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Turkey Meatballs in Creamy Gravy. These tender and flavorful turkey meatballs seasoned with a combination of dried herbs. All swimming in a creamy gravy. These come together quick and easy for an easy weeknight dinner, or a fun substitute for a light Thanksgiving feast!
These turkey meatballs are a great dinner option! They come together quick and easy with ingredients you most likely have in your pantry and refrigerator. Using ground turkey makes this a lighter meal to serve to your family also! Not to mention this dish tastes just like Thanksgiving dinner, without all the fuss!
Ingredients Breakdown:
Turkey has a bad reputation for being dry and flavorless. These meatballs are far from that! Thanks to all the herbs added, plus the use of egg and milk in the recipe keeps these meatballs from being dry.
For the meatballs:
- Ground Turkey: using ground turkey is a great option for meatballs.
- Onion: mince the onion up finely or grate it to get a super fine onion. This gives great flavor without huge chunks of onion in the meatballs.
- Worcestershire sauce: adds a bit of savoriness to the meatballs.
- Seasonings: a mixture of dried parsley, and poultry seasoning gives these meatballs the flavoring you would expect them to have! The poultry seasoning is just the rEght amounts of sage, thyme, rosemary, and marjoram.
- Egg: this is going to hold the meatballs together.
- Bread crumbs: another binding agent to hold the meatballs together.
- Milk: adds moisture.
And for the gravy:
- Butter: fat used to make the roux, this is what thickens the gravy.
- Flour: the other part of our roux. Just use an all purpose flour or a flour of your preference. This is what will thicken the gravy.
- Chicken broth: adds a bit more flavor to the gravy. Always grab a low or no sodium broth.
- Seasonings: parsley, thyme, poultry seasoning, and of course salt and pepper. Taste and adjust according to your preference.
How to make The BEST Turkey Meatballs:
- Combine the meat with seasonings, onion, breadcrumbs, and egg.
- Add the milk and mix together. To really incorporate the ingredients use your hands to mix it together.
- Scoop the meat mixture and roll between your hands to create round balls. Then cook in a large skillet with a small amount of oil to prevent sticking.
- Remove all of the meatballs from the skillet to make the gravy.
- Start with a roux of butter and flour, this will create a thick base.
- Pour in the chicken broth and add seasonings.
- Bring this to a simmer, then add the meatballs back in and let them continue to cook in the gravy.
Tip: Use a small cookie scoop to get a uniform size for all of your meatballs!
What to Serve these Turkey Meatballs with:
- My all time favorite way to enjoy these meatballs is over some creamy Mashed Potatoes.
- If you’re going for a Thanksgiving type meal serve alongside some Green Bean Casserole, Candied Sweet Potatoes, and Texas Roadhouse Rolls.
More Meatball Recipes:
Turkey Meatballs in Creamy Gravy
Ingredients
- 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 lbs ground turkey
- ½ cup onion minced or grated
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp worcestershire sauce
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp poultry seasoning
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup milk
Gravy
- ¼ cup butter unsalted
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 3 cups chicken broth unsalted
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp poultry seasoning
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp of oil in large skillet over medium heat.
- In a medium size bowl combine the ground turkey, minced onion, parsley, salt, Worcestershire sauce, ground black pepper, poultry seasoning, and bread crumbs. Mix together until well combined.
- Add in the egg and milk. Stir together. Will need to mix with hands to get mixture completely combined. Meat mixture will feel wet.
- Working in batches, using a small cookie scoop or a 1 tablespoon, scoop out the meat mixture, roll the meat into a ball with your hands and place in the skillet. Continue until skillet is filled with meatballs, giving them room to cook in the skillet.
- Carefully turn the meatballs during cooking to ensure all sides get seared. (don’t worry if meatballs are fully cooked at this point, they will simmer in the sauce later.)
- Once all sides of the meatballs are seared, remove from the skillet to a plate and continue forming meatballs and cooking until all meat is cooked. Replace oil in skillet as needed to reduce sticking.
- Remove all meatballs from the skillet to make the gravy.
- Melt the butter in the skillet over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Cook the flour mixture for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour in the chicken broth and add all seasonings. Scrape bottom of the skillet with wooden spoon to release all the bits from cooking the turkey for additional flavor. Taste and adjust as needed.
- Bring mixture to a simmer while stirring occasionally. Cook until the gravy is thickened. Add the meatballs back into the skillet in the gravy. Allow to simmer on low for 10 minutes, stirring the meatballs occasionally.
Video
Equipment
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography by KJandCompany.co
honestly rarely leave reviews but these were so good! I subbed out the butter in the roux for olive oil but other than that these were so tender and the gravy is perfect (and a good amount for every serving!)
Thank you so much! I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe!
Delicious recipe. My family gave it a 5 stars!
I made this tonight and it was a hit with my 15 year old. I made it with a side of steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes. It was perfect for this winter night. Healthy and delicious. Will make again.
Do these reheat well or are they best with the sauce day of? Think about making this the day before for a potluck and just reheating them in the slow cooker.
They do reheat well, I think they will be just fine reheated in the slow cooker.
Can I use frozen meatballs?ย
Best comfort meatball recipe!
Had to bake them in the oven because they were falling apart in the pot (but this was actually faster/easier) and would use salted broth next time but we enjoyed this recipe. Thank you.ย
Thank you for this awesome recipe! ๐๐ฅณ๐ My family loved it ๐๐ I cut the salt back to 1/2 teaspoon and it was still yummy ๐
Such a delicious dinner. The gravy has such good flavor!ย
Made them tonight ratio of egg and bread crumb point on oops and milk. I cheated didnโt do gravy used packet one this is thanksgiving in your mouth. Made butternut squash instead of potatoes. Definitely a keeperย