My dear friend Jenni’s Turkey Meatballs with Red Pepper Sauce Recipe is (as always) a pretty easy to follow recipe. I like to make a double or triple batch and freeze the extras for a later date. (I love to cook once, eat thrice!)
Turkey Meatballs:
1 lb ground turkey
1 finely chopped onion (small)
1 small apple, peeled & grated
3T bread crumbs (I sometimes use stuffing)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2T chopped fresh Sage or Thyme
Salt & pepper to taste
*flour for coating shaped meatballs
*2T vegetable oil for browning
Mix together all ingredients except flour and veg. oil. Form into meatballs. Coat in flour. Saute meatballs in oil in skillet until golden brown.
Red Pepper Sauce:
1 1/2 T veg. oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 1/2 red peppers, seeded & chopped
1tsp Tomato Paste
3 T chopped basil
2C veg. stock
Salt & Pepper to taste
Heat oil in skillet. Add shallots and red peppers. Saute until soft. Stir in remaining ingredients and season to taste. Bring to boil and simmer 15-20 minutes. Blend until smooth (I use my immersion blender)
Transfer meatballs into a casserole, cover with sauce and cook about 20 minutes in 350 oven.
Serve over rice.
A few things about this recipe:
#1 I bake my meatballs with the sauce in a cast iron skillet- it’s one of my favorite pans but it also helps add more iron into our diets.
#2 If you are really pressed for time, buy frozen meatballs and a jar of roasted red peppers. You’ll be eating in about 20 minutes.
#3 More sauce is never a bad thing.
#4 You can use meatloaf mix, or ground beef or chicken for this in place of the turkey.
My kids devour this meal when I make it. And to think I owe it all to Jenni who brought me this dinner when my littlest one was born!
Allison says
Ok great I have been searching for the recipe in the Doris Kindserling book and this one is pretty darn close! They are kid & mommy approved recipes (aka hide veggies in food). Definitely bake meatballs with some sauce and we put it over rice pilaf. Make a double batch and freeze for later as the process is quite cumbersome for a momma at “happy hour time”. Thanks so much! Love this recipe.
Brett says
A lady after my own heart. I love making two batches and freezing the second!
Toni says
This is so delicious & easy to make too! I clipped this recipe from a magazine about 10 years ago but couldn’t find it today so went online hoping I’d come across something similar because I was craving it. I was so thrilled to find the exact recipe on your site – thank you & your friend Jenni 🙂
Wanda Tracey says
I am going to try this recipe because I bought some ground chicken today for the first time to try.This recipe sounds delicious .
Allyson Bossie says
Those look really yummy! I make some with a bbq sauce, but I love red peppers more. Betting DH loves this too!
Kim @ Two Kids and a Coupon says
Sounds yummy and easy to make. Pinned and stumbled to share w/ my readers.
brent says
Looks, sounds delicious! Thank you!
Dawn Lopez says
Ooh man that sounds awesome! Red pepper sauce.. that sounds scrumptious!
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
That looks crazy delicious, mama!!! I pinned it and can’t wait to make it!
MadSCAR says
I love it! Thanks for recipe 🙂