I love meatballs, but you have to get them right. There are about 1.938 billion recipes out there so it’s pretty difficult to know where to begin. They need to be tender and flavorful. Some will say you can only get this from adding milk and breadcrumbs then simmer the meatballs in sauce for hours. Well I’m here to say nay to that. Of course they’re good that way, but there are healthier options that taste just as good if not better than the traditional recipes.
I will put my foot down and say a meatball is not a meatball without cheese, and that is non-negotiable. You all know how much I love my cheese, but there are some things we can do without. We all know that white bread and refined grains in general, aren’t particularly nutritious, so let’s lose them in meatballs. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still make my Grandmother’s meatball recipe once in a while (cause it’s the best), but I now have a healthier option that satisfies that craving to use a majority of the time.
Cannellini beans are the answer. They’re creamy, velvety and take on the texture of milk-soaked breadcrumbs perfectly! Even if you’re not cutting out processed bread and grains in your diet, don’t pass these up. They’re that good!
Combine beans, onion, carrot and sun-dried tomatoes into a food processor.
Pulse until you have a smooth paste.
In a large bowl add the ground turkey…
…and bean paste.
Crack in the eggs and sprinkle on the rosemary, parsley, red pepper, salt and Parmesan cheese. Mix together with your hands.
Get a medium-sized ice cream scoop and scoop out meat balls on a sheet pan lined with non-stick baking mat (these are my favorite) or aluminum foil.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Once meatballs have finished baking, add them to a large stock pot with your favorite sauce and simmer for 15 minutes to let all the flavors combine.
You can serve the meatballs alone with a little sauce and you’ve got yourself a great meal. You could also place them on top of some Zucchini Noodles, Penne, or some Broccoli Slaw Pasta.
Enjoy your guilt-free meatballs!
- 1 cup cooked cannellini beans (go ahead and use the canned ones, but be sure to give them a good rinse)
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped
- 1 medium carrot shredded
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 2 Tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
- 1½ lbs. ground turkey
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2-24oz. jars of your favorite tomato sauce
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Combine beans, onion, carrot and sun-dried tomatoes into a food processor. Pulse until you have a smooth paste.
- In a large bowl add the ground turkey and bean paste.
- Crack in the eggs and sprinkle on the rosemary, parsley, red pepper, salt and Parmesan cheese. Mix together with your hands.
- Get a medium-sized ice cream scoop and scoop out meat balls on a sheet pan lined with non-stick baking mat or aluminum foil.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Once meatballs have finished baking, add them to a large stock pot with your sauce and simmer for 15 minutes to let all the flavors combine.
- Enjoy your guilt-free meatballs!
And now it’s time to party over at Fiesta Friday, with Laurie @ ten.times.tea and Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook. Let’s get this party started!
I love everything from cake to kale. Life is all about balance. I like to live, laugh and love to the fullest! Our time is too short not to enjoy ourselves.
I’ll take this as a meatball sub thank you very much! Funny I make a pineapple bean burger (sliders) using white beans (instead of black bean/burger) and my gang loves them on the grill? I say use those white beans and love it. Have a great weekend!
Thank you! Great idea for burgers 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend!
Fantastic! I never would have thought of this healthier option. My mother comes from an Italian background and makes the same meatball recipe which contains a lot of fat. I cannot wait to make these next time she is in town.
Thank you! This is a perfect healthy substitute. I’m sure she’ll love them 🙂
Wonderful idea! I never thought of using beans. And, I’m with you about skipping the bread. I’ve pinned your recipe, thank you.
Yes, let’s get rid of the nasty white bread when we can. Thanks so much!
I absolutely love that photo of the meatballs before cooking, focusing in on just one of them – I’m pretty sure I need to make these tonight now to celebrate FF.
Thank you James! Let me know how you like it. Happy FF 🙂
They worked out really well. I used black beans instead, and I found them to be quite tasty and easy to prepare. If you’d like to see the end result, I put it up on my blog: https://fromjamestojamie.wordpress.com/2015/06/07/53-spaghetti-and-turkey-black-bean-meatballs/
Fantastic recipe! Glad you liked the recipe and I love your swap 🙂
I love this!! I’m trying this soon , thanks for sharing!
Thanks! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do 🙂
Yum! Adding this to my menu next week! My kids love meatballs too. (:
Who doesn’t love a meatball, right? And a healthy one too! Hope you guys love them 🙂
You are right. Meatballs must be cooked right. Sometimes, I overcook them and I get dry meatballs. These look so good, Sarah. Thanks for bringing them at FF table. Happy FF and enjoy your weekend. 🙂
Thank you very much! Happy FF!
Now that I think about it, I’m not sure I’ve ever made meatballs before. So I didn’t even know that bread was used in them! But the bean paste is such a clever substitute and sounds so much better. These meatballs sound so appetizing with all the vegetables ground in, and of course those sun dried tomatoes! That must provide some really lovely flavour.
They so easy to make, you should give them a try 🙂 The sun dried tomatoes and veggies give them a wonderfully fresh flavor. Thanks for stopping by!
I love the idea of adding beans to meatballs- genius! They look really good too 🙂
You’re too kind, thank you!
Really great recipe, as always, love the use of the beans, could I use butter beans do you think?
Thank you! I do believe butter beans would work just fine 🙂 Let me know how they come out if you give them a try 🙂