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
Preheat broiler. Place hoagie rolls on large baking sheet, divide the meatballs and sauce evenly on the bottom halves of the rolls and top each with 1 tablespoon myzithra (or feta) cheese. Broil for about 1 minute, or until the buns are slightly toasted. Serve.
Printable Recipe
Greek Turkey Meatball Sandwich
Ingredients
The meatballs
- 1 ¼ pound lean (93%) ground turkey meat
- 1 roasted bell pepper finely chopped
- ½ medium yellow onion grated
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
The rest
- 3 cups marinara sauce (your favorite kind)
- 6 hoagie rolls preferably whole-wheat
- ¼ cup crumbled myzithra or feta cheese
Instructions
The meatballs
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Thoroughly coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, roasted red peppers, grated onion, garlic, parsley, dried oregano, egg, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.
- Mix well to combine. Using a rounded 2 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.
- Mix well to combine. Using a rounded 2 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.
The rest
- In a large saucepan, heat your favorite marinara sauce over medium heat until simmering. Add meatball and stir to coat. Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
- Preheat broiler. Place hoagie rolls on large baking sheet, divide the meatballs and sauce evenly on the bottom halves of the rolls and top each with 1 tablespoon myzithra (or feta) cheese. Broil for about 1 minute, or until the buns are slightly toasted. Serve.
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.
whatsfordinneracrossstatelines
Happy Belated Birthday! 41 is much easier, I promise. Love this sandwich, I need some lighter recipes to shed of the holidays. Have a great week.
-Gina-
Pegasuslegend
Now thats one heck of a sandwich sub...love it!
Tracy
How wonderful! The sandwiches look amazing too. I'm always looking for new meatball recipes and I love that yours uses turkey!
Drick
now if that doesn't rid the doldrums, I don't know what will - nothing about this sounds like it is diet food for sure and I am all for it... so glad your family surprised you and you had a nice visit, even the candy bars
Peggy
Your family is awesome for surprising you! These meatball sandwiches sound absolutely delicious!
Belinda @zomppa
What a fantastic meal!! I love it...drooling....
Cakewhiz
I am happy this is a turkey meatball sandwich rather than a beef meatball sandwich. I like to try different meatballs. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Jessica's Dinner Party
This sandwich MUST have taken you out of the post holidays blues!
Kristin King
What a fantastic birthday for you?? 🙂 You have a very special and loving family! These meatballs look fantastic - I love using ground turkey for different items. Saving this recipe!
Jenny
Oh how I'd love this for lunch right now! Yum!