Gluten Free Turkey Meatballs with Spinach
Flavored with Italian seasoning, with a touch of spinach added in, these Paleo Turkey Meatballs make for a great weeknight dinner or meal prep solution! Double or triple the batch and serve some for now and save some for later. Serve with your favorite homemade or store-bought marinara and spaghetti squash and you’ve got the perfect lightened-up dinner.
Paleo Turkey Meatballs with Spinach
This gluten-free and Paleo Turkey Meatballs are a classic LCK recipe you’ve been loving since 2013! We went ahead and gave the recipe and photos a little update. We are so glad we did as it reminded us of how amazing these meatballs are, especially for meal prep! Make a double or triple batch of these Italian flavored meatballs and use some right away and then save some for later. Meatballs are great to keep in the freezer because they’re quick and easy to pull out on a moments notice and reheat in your favorite homemade or store-bought marinara sauce.
Gluten Free Turkey Meatball Ingredients
- Ground Turkey (light or dark meat works here, though we prefer dark meat)
- Frozen Spinach
- Onion
- Egg
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Italian Seasoning
- Sea Salt and Pepper
- Basil
- Red Pepper Flakes
Make Ahead Meatballs and Freezer Instructions
Meatballs are the perfect make-ahead meal! They can made a few days ahead and left in the refrigerator or they can be frozen for up to 2 months.
To freeze meatballs, let them fully cool at room temperature and then transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let freeze for at least 1 hour, and then transfer them to a long term storage bag or container. Store for up to 2 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight, or warm up in your favorite pasta sauce over low heat.
If you like this gluten-free classic recipe, check out these others:
- Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- The Best Gluten Free Pizza Crust
- Classic Gluten Free Meatloaf
- Deconstructed Chicken Pot Pie (Gluten Free)
If you like this meatball recipe, check out these others:
- Sheet Pan Greek Meatballs with Veggies and Chickpeas
- Apple Sage Turkey Meatballs
- Thai Meatballs
- Nanny’s Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Loaded Paleo Turkey Meatballs
Flavored with Italian seasoning, with a touch of spinach added in, these Paleo Turkey Meatballs make for a great weeknight dinner or meal prep solution! Double or triple the batch and serve some for now and then save some for later. Serve with your favorite homemade or store-bought marinara and spaghetti squash and you've got the perfect lightened-up dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey (light or dark meat)
- 1 cup frozen spinach (defrosted, drained, squeezed to remove excess water)
- 1/2 small onion, finely minced or grated
- 1 egg
- 1-1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF and lightly oil a baking sheet.
- Add all ingredients to a large bowl and mix together until fully combined.
- Scoop out about 1/4 cup of meat using a scooper or your hands, and roll into meatballs and place on the baking sheet. If the mixture is tricky to work with you can refrigerate it for about 10 minutes and use lightly wet hands to form the meat into balls.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, or until the turkey registers an internal temperature of 165ºF. If desired, you can broil on high for about 2-3 minutes to give the meatballs a browned exterior.
- Serve with your favorite marinara sauce and serve with spaghetti squash, pasta or choice of side.
Recipe Notes
- Ground chicken can be substituted for ground turkey.
- To freeze meatballs, let fully cool and then transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let freeze for at least 1 hour, and then transfer to a long term storage bag or container. Store for up to 2 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight, or warm up in your favorite pasta sauce over low heat.
- This recipe was originally published in 2013, and updated with new photographs in 2020.
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16 Responses
Tried the recipe tonight. I cut the onions down to 1/2 of an onion and still too much. I would suggest 1/4 of an onion and sauté them first. Outside of the onions the overall flavor was good.
I haven’t make turkey balls in so long! It’s about time I MAKE THEM AGAIN! 🙂
Made these tonight. First, when I was just mixing the ingredients, it smelled AMAZING. Then while the meatballs were cooking, other people in the house were commenting on how great it smelled. Finally, they tasted JUST as good as they smelled! Great, easy recipe! I will definitely be adding to my favorite week night dinner collection.
can I use fresh spinach? Chopped? Any suggestions on how much?
I love these meatballs! I’ve made them several times now, no modifications required. I often double the batch and put some in the freezer. I recommend that you include a suggested amount for the salt instead of “to taste.” Nobody’s going to taste a raw meatball 🙂
I loved them, hubby loved them. Is going on my regular meals list.
Do you think I could sub frozen chopped kale for the spinach? Do you think I would have to do anything different? Thanks!
Yes.
Quick questions, the ingredients list says “1 cup handful of frozen spinach”
What exactly is that measurement? Thanks1
Thx for a great recipe! Had a 3lb Jennie-O ground turkey. Tripled the recipe with a few changes so I could use the fresh ingredients I had. One whole small red onion, four garlic cloves smashed in a baggie, 5 unpacked cups of fresh spinach chopped really well and only 2 extra large brown eggs. The recipe yielded 2 baking trays of 15-20 meatballs. 350 oven for total of 40 mins. The meat will drain the liquid from the spinach so when I flipped the meat after 20 mins I also drained the spinach liquid. As one reviewer mentioned, even before they went into the oven, my family smelled them and couldn’t wait to eat. Thanks again!
Do you post the nutrition content for your recipes anywhere? I am trying to use MyFitnessPal and I wanted to know how many servings this recipe makes.
It serves 4. Working on adding them 🙂
These are amazing – easy and delicious. Question: to freeze, I assume you cook first? Thanks
Actually either one will work! But it’s probably easier to freeze after cooking. You can defrost overnight or you can warm up in tomato sauce on stove top or even in a slow cooker. If you did want to freeze them before cooking, it’s easiest to cook from frozen in tomato sauce.
Great meatballs! Full of flavour and not dry. This will be a weekly meal. I used zucchini instead of spinach because I have a picky eater, he doesn’t eat veggies so I was able to sneak it in.
These turned out great! I made the meatballs larger than I should’ve, so cooked them for longer and also opted to broil at the end. But they were so flavorful and delicious! Huge hit with the family!