What’s the best part about Thanksgiving Dinner? Easy. Turkey AND Stuffing.
And what do you get when you combine turkey and stuffing? THESE little bites: Thanksgiving Meatballs!
These ground turkey meatballs are made with crunchy bites of celery, toasty walnuts, and fresh herbs. They are so wonderfully flavorful on their own and even better when served with cranberry sauce.
They are the perfect finger food for your next fall party! Serve them as an appetizer or turn these meatballs into a meal by serving them with some mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce.
If you’re a bachelor or a college student or just don’t feel like making a whole turkey this year, consider making these instead. They’re really good, have the same flavors and are super easy to make. The great thing about these meatballs is that you can make them well in advance. They freeze well, so make a bunch at once! That way you’ll have them ready to go whenever you have guests stop by!
Serve them with a side of cranberry sauce, or serve them IN cranberry sauce. You really can’t go wrong.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 2 celery ribs finely chopped
- ½ onion finely chopped
- ½ cup walnuts chopped
- 1 egg whisked
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F.
- Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Using a small disher, scoop the meat and roll into small balls.
- Place them on baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes, or until the meatballs are fully cooked and reach a temperature of 165F.
- Broil the meatballs for 1-2 minutes, or until the tops brown a bit.
- Serve with cranberry sauce if desired.
Sherry says
This sounds amazing, however, could you give instructions on how to thaw and reheat them, if I freeze them ahead of Thanksgiving. THANK YOU
Suzanne Clark says
Always a go to for me!!!
So fun rediscovering it every year.
I like to serve them with Phoenix Helix Cranberry Apple Sauce.
They really DO taste like thanksgiving.
I might just serve them in place Of turkey this year as I’m moving in the next 10 days.
😋💜😋💜😋💜😋💜😀💜😀💜
My Heart Beets says
Hi Suzanne, that’s so nice to hear 🙂 Thanks for letting me know how much you like these Thanksgiving meatballs 🙂
Sherry says
Hi, can you tell me if you froze these meatballs and if so how long to thaw out and how to reheat them?
TJ says
WOW! Thanks so much for this recipe! All the flavors of turkey and stuffing in one compact meatball. Even has that satisfying crunch from the veggies. This is a definite make again recipe. We subbed in dried rosemary for fresh (2/3 of a teaspoon) since the store was out of fresh. Not a problem. I used a 1 tablespoon sized cookie scoop, and I got 38 meatballs.
I’m curious about the suggested cranberry and pomegranate sauce, and I think next time I’d like to try that.
My Heart Beets says
TJ, I’m so glad you liked these meatballs! Thanks for letting me know how the recipe turned out for you 🙂
Suzanne Clark says
I think I forgot about this recipe last year, but made it a lot the year before. I just dug it out yesterday, and it totally hit the spot!! I’m having some digestive issues, with an aversion to everything, and these were something that made my tummy happy!!
SO DELICIOUS!!!
You should feature them again.
My Heart Beets says
Suzanne, I’m so happy that you like these so much 🙂 Thank you for letting me know how much you like them!!
Stephanie Weber says
I really liked these! They are going into my regular rotation of foods for dinner. I had bought some tomato sauce just in case it needed it, but the meatballs were fine plain. I don’t really know how to use my broiler, so I
I had to skip that part.
My Heart Beets says
Stephanie, I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how they turned out for you 🙂
Deborah says
These meatballs sounds so delish! Do you have the nutritional breakdown?
My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Deborah! I just added that information to the recipe card for you 🙂
Eve-Marie says
These look soooo good and cute! I’m sure my kids would love them! Do you make your own cranberry sauce ? Is it hard ?
My Heart Beets says
It’s easy! I have a recipe for it here, but you can also buy organic cranberry sauce these days which makes this dish even easier.
Suzanne says
Just made them. DELICIOUS!
Thank You!
My Heart Beets says
I’m so happy to hear that!
Julie says
There meatballs are delicious. Very flavorful. It’s like the perfect bite of turkey and stuffing in one little meatball! I will be making these again and again and again. Thank you!
My Heart Beets says
Thanks Julie! I’m so happy to hear that! 🙂
Kristin says
Hi Ashley! I just found out I have a bunch of food allergies, including eggs… NOOOOOO!
Do you think these would stick together OK without the egg? Or should I try these with a chia egg, do you think?
Thanks!
My Heart Beets says
Hi Kristin, I’m not sure how they’ll turn out with a chia egg – if you try, let us know!
Jen says
I’ve made meatballs without the egg and they stick together just fine!