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Home » Recipes » Dinner

Italian Style Turkey Meatballs (gluten-free, dairy-free)

Published: Mar 22, 2017 · Updated: Feb 12, 2024 · By Lisa Goldfinger · 23 Comments · This post may contain affiliate links

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3 Italian turkey meatballs with spaghetti in a blue bowl

Nothing says comfort like meatballs. These Italian turkey meatballs are super tender and flavorful, gluten free, dairy free and low fat. So feel free to come back for seconds or even thirds.

These turkey meatballs are extra tender and flavorful because of a few surprising ingredients, tomato paste, sweet potatoes and garbanzo bean flour. These scrumptious healthy meatballs have become a weekly staple at my house. We love them over pasta, zoodles or spaghetti squash l panningtheglobe.com

These are the meatballs we can't stop eating. One of my favorite weeknight dinners is these homemade turkey meatballs simmered in Rao's (store-bought) marinara sauce with angel hair pasta, or with spaghetti squash, for a healthy, low-carb dinner.

What sets these turkey meatballs apart from classic Italian style meatballs is ground turkey instead of ground beef and pork. And, unlike most Italian style meatballs, there's no cheese, bread or milk in this recipe. These little polpette (Italian for "meatballs") get all their flavor and texture from vegetables. Onions and garlic, of course. And a surprise ingredient, grated sweet potato, which gives the meatballs a wonderful texture and an earthy sweetness. There's also tomato paste in the mix, which adds  rich umami flavor to the meatballs. Chickpea flour makes the mixture just dry enough to roll, yet leaves it with a super tender consistency.

How to make these tasty Italian turkey meatballs:

  1. Combine ground turkey (I like to use half dark meat and half light meat) with chopped onion, minced garlic, an egg, tomato paste, grated sweet potato, salt and pepper. (I grated the sweet potato on a box grater and then chopped it more finely on a cutting board.) Add 3 tablespoons of gluten free flour. I used a mix of garbanzo bean and fava bean flour from Bob's Red Mill.
  2. Refrigerate the mixture for at least a half hour to firm it up and making rolling easier. Roll up the meatballs and sauté them in a little oil, to brown them.  
  3. In a saucepan, combine the meatballs with your favorite store-bought marinara sauce and gently simmer them for 25 minutes.
  4. Serve Italian turkey meatballs with pasta or spaghetti squash or zoodles. 

how to make turkey meatballs, a bowl of raw turkey, tomato paste, grated sweet potato, chopped onion, minced garlic and eggs, then a plate of rolled uncooked meatballs

how to make turkey meatballs - turkey meatballs browning in a cast iron skillet, then a shot of turkey meatballs simmering in tomato sauce in a cast iron skillet

By the way, if you don't mind gluten in your meatballs, feel free to use bread crumbs instead of gluten-free flour. I've tested the recipe with bread crumbs and so did my oldest son, who's s a bit of a meatball expert. He makes meatballs every Monday night for "Meatball Monday," and invites friends over. Here's what he texted me one Monday night when he made these: "These meatballs are so amazing...my friends are going nuts for them...they're the softest meatballs I've made so far." I was very happy to get that text. 🙂

These turkey meatballs are extra tender and flavorful because of a few surprising ingredients, tomato paste, sweet potatoes and garbanzo bean flour. These scrumptious healthy meatballs have become a weekly staple at my house. We love them over pasta, zoodles or spaghetti squash l panningtheglobe.com

I want to give a shout out to my friend Nina who gave me the idea of putting sweet potatoes in meatballs. Such a genius idea. Thank you Nina!

Other delicious ground turkey recipes to try

  • Ottolenghi's Turkey-Zucchini Meatballs
  • Turkey Falafel Meatballs 
  • Sicilian Turkey Meatloaf with Potatoes Capers and Wine 
  • Quick Turkey Ragu

These turkey meatballs are extra tender and flavorful because of a few surprising ingredients, tomato paste, sweet potatoes and garbanzo bean flour. These scrumptious healthy meatballs have become a weekly staple at my house. We love them over pasta, zoodles or spaghetti squash l panningtheglobe.com

If you try this Italian Turkey Meatballs Recipe, I hope you'll come back and leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think!

Print

Recipe

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These are the most tender and flavorful Italian style turkey meatballs. Sooo delicious! And they’re also healthy and gluten free.

Italian Style Turkey Meatballs


5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.6 from 9 reviews

  • Author: Lisa
  • Total Time: 1 hour 25 mins
  • Yield: 4-5 1x
Print Recipe

Description

These turkey meatballs are extra tender and flavorful and naturally gluten free, made with lean ground turkey, grated sweet potatoes, chickpea flour and tomato paste.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 pound ground turkey, preferably dark meat or half dark
  • ¼ cup finely minced yellow onion
  • 2 teaspoons finely minced garlic (2 medium cloves)
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • ½ cup finely minced sweet potatoes (note 1)
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground Aleppo pepper (note 2)
  • 3 tablespoons garbanzo bean flour (note 3)
  • 2-4 tablespoons of vegetable oil (such as light olive oil or canola)

Instructions

  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine turkey, onion, garlic, egg, tomato paste, sweet potato, salt and pepper. Stir with a fork until well mixed. Sprinkle in flour and stir or knead with your hands until just combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least ½ hour or up to 4 hours. If you omit this step, the mixture will be mushy and harder to shape into balls. The longer you chill the mixture, the easier it will be to roll the meatballs.
  2. Set a large plate on your work surface. Roll all the meat into balls, a heaping tablespoon at a time. Set meatballs on the plate as you go. If your hands get sticky, fill a small bowl with ice water and dip your hands in periodically to prevent meat from sticking.
  3. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large heavy cast iron or non-stick skillet, over medium heat. When oil is hot and looks wrinkly, add half the meatballs and sauté  5 minutes or so, turning gently with a spatula every minute or so, to brown them on all sides. Transfer meatballs to a plate and repeat with remaining meatballs, adding more oil if the pan is dry.
  4. Return meatballs to the skillet (or to a saucepan, if you need a large vessel) and add 4 cups of your favorite marinara sauce and ½ cup of water. Gently simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through. Serve with pasta or spaghetti squash or zoodles.

Notes

  1. To finely mince the sweet potato, first grate it on a box grater and then mince it finely with a sharp knife.
  2. If you don't have Aleppo pepper, you can substitute an equal amount of Maras pepper or half the amount of fresh ground black pepper.
  3. If you are not interested in making these meatballs gluten-free, you can use an equal amount of fresh bread crumbs or Panko.
  • Prep Time: 40 mins
  • Cook Time: 45 mins
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Simmer
  • Cuisine: Italian-American

Did you make this recipe?

If you make this recipe, please let me know how it turns out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on instagram with the hashtag #panningtheglobe

 

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Filed Under: All Recipes, Chicken, Dinner, Entertaining, Europe, Italian Recipes, Lunch and Brunch Tagged With: dairy-free, gluten-free, ground turkey, meatballs

Reader Interactions

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  1. Ann Polin

    July 28, 2022 at 6:55 pm

    I just made these and had the same problem as Nora. They tasted great when I tried to brown them but never firmed up and completely disintegrated in the sauce. So now I have Italian Style Turkey Meat Sauce ????. What did I do wrong?

    Reply
    • Lisa

      July 29, 2022 at 7:46 am

      I'm so sorry Ann. I haven't had that issue but I'm going to go back and retest this recipe. Thanks for the feedback.

      Reply
  2. Nora

    May 05, 2022 at 8:11 pm

    These did not stay together and all the tomato paste made the inside red and look like they were under cooked. Will not make again.

    Reply
    • Lisa

      May 07, 2022 at 1:54 pm

      I'm so sorry the recipe didn't work out for you Nora.

      Reply
  3. Rebekah

    January 30, 2019 at 7:35 pm

    Omgomgomgomgomgomg I use to eat Meatballs every Monday with my friends, and these were literally my absolute fav! Like omg they are so killer! And a great source of protein and GLUTEN FREE!!! So yummy it’s just to die for!

    Reply
  4. Sydney C.

    January 28, 2019 at 8:56 pm

    I had these for dinner as my weekly Monday ritual. I don't think I would have made it thru the week without them!

    Reply
    • Lisa

      January 29, 2019 at 4:34 am

      🙂 I'm so happy to hear it... and btw, meatballs once a week sounds like a great ritual!

      Reply
  5. Sydney C.

    January 28, 2019 at 8:54 pm

    I had these ritually every Monday. I don't think I would have made it thru the week without them!

    Reply
  6. Alex G

    January 28, 2019 at 10:54 am

    I made a double batch of these for a meatball-themed gathering and they were great!

    Reply
  7. Sharon

    May 03, 2017 at 11:30 pm

    Made these for dinner tonight and they were well received! I did have to sub grated carrot for the sweet potatoes (since we apparently ate them all last night). Seemed like it worked well. Can't wait to try some of your other delicious looking meals!

    Reply
    • Lisa

      May 04, 2017 at 9:18 am

      That's great to hear Sharon. I'm so glad you all enjoyed the meatballs and that the recipe worked with carrots. Thanks so much for letting me know!

      Reply
  8. Ellen Silberman

    April 03, 2017 at 7:55 pm

    Lisa, these are as light and fluffy as you said they would be. We loved the sweet potato as an additional flavor. It's a great, healthy alternative to meat meatballs. I loved the video- so skilled!

    Reply
    • Lisa

      April 04, 2017 at 10:10 am

      Thank you Ellen. I'm so glad you enjoyed 🙂

      Reply
  9. Karly

    March 27, 2017 at 1:01 pm

    I've never met a meatball I didn't like, and I don't see it happening any time soon. These look SO good. Definitely need to have a pasta night soon!

    Reply
  10. nina mayer

    March 26, 2017 at 8:40 pm

    Made the meatballs tonight and love them!!! So good to know about the bean based flour--who knew??

    Reply
  11. joel silberman

    March 24, 2017 at 9:42 am

    Like the video - very catchy tune!
    For me a video would be super beneficial when there is a tricky step or unusual prep of a less common ingredient - so more instruction themed??
    What the video did do in this case is re-enforce how simple and easy it is to make these.

    Can't wait to try it out - always love new ways to incorporate sweet potatoes...
    Not sure what I think about garbanzo flour (new one for me) - will report back.
    Thanks
    Joel

    Reply
    • Lisa

      March 24, 2017 at 12:30 pm

      Thanks Joel. I agree that a video is extra helpful for the trickier recipes. You'll like my next video that I shot yesterday. It's a recipe that seems very difficult. But once you see the video, I think you'll feel like it's doable: Turkish Cigar Borek. If you make the meatballs, I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

      Reply
  12. Susan Green

    March 24, 2017 at 9:24 am

    Lisa, glad you are back in the video production business! Meatballs look great -- can't wait to try them. - Susan

    Reply
    • Lisa

      March 24, 2017 at 9:32 am

      Thank you Susan!

      Reply
  13. Aviva Goldfarb

    March 24, 2017 at 8:45 am

    Wow, fantastic job in your first video, Lisa!! Hope you're all feeling better and we can reschedule the visit soon.

    Reply
    • Lisa

      March 24, 2017 at 9:32 am

      Thanks Aviva. I'm pretty happy with how the video turned out. Still have to get better with lighting... I am feeling better and I'll look at the calendar. I would love to visit you!

      Reply
  14. Kristen Chidsey

    March 23, 2017 at 9:56 am

    Gotta love a recipe that no one in the family complains about!

    Reply
    • Lisa

      March 23, 2017 at 10:11 am

      Hahaha - you're so right!

      Reply

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