Quick Bean and Turkey Italian Meatballs

Delicious! I made these as written except I baked them for 20 minutes at 400 degrees instead of cooking in a skillet. UPDATE: These freeze beautifully! I just cook a double or triple batch of them, cool them, then put into gallon size freezer bags. When we are ready for a fast dinner, I just pop out a few and either toss them into the sauce to warm back up, or put them in the microwave for a bit. I love this recipe and now always have some in my freezer.

I loved these and so did my family. I used extra lean ground chicken instead of turkey. And to my surprise I did have a can of butter beans which I have never used before in my life. I decided to "pulse" the beans through my food processor instead of mashing with a spoon because I did not want big pieces of bean skin in the meatballs. I also threw in 3 cloves of fresh garlic into the processor as well. I used a whole wheat Italian style bread crumb, added some dried parsley and some grated pecorino romano cheese for a more authentic Italian meatball taste. I baked these instead of fried and used my small cookie scoop to form the meatballs. These were so tasty and we just dipped them in some homemade marinara and ate them as is. Will def make again and its a great way to eat a leaner meatball and have that extra fiber added w/o the kids noticing. Thanks!

Great turkey meatball. Usually lean turkey creates a dry meatball but this recipe solves the problem with the beans and skillet cooking. The only substitute I made were uncooked oats for bread crumbs to remove some gluten.

These are amazing. We just found out my husband is allergic to beef, pork & lamb - what a fantastic alternative to use ground turkey in this recipe! I took another person's suggestion to bake them for about 25 minutes at 400 degrees instead of frying in a pan - it works out terrific! Suggestion: When I am rolling the meatballs I keep a shallow dish with a tiny bit of canola oil in in it, and when my hands get too sticky to work with I touch my hands lightly into the oil and then pat gently around the meatball..it really helps!

Very good! I didn't have butter beans so I used great northern beans. Like the other reviewer, I put the beans in the food processor and added parmesan cheese, fresh herbs (parsley and basil), and garlic. Very tasty. My kids loved them.

Great recipe! I used cannellini beans and food processed like others, also added finely diced onion since I had no powder and some parm cheese. I was very skeptical looking at the mix since I've never made a "healthy meatball" before but I had a back up plan so I continued and was not disappointed. The meatballs were moist and delicious! My hubby is taking the leftovers for lunch today, he raved over them! They are more filling than the average meatball so dinner can go a little further with these also. Made with rice and gravy, next time I think I'll try with red sauce. Eating healthier wouldn't be so scary if there were more recipes like this one! Thanks!

My family loved this recipe! I didn't have butter beans so I used navy beans and my daughter has celiac disease(no gluten) so I left out the bread crumbs but substituted oatmeal. Will be adding this to the dinner rotation for sure!!!!

I used garbanzo beans, but otherwise followed the recipe. Very good!

These meatballs were delicious and so moist. The beans added an amazing flavor. I probably could have halved the recipe though because this made A LOT of meatballs.

Really tasty and healthy. This is a really good basic recipe that would lend itself to many different spices and beans. I've never cooked with butter beans before.. have seen them in the store but had a hard time finding them. In my store, they arent with the canned beans.. they are with the canned veggies

Green onions make a perfect flavor addition!

I didn't have the beans so I omitted. I used fresh garlic and onion instead (3 cloves and 1/4 respectively) plus added parsley and some Parmesan cheese. These meatballs are by far the juiciest I've ever made. Thanks!

This recipe is fantastic and a "do-over" in our family! My kids loved it. I used crackers because I didn't have bread crumbs. I also used great northern beans because I didn't have butter beans. I opted to cook in olive oil on the stove and the flavor added so much to the recipe. It also made the meatballs very moist.

I love this recipe. I've made it with chickpeas and cannellini beans and really liked them with the cannellini. I also usually add the whole egg and will throw in an Italian sausage link or two if I have them on hand (a trick I use with beef/pork/veal meatballs as well). I start them in the pan to brown them and finish them in the oven on a low broil. I serve with pasta and a green vegetable with a lemon butter sauce rather than a red sauce (since these are so much lighter in flavor than a regular meatball, I think a red sauce could maybe overwhelm then).

My wife is vegan for health reasons. I substituted "Gimme lean" sausage for this recipe and we both loved it. Thanks for such wonderful ideas.

I didn't put any bread crumbs in it, so I used a spoon to put some meat in he pan, but it was sooo delicious! Great idea to put the bean with the meat! I also used some Worcester sauce and some poultry seasoning mix.

I used blackeyed peas because that is what I had on hand. Excellent! I am not a huge meatball fan, but I really enjoyed this lighter version, and my meatball loving family did as well. I made extra and froze some for later.

Used chickpeas and baked at 425° for 15 min. Delicious!

Super easy and quick to make! I followed one person's recommendation of blending up the beans, scooping with a portion scoop, and baking at 400 for 20 minutes. The only thing that was slightly different was that I only had 1lb of ground turkey, so I used the whole egg.

I used red kidney beans because that's what I had. I put everything into a food processor and blended until smooth. Refrigerated the mixture for several hours before shaping and baking in the oven at 350 degrees F. This is a great "make ahead Monday" recipe. Served with zucchini noodles and marinara tonight and will serve the meatballs tomorrow in a chicken broth with escarole and cannelini beans tomorrow and, if there are any left the next day, I will make meatball subs!......But I don't think there will be any leftovers!

A little bland

so good and healthy!! I baked them and they were awesome. They surprisingly make a lot!

These came out amazing. The only thing I changed was to add some Italian seasoning - about a 1 tsp. I also baked mine like others did and they came out great.

Turned out well, tasty. I did it by the book except for the beans - no butter beans on hand so I used pinto. Gave them a coarse mashing with my potato masher. Next time I might try the food processor; it’s just such a pain to clean afterward I hesitate. Anyway, these were good. Served them with angel hair pasta and marinara sauce.

My husband and I enjoyed these! I think he'd still prefer a beef meatball, but these were a nice option. ~~~I made some small adjustments. I had only 1 lb of 99% fat free turkey, so I reduced the beans and breadcrumbs a little. Used a whole egg instead of just the white. Added a bit of salt-free Italian seasoning. And used beef Better than Bouillon instead of salt (to try and make it beefier-tasting for my husband. Toward the end of the cooking time, I poured on some spaghetti sauce, so it could simmer while I was getting the pasta ready. ~~~They weren't dry or tough. My daughter examined them closely. I told her that they were turkey (but didn't mention the beans). She said that they tasted okay, but that the texture was weird. She's hard to please. :-) ~~~Thanks so much for the recipe, Susan! I do believe we'll make this one again.

Love the combo of turkey and fiber rich beans. I used panko and pinto beans but surely any kind of beans will add texture and flavor to the turkey. I especially appreciate that my 5 yr old daughter ate these meatballs.

Loved these turkey meatballs! I've tried other recipes, but this one has a great flavor and is really moist.

What a great idea to add beans to meatballs! These were very tender and my husband couldn't guess the secret ingredient. I've now used this idea with several variations. All great. Thank you for the recipe!

WOW surprisingly delish! The beans add a nice soft texture and flavor! Used great northern beans and added green onions! Baked at 400F 20 mins and broiled a few more minutes!

Made this without the bread crumbs (cutting carbs) and replaced the powdered garlic & onion with Penzey's "Italian" spice. So good!

These were ok. I made half a recipe and may have accidentally put in a few too many beans, but the meatballs seemed a bit dry and starchy from the beans. I baked them in the oven as opposed to using the stove top, as another reviewer suggested. I served them with red sauce over linguine. It was okay, but the flavors didn't entirely gel.

These are very good. I like that it’s a healthier version of meatballs. Will definitely make again,

Make is recipe as written and you will not be disappointed, they are very good. My family prefers a bit of cheese added and I also replace the salt with Bragg's Aminos. It really adds to the overall flavor. We double the batch and freeze half for quick weeknight meals.

For Swedish meatballs, I made these with plain breadcrumbs and used only garlic powder- they are awesome!

These were great. I made twice, once with great northern beans and once with butter beans. Liked the great northern beans better and they were easier to mash. Huge hit in my house.

Turned out well, tasty. I did it by the book except for the beans - no butter beans on hand so I used pinto. Gave them a coarse mashing with my potato masher. Next time I might try the food processor; it’s just such a pain to clean afterward I hesitate. Anyway, these were good. Served them with angel hair pasta and marinara sauce.

great concept for extra fiber and lean meat! I substituted ground rice crackers for breadcrumbs, used canned mixed beans, and added 4T of almond milk. I then seared them in coconut oil

Awesome! I used cannelloni beans instead of butter beans and it worked just fine. I over cooked the outside a bit (multitasking much?), but the inside was still moist and delicious. I added some parsley flakes to mine to give it a little color. Very good!