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These Turkey Pesto Meatballs are an easy weeknight dinner that’s full of flavor and will be loved by the entire family. I’ve been making it for many years and everyone from toddlers to adults can’t get enough of this one.
Why I Love Turkey Pesto Meatballs
- Easy to Make: These homemade meatballs take very little effort. All you have to do is mix the turkey with the pesto and other ingredients, form them into balls and bake them on top of a delicious tomato sauce.
- Family Friendly: I developed this recipe many years ago and one of my favorite parts was that my toddlers and my husband both loved it. This recipe is about as family friendly as it gets so you don’t have to make multiple meals to please everyone.
- Packed with Flavor: Considering how little effort you have to put into these turkey meatballs, it’s amazing how tasty they are. The homemade basil pesto really adds tons of flavor to the meatballs along with the marinara sauce. I think this recipe will be in your weekly rotation!
The Ingredients
- Lean ground turkey: I recommend anywhere from 99% lean to 93% lean ground turkey for this recipe.
- Pesto: You can use your favorite store bought pesto in this recipe or make it homemade! I have tons of pesto recipes that you could try: Basil Pesto, Nut Free Pesto, or Kale Pesto are some favorites.
- Breadcrumbs: Feel free to use Italian seasoned breadcrumbs or plain for this recipe.
- Parmesan cheese: This ingredient adds more flavor but if you need this to be dairy free you can leave this out. You’ll also need to find a dairy free pesto since most pestos also have parmesan in them
- Marinara or tomato sauce: Again, you can use your favorite store bought red sauce for this recipe, but it’s also really easy to make your own homemade tomato sauce.
How to Make Turkey Pesto Meatballs
1. Prep Oven: Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Make Meatballs Mixture: Place all the ingredients (except for the marinara sauce) in a bowl and using your hands, combine until everything is incorporated. Don’t over mix or the meatballs will be tough.
3. Form Into Balls: Using about 1 tablespoon of the mixture per meatball, roll into balls and place on a plate. Try to not pack the meatballs too tight, they can become tough if you do.
4. Add to Baking Dish: Pour the marinara sauce into a 9×11 inch baking dish and place the meatballs on top.
5. Cover and Bake: Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 25-30 minutes until meatballs are cooked through.
Recipe Tip
If the meatballs feel too sticky while you’re shaping them, try wetting your hands!
Storage/Freezing Instructions:
To Store: Store leftover turkey meatballs in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
To Freeze: Roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet and freeze. After 30 minutes place the par-frozen balls in a ziploc bag, label and freeze. Freeze for up to 3 months. When ready, defrost in fridge for 24 hours or put them straight in the oven with the sauce and increase cooking time by 5 minutes.
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Tips for This Recipe
Use Your Hands: Don’t be afraid to get your hands a little dirty with this recipe. After all, your hands are your best cooking tool and help make sure everything is properly mixed. Also, if the mixture feels too sticky, try wetting your hands.
Don’t Over-mix: With that said, don’t over-mix. The more you mix, the tougher the meatballs can be, especially if you’re using a lean meat like turkey.
Smaller meatballs for little ones: You can make meatballs any size you prefer, but I find that smaller bite-sized meatballs are best for the little ones. It can be intimidating to see something huge on your plate when you’re small. Little hands can easily hold little items, so smaller meatballs are perfect for toddlers and young kids.
Ways to Serve Turkey Pesto Meatballs
You can serve turkey pesto meatballs on top of pasta, in a sub sandwich, or on their own. I like to make a double batch, freeze half, and take out just a few at a time to add to school lunches. These little meatballs also make a great appetizer for events like the Super Bowl!
More Meatball Recipes
Next time you’re looking for an easy dinner recipe to please everyone in the family no matter their age, go for these Turkey Pesto Meatballs. They’re super delicious and sure to be a hit! Let me know in the comments what you think of this recipe and tag me on social media if you make it!
Turkey Pesto Meatballs
Equipment
- 9×11 inch baking dish
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 pound lean ground turkey
- 1/4 cup pesto, more pesto recipes (including a nut free one) are linked below
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups marinara sauce (recipe linked here or below in notes)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Place all the ingredients (except for the marinara sauce) in a bowl and using your hands, combine until everything is incorporated.
- Using about 1 tablespoon of the mixture per meatball, roll into balls and place on a plate. Try to not pack the meatballs too tight, they can become tough if you do.
- Pour the marinara sauce into a 9×11 inch baking dish and top with the meatballs.
- Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Can you substitute ground beef instead?
Thanks!
We eat pasta regularly. These were the BEST meatballs I have ever made. So good it was ridiculous! I’m stuffed, but still want a 2nd helping!
Wanted to tell you – we LOVE this recipe. I have made it many times. Tonight I mixed it up a little bit: made it with rosemary pesto (recipe here: http://www.food.com/recipe/rosemary-pesto-307438). The rosemary and parsley are from my garden!
AND hubby grilled the meatballs on the grill, and then we put them in the sauce for 20 min on top of the stove. They are INCREDIBLE. Thanks so much Catherine for the recipe and the inspiration! (your edible garden series)
-Kristin
Did you preheat your oven? Also, how big did you make the meatballs?
Our family LOVES these! The flavor is wonderful and they are so simple. But we do have to cook them for longer than stated; they are nearly raw and barely warm after 20 minutes.
Hey Catherine,
What do you suggest for a non-dairy aubstitute for the Parmesan? Thanks.
I also had to cook mine for about twice as long & was glad to see I wasn’t the only one- when I took the foil off at 20 min they were pretty much raw, I cooked uncovered the rest of the time. I didn’t measure them to be 1 tbsp exactly but they were about cocktail meatball sized so pretty close. Otherwise these were super easy & tasty! I didn’t make full on pesto, I had a basil plant & basically chopped the leaves up finelynwith some minced garlic & olive oil and added that to the mix.
I made these at half the size (1/2 T) so I wouldn’t have to cut them up as much for my toddler and not only were they easier for him to eat but them also cooked faster (about 15 minutes).
This is really delicious meatballs, my son ate two and loved meatballs – it makes me so happy!! Thanks a lot! It’s an easy yummy recipe I absolutely love!
We made these tonight but used “beefalo” meat that we needed to use up. We all LOVED this dish! Not sure if it was the type of meat we used, but we needed to cook them about 45 minutes.
me too! And mine had been baking the chocolate-zucchini bread prior, so plenty pre-heated.
I, too, find I have to cook these much longer — at least twice as long. But they are soooooo yummy! My kids (and husband) love them!
Did you allow your oven to pre-heat all the way to 350 then put them in? That so weird.
I followed instructions and the meatballs were still completely raw after baking for 20 minutes.
I just made these tonight and even my husband said, “Mmmmm.” Great recipe!
You can always not put the nuts in the pesto if you make it at home. That way they can take it to school too! 🙂