Apple Turkey Meatballs with Zucchini Noodles
This Apple Turkey Meatballs with Zucchini Noodles is a light, sweet, and refreshing recipe! Get your spaghetti on without all the heavy carbs, and enjoy this protein-packed low-fat recipe!
Ingredients to make Apple Turkey Meatballs with Zucchini Noodles:
- 1 Granny Smith Apple grated, (about 200 grams)
- 16 oz 99% Lean Ground Turkey
- ½ Red Onion diced, (about 100 grams)
- ½ cup Panko Bread Crumbs (about 30 grams)
- 2 Large Whole Eggs
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- ½ tsp Black Pepper
- ¼ tsp Sea Salt
- 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 cans Stewed Tomatoes, no salt added (about 14½ ounce cans)
- 1 can Tomato Sauce (about 8 ounce can)
- 2 tbsp Tomato Paste (about 30 grams)
- 1 tbsp Light Brown Sugar (about 15 grams)
- ¼ tsp Red Pepper Flake
- ¼ cup Water
- 7 Zucchini spirl sliced (about 700 grams)
Instructions:
- In a large bowl add your grated apple, ground turkey, red onion, panko, eggs, garlic powder, black pepper, and salt. Stir everything together until well combined.
- Now it’s time to roll your meatballs: Using your hands make 12, 1-inch meatballs.
- Once you are done forming your meatballs, heat a large stovetop pan to medium-low heat. Once the pan is hot add your oil to the pan, then immediately add your meatballs to the pan. Cook the meatballs for about 20 minutes (covered with a lid to trap in the moisture) rolling around to another side every 2-3 minutes, so you get a nice golden brown color all the way around.
- While the meatballs are cooking, heat a medium saucepot to medium-low heat and add your: stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, brown sugar, and red pepper flake to the pot. Stir everything together and cover with a lid and let cook for 10-15 minutes. Stir every few minutes scraping the bottom to prevent burning.
- Once the meatballs are cooked through remove them from the pan. Leave the pan on medium-low heat and add the water to the pan, using a spatula scraps any turkey residue off the bottom of the pan and combine it with the water, this is going to add flavor to your zucchini noodles. Now add the zucchini noodles to the pan, toss with the water, then cover with a lid for 3 minutes, tossing every minute. You do not need to cook these noodles long at all, you are simply warming them up.
- Now it’s time to plate! Start by plating your zucchini noodles, top with 4 meatballs per serving, then add your tomato sauce over top. Serve and enjoy!
Turkey Meatballs with Zucchini Noodles
Ingredients
- 1 Granny Smith Apple grated, (about 200 grams)
- 16 oz 99% Lean Ground Turkey
- ½ Red Onion diced, (about 100 grams)
- ½ cup Panko Bread Crumbs (about 30 grams)
- 2 Large Whole Eggs
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder
- ½ tsp Black Pepper
- ¼ tsp Sea Salt
- 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 cans Stewed Tomatoes, no salt added (about 14½ ounce cans)
- 1 can Tomato Sauce (about 8 ounce can)
- 2 tbsp Tomato Paste (about 30 grams)
- 1 tbsp Light Brown Sugar (about 15 grams)
- ¼ tsp Red Pepper Flake
- ¼ cup Water
- 7 Zucchini spirl sliced (about 700 grams)
Instructions
- In a large bowl add your grated apple, ground turkey, red onion, panko, eggs, garlic powder, black pepper, and salt. Stir everything together until well combined.
- Now it's time to roll your meatballs: Using your hands make 12, 1-inch meatballs.
- Once you are done forming your meatballs, heat a large stovetop pan to medium-low heat. Once the pan is hot add your oil to the pan, then immediately add your meatballs to the pan. Cook the meatballs for about 20 minutes (covered with a lid to trap in the moisture) rolling around to another side every 2-3 minutes, so you get a nice golden brown color all the way around.
- While the meatballs are cooking, heat a medium saucepot to medium-low heat and add your: stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, brown sugar, and red pepper flake to the pot. Stir everything together and cover with a lid and let cook for 10-15 minutes. Stir every few minutes scraping the bottom to prevent burning.
- Once the meatballs are cooked through remove them from the pan. Leave the pan on medium-low heat and add the water to the pan, using a spatula scraps any turkey residue off the bottom of the pan and combine it with the water, this is going to add flavor to your zucchini noodles. Now add the zucchini noodles to the pan, toss with the water, then cover with a lid for 3 minutes, tossing every minute. You do not need to cook these noodles long at all, you are simply warming them up.
- Now it's time to plate! Start by plating your zucchini noodles, top with 4 meatballs per serving, then add your tomato sauce over top. Serve and enjoy!
Macro Nutrition
Macro Adjustments:
Below outlines the items in each macro group that are easily adjustable to meet your specific macros.
Fat:
The fat in this recipe comes from the oil the meatballs are cooked in and the egg yolks. There is really not much fat in this recipe. If you are looking to increase the fat, you could use a higher fat content ground turkey. This recipe is using a 99% lean ground turkey.
Carbohydrates:
The carbs in this recipe come from the apple, zucchini, and panko bread crumbs. To reduce the carbs you could use fewer panko crumbs, they are not necessary but add to the texture of the meatballs. To increase the carbs you can increase any of these three ingredients!
Protein:
The protein in this recipe comes from the Turkey, an easy Ingredient to increase or decrease to adjust the protein. You can either make bigger meatballs or make more of them and enjoy more with each serving
Meal Prep:
Yes, this recipe is meal prep-able and will last up to 6 days In the fridge.
Freezer Friendly:
The meatballs and the sauce are easily frozen and reheated later. However, zucchini noodles, cut as noodles may get soggy after being cooked, then frozen, and reheated. Since these only take a few minutes I say, make the zucchini noodles fresh each time, but you can freeze everything else. I recommend reheating the meatballs in the sauce to help keep them moist!
For more tips on Reheating or freezing your food, click these links below:
This Apple Turkey Meatballs with Zucchini Noodles is an outstanding zucchini recipe! If you are looking for more recipes like this one, check out these:
