These juicy baked turkey zucchini meatballs are served with homemade marinara sauce! Ready in about 30 minutes, this is a crowd-pleasing recipe easy enough to whip up on a weeknight!
Baked Turkey Meatballs
When we lived in Brooklyn one of our happiest Sunday afternoon traditions was to schlep a few miles south, find a seat at the bar, and order a good part of the menu at our favorite little pizza shop. Icy cold draft beers, piping hot Neapolitan pizzas, and one or two small plates to start. My definition of heaven on earth.
One of my favorite starters was the meatballs in sauce. No pasta; no bread; just perfectly plump and juicy meatballs delicately surrounded by a few spoonfuls of spicy marinara sauce.
Simple, sensational, and so so satisfying. The way real Italian food is and should always be.
Last week I awoke with a fierce craving to once again call those meatballs my own, and decided to take matters into my own hands. <—- Recipe testing beats a 3 hour drive to Brooklyn every time 😉
Knowing many of you love quick, healthy, family friendly meals inspired me to take my dreamy Brooklyn meatball memories and transform them into a recipe we can all make at home – and fast! P.S. If you’re only here for the sweets and treats – don’t worry- I have something just for you coming up next (hint: cherries + brown butter are involved!).
So today I’m sharing with you my new favorite dinner recipe with you…
Baked Zucchini Meatballs in Homemade Marinara Sauce!
These meatballs are dairy and grain free ( Yup! No Parmesan or Breadcrumbs), baked in the oven, and finished off with a slightly spicy and super flavorful marinara sauce.
This recipe is:
- Quick √
- Easy √
- Healthy √
- Hearty √
- Big on flavor √
- Low in calories √
- Sure to please √
Seriously you guys, this simple Italian meal has me ready to book a one-way trip to Rome! Hey, a girl can dream… right? Keeping my savings account in mind I’ll just have to settle for a second helping and a few glasses of red wine. Not a bad compromise 😉
How to Prepare the Zucchini
First thing you’re going to need to do? Grate some zucchini!
You’ll want to grate two whole cups (about 1 large zucchini). Measure it first, then transfer it to a fine mesh strainer, a piece of cheesecloth, or a verrry clean and lint free dishtowel. You’ll want to let the zucchini rest a few minutes so it can begin releasing moisture – this will happen almost immediately – then squee(eeeeeeeeee)ze as much liquid out of the shredded zucchini as possible. There will be a lot of excess liquid, so this may take two or three tries. When you’re done squeezing your zucchini it will look more like 1 cup than the the two you started with.
Meatball Mixture
Once your zucchini is prepped, grab a large mixing bowl and toss in your meat, onions, garlic, eggs, zucchini, seasoning, and olive oil.
Then the fun (and kind of gross) part: smash it all together with your hands!
Roll the Meatballs
Once you’ve combined all of the ingredients, you’ll simply roll and bake. I like to make my meatballs around 2 tablespoons in size (1/8 of a cup) but you can make them a little bigger if you’d like; just remember to increase the bake time accordingly. I find my two tablespoon meatballs are perfectly cooked right around the 25 minute mark. Be sure not to over bake yours or they’ll loose their juiciness and taste “tough”.
Make the Marinara Sauce
Now, while the meatballs are in the oven doing their thing, we make the sauce!
This is the simplest of simple marinara sauces. Crushed tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, sugar, and seasoning. I also add a hearty pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, but if you’re not into heat – or feeding children – you can skip this ingredient, or use a smaller amount. The sauce only needs to simmer for 15 minutes, meaning it’s ready to go the second those juicy meatballs emerge from the oven.
Final step: Toss meatballs in sauce and DIG IN.
You can eat these meatballs on their own, add some crusty bread, place them over a bed of spaghetti, top them with cheese, etc. The ways to enjoy are endless ♡
My favorite way? Extra sauce, cold beers, handsome face sitting across the table. We both go crazy for this meal every-single-time.
More Meatball Recipes:
- Easy Baked Meatballs
- 30-Minute Mozzarella Stuffed Turkey Meatballs with Homemade Marinara Sauce
- Italian Sausage Meatballs
Baked Turkey Zucchini Meatballs
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 2 pounds ground turkey meat (ground beef will work too!)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 large eggs
- 3 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- Salt and ground black pepper, to taste (I suggest starting with 1 and 1/4 teaspoons of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper)
- 2 cups zucchini, finely grated and drained (it will look more like 1 cup once it's been drained of excess liquid; see post if you need more clarity on this)
- 1 small red onion, grated
For the Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
For the Meatballs:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a large bowl combine ground turkey meat, olive oil, minced garlic, eggs, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, zucchini, and onion. Using your hands mix the meat mixture until the ingredients are evenly combined; the mixture should be very moist but still hold its shape when rolled into balls.
- Scoop two tablespoon sized balls of meat from the mix, roll into a firm ball, and place on prepared baking sheet; repeat with remaining meat.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven to bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they're evenly brown and cooked though.
- While the meatballs bake, make your marinara!
For the Sauce:
- Warm the oil in a large saucepan over medium-heat. Add in the garlic and sauté for one minute, or until the garlic is just golden (careful not to burn it here) and fragrant. Add the crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar, seasoning and crushed red pepper flakes, mix well to combine. Simmer the sauce for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
- When meatballs are done baking, add them to the sauce, stir to coat, and serve.
Michelle says
I haven’t made them yet but I’m so excited to try these. I have salted and pressed the zucchini now an hour and plan to let it sit a while. I make a cucumber salad that I salt and let sit under a cast iron with three cans on it get most of the liquid out. I’m doing this the same way zucchini and cukes are similar so I know this will work! Thanks for the recipe I’m so excited to try it.
Crissy says
These were really delicious! I cut the recipe in half and used jarred sauce. I would use less Italian seasoning next time! We loved these!
imsen says
LOVE this meatball recipe. It’s my go-to favorite recipe for meatballs.
Lauren V says
I wanted to leave a comment for all of those that rated the recipe and said the meatballs were runny. I’m addition to making sure all the liquid was squeezed out of the zucchini, I added 1 cup of plain breadcrumbs and they turned out perfect! I also sautéed the garlic and onion prior to mixing them in to avoid them from being too crunchy.
Jan says
I don’t often comment on recipes but I’ve made this one a number of times now and they are fantastic! I think it’s the spices with just the right amount of zip. Do not omit the red pepper flakes.
The only thing I do different is double the sauce. Because it’s just so darn delicious!
Please try, you won’t be disappointed. My husband is Italian and loves these.
Kirstin says
Ok I have made these 3 times now and my husband and kid both love them! But what the heck am I doing wrong that mine are always too soggy and barely hold a shape.
They always flatten out immediately and are like half moons haha, they still taste amazing but wondering what the culprit could be that I’m doing wrong? I make sure to wring out the zucchini thoroughly as well.
Thanks!
Eve says
These were sumptuous and I will definitely make again. I halted the recipe and used a small shallot. Next time I will sauté the shallot and garlic, since the kept repeating on me. I didn’t make the sauce and just opened a jar of marinara. My husband loved the meatballs and asked me to make them again. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Kali P says
I love this recipe and follow it fairly closely. I’ve made this recipe at least 4-5 times and wanted to let you know how much I enjoy it. I do sauté the onion and garlic before I add them to the mix because I hate the flavor of them raw. I put the zucchini and the onion in nut milk bags so I can squeeze as much liquid out as possible. I also bake the meatballs on a rack so some of the liquid can drain out. I always make a double batch because they freeze beautifully and I love having them on hand.
Crissy says
Delicious! I used a yellow onion! Great healthy dinner with pasta!
Phoenix C. says
I’ve made these 2x now and they’re delicious! I didn’t have italian seasoning so used garlic powder and tuscan olive oil instead. So juicy! 🙂