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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.
Wow, these turned out great!! All ingredients from Trader Joe’s; used panko instead of regular breadcrumbs. Used the jarred organic marinara with no added salt. Got my handy 1 inch cookie dough scoop and didn’t pack the meatballs too hard. Cooking time was more like 30 minutes for me.
The fat is definitely what was missing. White meat cooks more quickly and will dry out faster which makes things like meatballs and chicken nuggets seem more dense and tough.
Hello. I made these meatballs (as well as the chicken ones made in a sauté pan) and although I found them delicious, my 10 month old was unable to chew them because they were so compact and firm. He has eaten meatballs from the preparred food section of whole foods as well as turkey meatloaf that I make at home. Am I rolling the meatballs too tight or is this just how the recipe works? We used the fresh ground white meat from Wholefoods, in case that is what is missing, the fat.
My son. Johnny, loves to eat food with his hands so we have tried many of your delicious recipes in search of more exciting options for him. A few of his favorites are the Zucchini Parmesan cakes, baby bolognese, pumpkin pear bread (dangerously delicious) and Mac and cheese chicken bites. Next up to try are the spinach ricotta cakes. We have numerous others that we purée and he gobbled them up.
Thank you for the wonderful recipes.
Beverly
I have made these loads of times, but tonight they didn’t cook at the same speed. I use a table spoon to measure, but this time I used extra lean turkey instead of lean. I wonder if that made the difference? So weird!
You absolutely can bake them that way!
Could I cook them without the sauce? Just put the meatballs on a baking sheet and do it that way? My 3 yr old likes his meatballs plain (we buy frozen ones and he doesn’t like sauce on them).
Thank you so much for this recipe! I’ve made it three times now and my husband and 18 mo old son love it! We’ve tried it with beef too and we prefer it with turkey, fyi, for anyone who’s wondering. Thanks again!
99%!
Looks great! How lean is the turkey you use –99% fat free or the 93%?
Thanks!
I have been making these for our little one as well as the whole family for a while. She LOVES and will request for a meal! Yummy!!! I found they turned out better if I did not roll or pack the ball too tight… keeps it light and cooks better. My husband likes to slice the leftovers for a mini pizza or put in a sub. Thanks for a great meal in our rotation!
My husband loved these and he’s a tough judge!! I made these last night, using Trader Joe’s pesto, and then popped them into the oven tonight for dinner. I used Whole Foods 365 Roasted Vegetable pasta sauce. We served them over whole wheat couscous. DELICIOUS! I cant wait for or 16 month old son to try these. Thanks for the recipe and thanks for making it egg-free. (It’s helpful because sometimes we run out!)
I haven’t tried that, but I don’t see why not! I’ll have to try it. 🙂
Can you make these in the crockpot?
Love the turkey pesto meatballs, but I tweaked the recipe just a bit. Remember my mother’s heavenly meatballs were cooked on the stove and developed a wonderful, crispy crust, so I tried the same technique. Yummy! Also doubled the breadcrumbs (from fresh honey whole wheat bread) because I prefer a fluffier meatball. My daughter Alexis devoured them!
I made these turkey pesto meatballs last night for my family and they were a hit! So flavorful! As I type this review my 22 month old son is eating them so fast it’s amazing, he never eats like that. I will be making some more tonight to freeze.
Just a side note, they did take a lot longer to cook than the 25 minutes. They were basically still raw when I took them out after the suggested time. I thought maybe I had made them too large, which I will make them smaller next time, but I do see that others had this issue as well.
Thanks the wonderful recipe!
I usually make them with GF ground beef… they are yummy!!