This juicy and tender healthy keto turkey meatballs recipe is an easy gluten-free and low carb dish that you can serve during Thanksgiving friends and family gatherings.
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Ingredients you will need
Ground turkey - Make sure you use ground turkey thigh, as it provides more healthy fats to our meal and makes our turkey meatball recipe extremely juicy.
Almond flour - I tried to make this recipe with coconut flour first, but it came out too dry for my tastes. So, I highly recommend using almond flour to provide body to our low carb turkey meatballs while keeping them juicy and tender.
Onions, garlic, and chili flakes - To bring more flavors and gentle heat, we're going to fry these three ingredients together before mixing them with the meat and other ingredients.
Salt, pepper, and dry oregano - Seasoning is extremely important in this recipe because turkey can taste bland if not seasoned properly. So, we're going to season our onions, garlic, and chili flakes with salt and pepper (to taste) while frying them. We’ll also add salt, pepper, and oregano to our meat mixture before forming the meatballs.
Parmesan cheese and egg - These two ingredients will help our ground turkey meatballs keep their shape and prevent them from breaking apart, as well as provide some extra flavors.
Marinara sauce - I love to have some kind of sauce with my meatballs – a simple marinara sauce fits perfectly with this very light keto turkey meatballs, in my opinion. I've also tried to make this dish with arrabbiata sauce and that turned out amazing as well. So, if you want something spicy, you can easily swap one sauce with another and get delicious results!
Cilantro - Freshly chopped cilantro to add the finishing touch to our fried and baked turkey meatballs.
Step by step instructions
At first, you might think that it's too much hassle to make this healthy keto turkey meatballs recipe… I assure you, it's super easy and won't make you sweat!
Start by preheating the oven to 390F (200C) and heating the olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over a medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, cook the onions, garlic, and chili flakes until golden brown, then set aside.
Now we need to prepare our meat mixture. To do that, add the ground turkey, egg, almond flour, parmesan cheese, and previously cooked onions with garlic and chili flakes (they should be slightly warm at this point) to a mixing bowl. Season everything with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and oregano. Combine well using your hands and form 14 even meatballs.
Heat the same non-stick skillet over a medium-high heat again and add extra olive oil. When it's hot, add the meatballs and cook for 6-9 minutes, rotating every 2-3 minutes or until golden brown on each side. Then, add the marinara sauce (or arrabbiata sauce, as I mentioned above), bring it to a light simmer, and cook for 5 minutes.
Last, we need to bake our turkey meatballs to marry all our flavors together. You can do this in your non-stick skillet if it's oven-safe (don't use a cast iron skillet because it's not suitable for cooking acidic foods like tomato sauces for a long period of time), or transfer the meatballs with the sauce into a 7x10-inch (18x25cm) baking dish. Bake our keto turkey meatballs for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly. Then, sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and bake for an additional 3-5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
Serve our healthy turkey meatball recipe garnished with some freshly chopped cilantro and enjoy!
Are turkey meatballs keto
Yes, they are! If you use ground turkey thighs instead of ground turkey breasts, you get a decent amount of fat. Other ingredients, however, have some carbs in them - but according to my calculations, this dish has around 7g net carbs per serving (2-3 meatballs with some sauce), which is low enough to be included in a keto meal plan. And if you skip the cheese, this recipe is also can be enjoyed on a paleo diet.
Serving Ideas
These keto turkey meatballs with cheese and tomato sauce will go well with many keto side dishes. But I prefer to serve them with KETO DINNER ROLLS, LOW CARB KETO CAULIFLOWER RICE, CREAMY KETO CAULIFLOWER MASH, and of course with CAULIFLOWER STUFFING RECIPE.
FAQ
They will last in the fridge for up to 3 days. REhet in the microwave before serving.
You can freeze uncooked or cooked turkey meatballs for up to 2 months. If you want to cook them before freezing, fry them until cooked through, cool down at room temperature, and freeze. Thaw in the fridge overnight, and bake with the sauce and cheese to finish.
The best way to freeze uncooked meatballs is to roll the balls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze. This way, they won't stick to each other. When solid, place the turkey meatballs into a ziplock freezer bag and store them in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the fridge before frying.
More low carb recipes
LOW CARB SPICY MEATBALLS RECIPE
Recipe
Healthy keto turkey meatballs recipe
Equipment
- Non-stick skillet
- 7x10-inch (18x25cm) baking dish
Ingredients
- 1 small 50g yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 lb 500g ground turkey thighs
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup 35g almond flour
- ⅓ cup 30g grated parmesan cheese
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cup 450g sugar-free marinara sauce or arrabbiata sauce
- Olive oil for frying
Toppings
- Grated parmesan cheese
- Fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 390F (200C).
- Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over a medium-high heat.
- When hot, add the onions, garlic, and chili flakes, then season with salt and black pepper. Cook for a couple of minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add the ground turkey, egg, almond flour, parmesan cheese, and previously cooked onions with garlic and chili flakes. Season everything with sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and oregano; combine well, using hands. Form 14 even meatballs.
- Heat the same non-stick skillet over a medium-high heat again and add extra olive oil. When hot, add the meatballs and cook for 6-9 minutes, rotating every 2-3 minutes or until golden brown on each side. Then, add the marinara sauce and bring to a light simmer. Cook for 5 minutes.
- After, remove from the heat and transfer the meatballs with sauce into a 7x10-inch (18x25cm) baking dish (if you used an oven-safe non-stick skillet, you can bake it in that!). Bake for 15-20 minutes or until bubbly. Then, sprinkle grated parmesan cheese and bake for an additional 3-5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
- When done, remove from the oven, garnish with freshly chopped cilantro, and serve!
Recipe video
Notes
This website, https://heretocook.com, offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. This information is a product of online calculators such as Cronometer.com and MyFitnesPal.com
Lora says
I made these for my husband and I, and they turned out amazing, juicy and tender!
Anna says
Thank you for sharing!
Stephanie says
loved this recipe. do you have one for low carb beef burgers?
Anna says
Thank you for your comment, Stephanie! I'm glad you liked the recipe! Unfortunately, I haven't posted the beef burger recipe yet. Maybe in the future! 🙂