Turkey, Spinach & Cheese Meatballs
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The addition of turkey sausage and cheese makes these meatballs tender and flavorful.
Photo by Johnny Miller, Clarkson Potter 2021
I used to be one of those opinionated people who felt you shouldn’t sneak vegetables into your children’s food, but then I gave birth to a picky eater and all that righteousness went right out the window. Parenting is nothing if not humbling, right? These meatballs are a great way to sneak in some spinach, but what makes them really special is the addition of turkey sausage. Not only does the sausage make the meatballs tender, but it also adds great flavor without the need for a ton of other ingredients. Serve the meatballs with pasta, Parmesan smashed potatoes, or polenta and a big Italian salad, and dinner is served!
Table of Contents
“DELICIOUS!!!! I make a full batch and freeze for individual dinners. We serve it with zucchini noodles—really great twist on meatballs.”
What You’ll Need To Make Turkey Meatballs
Step-by-Step Instructions
To begin, mix the egg with chopped spinach, scallions, and garlic.
Add the ground turkey, turkey sausage, bread crumbs, mozzarella cheese and Parmigiano Reggiano.
Mix until evenly combined.
Form the mixture into 1-1/2 inch balls.
Broil the turkey meatballs until golden, about 10 minutes.
Then simmer in the sauce for 10 minutes more.
That’s all there is to it. Enjoy!
Video Tutorial
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Turkey, Spinach & Cheese Meatballs
The addition of turkey sausage and cheese makes these meatballs tender and flavorful.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large egg
- 3 ounces baby spinach, chopped (3½ cups whole; 1½ cups chopped)
- 3 scallions, white and green parts, finely sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1.25 pounds 93/7 ground turkey (I use Shady Brook Farms)
- 1.25 pounds Italian turkey sausage, removed from the casings (I use Shady Brook Farms)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella (preferably whole milk but low-fat will work)
- ⅓ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus more for serving
- ½ cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- 1 (24 oz) jar marinara sauce, homemade or good quality store-bought
Instructions
- Preheat the broiler and set an oven rack on the second-highest rack. Line a baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil and grease with the olive oil.
- In a bowl large enough to hold all of the ingredients, beat the egg. Add the chopped spinach, scallions, and garlic and stir until evenly combined. Add the ground turkey, turkey sausage, mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano and bread crumbs. Using your hands, mix until evenly combined. Shape the mixture into 1½ inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Broil the meatballs until golden brown on top, about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the tomato sauce in a large pan on the stovetop. Add the broiled meatballs and simmer over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the meatballs are fully cooked.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: These can be frozen in their sauce for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, reheat the meatballs in their sauce on the stovetop over medium heat until hot in the center.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 509
- Fat: 27g
- Saturated fat: 8g
- Carbohydrates: 18g
- Sugar: 7g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 49g
- Sodium: 1409mg
- Cholesterol: 194mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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We love these meatballs! I love that they’re sneakily healthy! Could this convert to a meatloaf recipe as is just by raising the cooking time or would it need something more (my gut says add another egg?) just wasn’t sure if anyone had experimented?
So glad you like these, Kristen! Yes, I do think that you could turn this into a meatloaf with no added ingredients. I’d refer to this recipefor the oven temp and time. (It may take just a few minutes longer than the Italian meatloaf because it’s just bit more meat.) Hope you enjoy!
SO. GOOD. I can ALWAYS trust Jenn to deliver remarkable recipes, even when I’m stressed because I’m having a dinner party AND I’ve never tried the recipe before. These meatballs were a huge hit. Adding turkey sausage was such a genius touch. The chopped spinach provided a welcome vegetal note. Flavourful, light, delightful. Thank you for everything you do for us, Jenn. xo
I have made this recipe exactly and it is amazing, and so easy, everyone loved it!
Jenn I was wondering if I could use ground beef and pork sausage instead of the turkey, would it work out just as good?
So glad it was a hit, Kathy. I do think it’d work well with beef and pork sausage. 🙂
Thank you! I will let you know how it works out!
Just giving you feedback on my experiment of switching to beef and pork sausage! I made them for a gathering of 30 and they vanished, enjoyed by all! After trying both though, myself and my kids personally prefer your original recipe with turkey! The flavour is just better.
Thanks so much for the follow-up, Kathy–I’m sure other readers will appreciate the info as well! 🙂
Where would I find turkey Sausage? I cannot find it for the life of me. I have tried Trader Joe’s and Stop & Shop (the major supermarket by me). Thanks!
Hi Danielle, that’s strange as I think turkey sausage is fairly widely available. If you find it though, you could use pork sausage instead. (Not sure if this is the case at all supermarkets, but I find that I can request something at my grocery store and they will order it for me if you want to try that.) Hope that helps and that you enjoy the meatballs if you make them!
Easy enough for a weeknight supper. We loved the meatballs.
Do you serve these as is or on pasta?
Hi Ann, I serve them both ways; they are also good with these mashed potatoes.
Hi Jenn,
I really want to make this recipe, but my oven doesn’t have a broiler. What do you think would be the best alternative way to cook them? Thanks!
Hi Julia, it’s fine to saute them on the stove if you don’t have a broiler. Hope you enjoy!
If you wanted to freeze these, would you cook them first?
Yep 🙂
Hi Jenn, would love to try but do you think I could use ground chicken instead and chicken sausage? Hubby doesn’t like ground turkey. Thanks.
Sure, Suzanne, that will work. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Would these be good added to homemade post-Thanksgiving turkey broth, with lots of vegetables, and without the tomato sauce, for a turkey meatball soup? If not, would you have a different recipe you would suggest?
Sure, Karen – I think that’d work well.
I modified the recipe slightly based on ingredients I had available. I do not always have good luck with meatballs, but these turned out really good and super easy. I whipped them up in between class and work. I plan to use them for meal prepping.
WOW – these are amazing! Thanks for such a fab recipe!!! Delicious
These were a real hit with my grandchildren ages 1 yr to 4 yrs. I ended freezing a batch and they come in handy when I need something quick to feed the little ones. Will definitely make again.
These were very tasty. My family loved them. Personally I will likely amp up the spices and seasonings next time to give the turkey more flavor.
Simply delicious! It’s the little details that make this recipe stand apart from all the rest: adding fresh spinach, shredded mozzarella, and broiling to give the meatballs a lovely crust and a head start on cooking. Leftovers make terrific meatball sub sandwiches using good, crusty rolls.
Jenn, thanks for a truly wonderful recipe that is a family fav (high compliment from my extraordinarily picky family)
My three grandchildren spend a month every summer with us and I made this recipe while there were here. I made it exactly as the recipe called for except that I made my own marinara sauce and doubled it. The kids loved it so much I made it three times while they were staying with us!
Absolutely delicious.
Thanks Jenn, this is a keeper for sure. We love these! Make them just like you say and they are delicious!! They freeze beautifully….there’s just 2 of us, so they last a few meals. A must try for the chefs of the family and one not to lose track of!!
Hello Jenn! I love your blog! Quick question; one portion is 6 meatballs as shown in the last picture of the recipe? I am about to make it and I can’t wait to taste it! I already made the sweet chilli chicken and I absolutely loved it!
Glad you liked the chicken, Eva! The serving size for this varies a little based on the number of total meatballs you make (this makes around 30), so a serving would be 5 – 6 meatballs. Hope you enjoy!
I made these exactly as written. They were flavorful and surprisingly moist for turkey.
My husband loves meatball subs and these were perfect.
Delicious and easy.
These were a hit with the whole family, including my VERY picky husband!
Entire family loved it! I was hoping for leftovers and there weren’t ANY. So easy and so delicious!
Oh. My. Goodness. These are DELICIOUS! Devoured by myself and my 1 year old! I made the parmesan mashed potatoes to go with them, as recommended, and the whole meal was wonderful. Highly recommend!
I made this recipe twice because the first time, I mistakenly used cooked turkey sausage (which I ground up before mixing) instead of raw. The second round, the meatballs were much better and were especially liked by the grandkids.
I would like to make these into a meatball sandwich. What kind of bread would work best?? Have not made these meatballs yet!
Hi Donna, these would be nice with semolina crusty sub rolls or french bread sandwich rolls. Hope you enjoy!
Made these for company last weekend. Everyone loved them and reported they were very moist, flavorful and tasted great. They commented about how “healthy” they seemed and all went back for seconds. The next day received an email noting “we loved the healthy meatballs!” Another winner for my permanent rotation, Jenn!
Thanks for another tasty recipe Jenn! Prep and cook time were also quick, which I love. I served mine on a bed of plain mixed greens.
Another excellent recipe, wouldn’t change a thing. Made the full recipe (only two of us) just to have extra to freeze. Then took the suggestion you made to another reviewer and stole the sauce from your Swedish Meatballs (half the brown sugar – thanks for the warning). These meatballs, that sauce, made my knees weak! Outstanding is an understatement.
Amazing as usual, Jenn! These meatballs are delicious and I love it when dinner is ready in less than an hour! I subbed mozzarella for a Monterey jack goat cheese, because it was what I had in the fridge and I served it with spiral zucchini “noodles”. Your recipes never disappoint! Thank you AGAIN for another winner!
Are you using the whole package of the ground turkey and sausage as pictured?
I believe that each of those packages in the pic is 1.25 pounds, so yes, that’s what I use in the recipe. Hope you enjoy!
Made spinach meatballs based on your recipe today. However, made it just with minced beef. It tasted really good. The combination of spinach and meat was really wonderful. Thanks for the recipe. Had it with linguine and added really finely chopped mushroom in the passata. We loved the meatballs.
Excellent meal prep! Wonderful with a side of sautéed zucchini. Thanks so much! I will definitely be making these again!
I mixed everything together by accident.i didnt mix eggs scallions and spinach together first.will that make a difference
Not at all Elaina – it will be fine. Enjoy!
Could you freeze these?
Sure, they freeze and reheat nicely!
Made these, and now I am addicted!! We have them once a week with zucchini spaghetti and sauce!! Absolutely delicious!! I use vidalia onion instead of green onion but follow the rest of the recipe. A++++++
Wonderful recipes including this one. Rave review from my family!
Was wondering if in a pinch if I could substitute with brown bread?
Glad everyone enjoyed them. You could make bread crumbs from the bread if you’d like, but you’ll likely need to add a few pinches of Italian seasoning to boost the flavor a bit. Hope that helps!
I should have clarified better. I used the white bread and milk mixture instead of bread crumbs and ground beef that I had on hand instead of ground turkey. They were fantastic. Also was hinky about broiling but worked great!
Thanks Jenn
Hi, Jenn,
This is one of my favorite recipes. I know every oven is different, my broiler causes the meatballs to get too well done even when the rack is on the 2nd position. Today, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees F and rolled the meatballs closer to 2″ (I liberally used a 1/8″ cup spoon measure). Instead of placing them on an oiled cookie sheet, I put each meatball into a slot in a 24-slot mini non-stick muffin tin (at that size, they were a little large). I baked them for 16 minutes, turning them at exactly 8 minutes. They were perfect and very moist! Allowing the meatballs to bake in their own juices was the answer to my overly hot broiler. I then browned the extra meat, drained it and added it to the sauce. It came out similar to Bolognese (is it dinner time yet?) 🙂
Hi Jenn
Would love to make these for a gathering next weekend. In the UK I’m not sure I’ll find turkey sausage easily, can you give me an idea of what ingredients they contain or any substitution ideas?
Thanks as always,
Maxine
Hi Maxine, If you can find chicken or pork sausage, those will work too. If you can find those, there are a number of readers that have commented that they eliminated the sausage and have been happy with the results. If you do that, though, I would definitely stick with the 93/7 turkey; I’m concerned that using all turkey breast will make them too dry. Hope that helps!
Store out of ground turkey so used ground chicken instead. Added red pepper flakes cause we like everything spicy. Wonderful! Hard to stop eating them. Was making chili at the same time so tossed in the meat mixture which really added to the chili! No more ground meat in chili from now on. Excellent recipe !! Looking forward to making again.
Hi, I would like to make these using 1lb of hamburger. Would I just cut the whole recipe in half? Thanks!
Hi Rose, because you have less than half the meat (the recipe calls for 2.5 pounds total), I’d suggest cutting the remainder of the ingredients by just over half. Hope you enjoy!
These meatballs are delicious!! I was a little nervous because of the turkey. Couldn’t imagine a wonderful meatball without pork or beef. But here it is!!! These are definitely a keeper and we’ll be having these often! These are super easy to prepare. The taste is fabulous! The seasoning is spot on. These are well worth your time. Your tastebuds and stomach will thank you.
These are incredible! I didn’t change a thing with the meatball recipe, I just made double the sauce since I am a sauce person!!
Delicious! Another winner and wonderfully different and tasty recipe from Jennifer. Served over angel hair pasta with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Also had a salad and Jenn’s recipe for Ranch dressing. Can’t beat it! Thank you!
Hi Jennifer, if I wanted t freeze part of these, would I freeze before or after cooking? Thank you!
Hi Glinda, you can go either way, but I’d suggest cooking them first. They reheat nicely. Enjoy!
Outstanding! Made these last night and served with a bit of angel hair pasta. The scallions and spinach, although simple, made such a huge difference in an otherwise basic meatball recipe. I followed the recipe precisely, I made no changes. However, I will attempt to make these with beef and pork at some point in the future. Thanks Jenn!
Hi Jenn,
Made your meatballs last night and it was an instant hit with my husband! Didn’t even serve it with anything, the meatballs and sauce were plenty. The only variation I made was to add pork sausage instead of turkey sausage, but only because the store I was in didn’t carry turkey sausage. They were delicious though and very moist. I’ll try it with turkey sausage next time as I’ll be making these again and again.
Ten out of ten, when cooking with Jenn!
Fabulous meatballs. Thankyou. With my first mouthful, I knew they would be a hit. The flavour is wonderful and the texture is perfect. Dished them up with warm pasta salad. All the teenagers wanted seconds.
You’re amazing!
Excellent easy to follow directions. The only suggestions I have to offer is DON’T OVER WORK the ingredients….meat will be more tender.
Dear Jennifer,
I made these delicious meatballs last night and shared 1/2 with my son and family. I was concerned he wouldn’t like the idea of spinach in his meatballs. I know when it’s a hit when he says he’d like me to make them again!! I used Honeysuckle 93/7 ground turkey and their sweet Italian sausage and added a little red pepper flakes. I also used low moisture mozzarella because that was what I had. I used my #40 cookie scoop which is a little smaller but so much easier when shaping/portioning meatballs. I baked 1/2 under the broiler, turning them for the last 3 minutes with tongs. Made 40 meatballs. The rest I fried and I liked the broiler baked ones the best+less mess. I think these would be perfect for meatball sandwiches topped with sauce and provolone. Will definitely make again and share with my friends.
The Turkey meatballs are delicious! I freeze the batch for company so you can make them weeks ahead. The only change I make is doubling all the ingredients except the meat. The meatballs are very moist and flavorful. The Big Italian salad is perfect with the dinner. I highly
recommend this recipe for a crowd.
Turkey, spinach and cheese meatballs; I followed the recipe with these deviations:
2 eggs, 4 scallions, 2 1/2 lb grnd turkey, 1 lb Jimmy Dean Italian turkey sausage, 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano, 1 pkg Ritz crackers ground, 3 24oz jars Emeril’s Home Style Marinara. Made 59 meatballs. Served with spaghetti noodles and garlic toast. Yum!
It’s MariElizabeth, again. Just wanted to clarify that I used the Ritz crackers IPO the bread crumbs. Other than the extra amounts of ingredients as listed in my review, I followed the recipe to the “t” and these are by far the best/easiest meatballs I’ve EVER made!
Can these be done with the beef and pork instead? My daughter cannot eat poultry.
Yes, that will work (either one or a combination of the two). Hope you enjoy!