Garlic Butter Turkey Meatballs

When we made this recipe for the video, we totally forgot to add Parmesan to the mixture. But the meatballs were still insanely delicious! Garlicky, tender, and NOT boring. But we do prefer adding the cheese (for that unmistakable umami hit). 

Some Fat Is A Good Thing

Dry meatballs have at some point bedeviled most cooks. What’s more, turkey has a lower fat content than beef, and we know that fat helps keep things moist and contributes to a soft mouthfeel – two musts for meatballs. So, what does a cook do? In this case, we strongly recommend you use 85 to 93 percent ground turkey. Avoid if you can really lean ground turkey, i.e. 99 percent lean. 

Hit It With (High) Heat

We’re talking smoking hot. Preheat the pan with the oil and WAIT until the oil shimmers and you see light wisps of smoke. Then add the butter, and then immediately add the meatballs. If you add the raw meatballs too soon, they will undoubtedly stick to the pan. When you try to flip them, you’ll be left scraping them away – and wind up with cooked ground turkey. (But at least the filling ingredients would make it tasty!)   

Craving something saucier? Try our Best-Ever Turkey Lasagna.