Zucchini Turkey Meatballs

Don’t know what to do with all that zucchini you just picked from your garden? Is it coming out of your ears? If you are anything like me you are looking for new ways to enjoy all that zucchini bounty this season. If not, this is still a great recipe to pack in extra veggies into your diet. I have one zucchini plant in my garden which provided just the right amount of zucchini for our family, but then my super sweet and generous neighbor dropped off 3 ginormous zucchini plants… you know the kind where you come back from vacation to find your zucchini has grown so monstrous that your not sure what to do with such a large plant. It wont fit in my spiralizer and I have made more loaves of zucchini bread than my family and neighbors can eat. And the zucchini they gave me are far to big to slice up to make my favorite zucchini lasagna. So, I decided to create a new twist to my favorite turkey muffins. I call these…. Zucchini Turkey Meatballs! I know, I’m suuuuper creative. I just added grated zucchini and some new spices and voila! A fun new twist to the turkey meatballs I make every week… and they are now loaded with veggies! Yay for giant zucchinis from the neighbors! Here is how I made them: Ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground turkey (preferably organic free range with no added fillers or artificial/”natural” flavors)
• 1 cup of organic oats: steel cut oats WONT work, regular oats are best but quick oats work as well. We buy ours at Thrive Market
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of grated zucchini
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp basil or 2 fresh leaves (I’m loving that I have fresh basil in my garden this year)
• 3 tsp fennel  (crush them before adding: I just use the back of a spoon) or anise seeds seeds
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp salt:
• We buy ours at Thrive Market
• 1 tsp of cayenne pepper (optional- feel free to omit if you don’t like spicy)
• 2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional- feel free to omit if you don’t like spicy)
• optional delish add ins: a couple celery stalks, bell peppers (chopped small)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. In your food processor grate your zucchini. Set aside 2 cups. I like to freeze any extra zucchini in 1-2 cup ratios so they are pre portioned for other recipes. You can also use a hand grater but the food processor is a much easier/faster process.

3.  In a giant mixing bowl add your oats (or almond flour) and spices and mix them together.

4. Add 2 eggs to your dry mixture and beat the eggs into the oats/seasonings.

5. Chop up any extra veggies (like bell peppers and celery) and add them to the mix.

6. Add the grated zucchini.

7. Add ground turkey and mix with your hands to get everything mixed together well.

8. Form meatballs into 12 equally portioned meatballs and place them on your cookies sheet, making sure there is space between them. (here is a photo of an extra large batch of turkey meatballs on my cookie sheets)

9. Bake for 40 min or until a meat thermometer reads at least 160 degrees.

10. Allow them to cool a little, then enjoy!

Store in your refrigerator up to 3 days (freeze anything you wont eat within 3 days). I like to store them in glass containers like these.

I eat 2 of these at a time for a full serving. I like them as is (packed full of zucchini) or on top of a salad. I also like to wrap them in romaine lettuce for a nice crunch. My hubby like them with hot sauce. He eats them every day at work with his lunch. You could also put them in spaghetti sauce or eat them with zucchini pasta (yep, that’s a lot of zucchini).  

This recipe makes 12 meatballs. I often double it and freeze the meatballs that I won’t eat in the next three days. I like to place 2 meatballs in each sandwich bag, then place those in a bigger freezer bag to keep in the freezer. Then my hubby or I can take them out the night before to defrost if we plan to eat them the next day.

So there you have it! A new way to make turkey meatballs and a new way to eat zucchini! Hope you enjoy these as much as I do. Feel free to let me know what you think of them in the comments below.

*Some of the above links are affiliate links.  Click here to learn more about affiliate links.