Baked Turkey, Zucchini & Feta Meatballs
Baked Turkey, Zucchini & Feta Meatballs are flavorful, healthier turkey meatballs with a secret ingredient: tons of veggies! Perfect for meal prep or pasta night!
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Baked Turkey, Zucchini & Feta Meatballs are a delicious (and healthier way) to satisfy your meatball cravings without sacrificing flavor!
Zucchini makes the meatballs moist and tender while also sneaking in a veggie.
Feta cheese adds flavor and a touch of saltiness to the ground turkey to give the lean protein some pizazz.
Made with fresh zucchini, garlic, and onion, these meatballs are almost half vegetables!
Fun Fact: Zucchini is approximately 95% water!
Like a little spice? Calabrian Chicken Meatballs are made with crushed Calabrian chili peppers!
These meatballs are great for so many reasons:
- Baked – you can cook a whole bunch at once!
- Sheet pan = hands-off cooking!
- Contain a lot of vegetables (zucchini, onion, and garlic).
- Great for meal prepping for the week!
- Made with ground turkey, which contains less saturated fat than ground beef or ground pork.
Ingredients needed (scroll down to recipe card for complete recipe):
- Ground turkey
- Zucchini
- Feta cheese
- Yellow onion
- Garlic
- Egg
- Breadcrumbs – panko or Italian (both work)
- Seasonings – dried basil, sea salt, black pepper
📍The full recipe with exact ingredient amounts and instructions is on the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
How to serve turkey zucchini meatballs
These meatballs are a great multi-purpose protein. Here are some of our favorite ways to eat them:
- With pasta and marinara sauce, alfredo sauce, or amatriciana sauce.
- Meatball parmesan subs
- With Calabrian Chili Butter Ditalini Pasta
- Great for meal prepping with your favorite side dishes
- With Chickpeas w/Tomatoes & Feta or Herbed Butter Garlic Rice and a salad
💡Tips & Tricks
- Zucchini: Zucchini contains a lot of water, so to avoid mushy meatballs it’s important to get a lot out by wringing the grated zucchini in a dish towel.
- Browning: To add that nice golden brown color, pop them under the broiler for the last 2 minutes.
Looking for more ground turkey recipes? Here are some favorites:
- Slow Cooker BBQ Cheddar Turkey Meatloaf
- Ground Turkey Cabbage Soup
- Baked Sun-Dried Tomato Turkey Meatballs
- Gochujang Ground Turkey, Rice & Green Bean Skillet
You can find this recipe and more in my Must-Try Meatball Recipes collection!
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Baked Turkey, Zucchini & Feta Meatballs
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- baking sheet
- dish towel
Ingredients
- 1 pound zucchini (approximately 2 zucchini)
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese (approximately 3.5 oz)
- 1/2 cup minced yellow onion
- 2-3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup breadcrumbs panko or Italian
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- crushed red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°. Cut off and discard the ends of the zucchini, then grate them on the large holes of a box grater. Add grated zucchini to a dish towel and twist to squeeze the water out in a sink.
- To a large mixing bowl add the zucchini, ground turkey, feta cheese, onion, garlic, breadcrumbs, egg, dried basil, salt, pepper, and if using, crushed red pepper flakes. Mix until just combined.
- Using a cookie scoop or your hands, roll mixture into meatballs (mine are about the size of a golf ball – sometimes smaller, sometimes bigger).
- Add meatballs to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer reaches 165° inside the meatballs. *For browned tops, remove the meatballs a couple minutes early and place under the broiler for a minute or two, checking to make sure they don't burn. Enjoy!
Notes
- Depending on size, this recipe makes between 24-30 meatballs.
- 4-5 meatballs per person would serve approximately 5-7 people.
- 5-6 meatballs per person would serve approximately 4-5 people.
- Store leftover meatballs in an air-tight container in the fridge and use within 4 days.
- Meatballs can be frozen in freezer-safe packaging. For the best quality, use within 3 months.
I love sneaking veggies into my food, and these meatballs make it so easy! My kids didn’t even notice!