I really didn’t think that Mike was going to like these Turkey Swedish Meatballs. And I made them despite that. Yes, just call me Super Wife. In all honestly, classic Swedish Meatballs have been on my To-Make list for as long as I can remember. There is something just right about the beefy, creamy sauce that makes them one of my favorite comfort foods. Don’t forget to serve my homemade cranberry sauce with these, it’s so good!
Turkey Swedish Meatballs
These are absolutely divine. I can’t tell you how much I love the cranberries and while yes, that seems Christmasy (trust me to be a season behind!) they made the meatballs. The allspice paired with the tang of those red winter berries? SO GOOD you guys!
Before you call the men in the white coats, there is a reason to my insanity of using ground turkey instead of beef. I used up all the ground beef that I had set aside in the fridge for meatballs in spaghetti for the kids and the rest was – of course- frozen.
Am I the only one who seems to only need ground beef when it’s frozen? I can keep it in my fridge until it goes bad and never use it. Put it into the freezer? I’ll need that rock of meat within a day.
So I ran with it.
I had ground pork (not frozen by some miracle) and ground turkey in the fridge. Wait a sec…. I’m not sure what that ground turkey was for….hmm. Well, there’s obviously some other recipe I’m forgetting now…
Back to the recipe.
While I can totally get behind turkey meatballs…I’m thinking that they are going to be too dry without that ground pork. Let’s face it, you’re not trying to kid yourself into thinking these are low-fat. They use sour cream, butter and cream.
What to Serve with Turkey Swedish Meatballs
The best thing to serve with these meatballs are any type of potato! Try my baked potatoes recipe, twice baked potatoes, crock pot mashed potatoes or even my Instant Pot mashed potatoes.
And Mike? He loved these.
My jaw hit the table. I honestly thought I would be the only one eating these since the kids are usually a wash. Nope. Three out of four of us ate them! My son loved the sauce and managed to eat a couple meatballs – a miracle- and Mike even ate them as leftovers with spaghetti noodles the next day.
Mike doesn’t eat leftovers, nor weird turkey cranberry meatballs.
What Twilight zone am I in?
Make ’em. Let me know what you think.
Love you more than chocolate,
Karlynn
Turkey Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatball Ingredients
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 white onion diced
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1/3 cup minced dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Gravy Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken or turkey broth
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Combine ground turkey , ground pork, cranberries, bread crumbs, egg yolks, allspice,and cooked onion in a mixing bowl.
- Stir until well combined. ( I use my hands)
- Roll the mixture into -1 1/2 – 2 inch meatballs.
- Place meatballs into a large skillet and cook until all sides are browned, about 7-8 minutes.
- Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
- Rinse the skillet out and melt butter in the skillet.
- Whisk in flour and lightly brown it.
- Slowly whisk in the turkey broth – and whisking contstantly- cook it until slightly thickened.
- Stir in sour cream and heavy cream, then add the meatballs back in.
- Cook another 8-10 minutes until the sauce is thick and the meatballs are cooked completely.
- Serve over egg noodles and garnish with parsley.
Notes
Nutrition
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The Misanthropist says
I can’t understand how these can qualify as Turkey meatballs and they’re made with swine…. Other than that?… Great recipe…… i look forward to trying the homemade cranberry sauce….
Jane Falzone says
You should do a cookbook of non-dessert foods.
The Kitchen Magpie says
Well… I might have one in mind!
Eric Feezor says
Pretty sure I’m not eating turkey balls.
The Kitchen Magpie says
Well, if beef balls are more your thing, it’s a free country. \U0001f609
Heather Pollock says
Great… I can make these gluten free!
My family loves anything over broad egg noodles 🙂
Kendyl Hudson says
Methinks I’d do these on a sub bun, with leftover stuffing, Brie and cranberry sauce, somehow…
Patricia Sutton says
Ground chicken is good, too. Of course, I’ll use ground beef, too.
Jody W says
My tip of the day is to freeze hamburger flattened out in a ziploc bag so when you need it in 1/2 hour you can pop it into a sink of warm’ish water to defrost. We do that with our venison when we’ve butchered and ground it up, it makes it so much easier on those ‘oops I forgot’ days.
Susan Battaglia says
Great idea!