Thanksgiving Gobbler Turkey Dinner Meatballs
If you love Thanksgiving and all of the great flavors of it, then you will LOVE these Thanksgiving Gobbler Turkey Meatballs! Ground turkey blended with stuffing seasonings, milk bread, sauteed onions, and celery plus cranberry relish! It’s like turkey and stuffing as a meatball!
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 25
- Total Time: 45
- Category: Thanksgiving
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped small
- 2 stalks celery, plus leaves, chopped small
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoon butter, unsalted
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for brushing the meatballs
- 4 slices of bread, divided
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 teaspoon thyme, dried
- 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, dried
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sage, dried
- 1 teaspoon parsley, dried
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup prepared cranberry relish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment, spray with non-stick spray and set aside. In a medium skillet over medium heat, add the butter and olive oil. When the butter starts to foam, add in the onion and celery. Sauté, stirring often, until the onions and celery start to soften. ~10 minutes. When they are softened, add in the garlic, stir and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, put in a small bowl or plate and allow to cool to room temp. ~15-30 minutes.
- In a bowl, tear up 3 slices of bread and add in the milk. Smush the bread down into the milk. You’re making “milk bread”. The bread will soak up all/most of the milk. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. In a mixing bowl add in the turkey, cooled onions/celery/garlic mixture, the milk bread mixture, seasonings, egg, and cranberry relish. Take the remaining dry piece of bread and tear up into small pieces and put that into the bowl as well.
- Without overworking the mixture, gently mix just to combine. The mixture should be wet but hold a shape when you form it into a ball. If it doesn’t you can add a little bit of regular bread crumbs (1-2 tablespoon) but the mixture will be soft but should hold a shape. Scoop enough meat mixture to form a 2” round ball (I use a large cookie scoop to measure out my meatballs). Wet your hands and shape. Damp hands are a trick to keeping the mixture from sticking to your hands! See notes for smaller meatballs. Place the meatballs on the pan and repeat until all of the meatballs are formed.
- Either spray the meatballs with olive oil with a mister OR using a pastry brush, brush each one with olive oil. This helps with coloring and browning.
- Bake for 20-23 minutes or when the internal temp of the meatball reads 165F. See notes for smaller meatball baking times. If you want a darker char, pop the meatballs under the broiler for a minute.
- Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
For smaller meatballs (medium cookie scoop), cook 14-17 minutes.