Buffalo Style Turkey Meatballs with Blue Cheese

OK, I am on a little bit of a meatball kick. I made these for superbowl sunday and they were a hit, not one left. I made my own low fat blue cheese dip to dip them in. These are actually pretty healthy, made with turkey and I use oatmeal and whole wheat breadcrumbs as binders (you wont even notice the oats). These meatballs are very moist (especially for turkey meatballs).

***I have since made this several other times and this is an edited version of the recipe***

Buffalo Style Meatballs

1/4 c low fat milk (sometimes I used closer to a 1/3 C)
1/2 C. whole wheat seasoned breadcrumbs
1/2 C. oatmeal (not instant), processed in food processor until reduced to crumbs
1 large egg, beaten lightly
16 oz ground turkey
2 cloves garlic, minced (more if you like it very garlicky)
1/2 C fresh parsley, choppped
1/2 C crumbled blue cheese
1 T. unsalted butter
bottle of your favorite wing sauce, minus 2 Tbsp that go in the meatball mixture
1/4 C crumbled blue cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Pour milk in a large, deep bowl. Add oats and breadcrumbs and let sit a few minutes until milk is absorbed. Add egg and stir well. Add ground turkey, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley, and 2 Tbsp wing sauce, and 1/2 C blue cheese and mix well until combined. Shape into small cocktail sized meatballs, place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper or non stick foil.  Bake 10-12 minutes, until cooked inside. At this step you can let them cool and refrigerate or freeze them.  They freeze very well.

If you are using them right away, melt butter over med and add remaining wing sauce until heated through. Toss meatballs with wing sauce/butter mixture. sprinkle 1/4 c crumbled blue cheese over top. Serve with toothpicks and low fat blue cheese dip (recipe follows).  I also often serve these over brown rice or quinoa for dinner.  If you are reheating them, melt the butter and mix with wing sauce, toss with meatballs and 1/4 C crumbled blue cheese in covered casserole dish and bake at 350 until sauce is bubbling and meatballs are hot....prob about 15-20 minutes.

Low Fat Blue Cheese Dip

16 oz low fat sour cream
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. dijon mustard
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste (I like lots of pepper)
2tsp-1 T apple cider vinegar (depending on the consistency you want)
8 oz crumbled blue cheese

mix all ingredients together. Serve with meatballs.

Mexican Turkey Meatballs

Ok, Im a little obsessed with meatballs lately....so here is a kind of different version...I was bored in a staff meeting so that is when I came up with the recipe. They are so tasty. I served them with Cilantro Cashew Pesto, but they would be great served as an appetizer with creamy salsa or sour cream.

Mexican Turkey Meatballs

1 lb. ground turkey 93% lean
1/3 C milk
1/2 C bread crumbs
1/2 C oatmeal
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper
1 jalepeno, chopped fine
few dashes worchestershire sauce
1/2 C colby jack cheese, shredded
handful fresh cilantro, chopped fine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

put milk in large bowl, add breadcrumbs and oatmeal and mix well. Add all ingredients besides turkey and cilantro and mix well with your hands. Add turkey and cilantro and mix thoroughly. Shape into cocktail sized meatballs. Line baking trays with parchment paper. Place meatballs on baking trays. Bake 17-20 minutes until no longer pink inside. mmmmmm

Turkey Meatballs in the Crockpot

I have to say honestly these meatballs are the best I have had. Ive really been on the search for great meatballs...the taste and texture of these are so great. Also, if you do not have the time to cook them in the crockpot, you can bake them and put them in sauce and simmer.*****I just edited this recipe to alter the amount of oatmeal/breadcrumbs...the mixture was a little wet the first time, so I added more breadcrumbs, the next time I added more oatmeal....the oatmeal was an experiment and I liked it so much that I changed the recipe. This is a sneaky way to get fiber, and you can omit the breadcrumbs all together and use all oatmeal to make this gluten free ( :

Turkey Meatballs in the Crockpot

1/2 c milk (I used 1%)
1/2 C Italian bread crumbs
1/2 C oatmeal
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 C fresh grated parmesan
1 egg
1/2 C fresh parsley, chopped fine
few dashes worchestershire sauce
20 oz ground turkey (I used Jennie O 93% lean)
salt and pepper

Sauce:
26 oz jar of your favorite marinara sauce
1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 C white wine (I used Chardonnay....dont use red...white makes it very bright in flavor)
2 tsp sugar
2 cloves of garlic, minced

line crockpot with slow cooker liner.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. soak bread crumbs and oats in milk in a large bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Wet hands and form into balls ( I did it about swedish meatball size). Place on nonstick foil on baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 15 min. (I ended up raising it to 375 for the last 5 minutes).

While meatballs are cooking, add marinara sauce, crushed tomatoes, white wine, sugar and garlic to crockpot and stir. Once meatballs are done, add to sauce mixture, give a slight stir and cook 3 hours on high. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm