Quick Bean and Turkey Italian Meatballs

40 Ratings
  • 5 Rating Star 36
  • 4 Rating Star 3
  • 3 Rating Star 1
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A lighter version of Italian meatballs that go well with pasta. Serve with spaghetti and sauce or any other pasta.

By Susan Quinn
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Ingredients

Directions

  • Mash butter beans in a large mixing bowl. Add ground turkey, egg white, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper; stir until evenly mixed. Fold bread crumbs into mixture evenly.

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  • Form the mixture into 1-inch meatballs.

  • Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.

  • Cook meatballs in hot oil until browned on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Cover the skillet and continue cooking until meatballs are no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes more. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

Tip

Aluminum foil helps keep food moist, ensures it cooks evenly, keeps leftovers fresh, and makes clean-up easy.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:
125.86 calories; 12.08 g protein; 8.11 g carbohydrates; 4.97 g fat; 34.99 mg cholesterol; 340.36 mg sodium.Full Nutrition

Reviews (32)

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Most helpful positive review

mkstevens09
04/07/2015
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.
Helpful
(33)

Most helpful critical review

Anonymous
06/16/2013
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.
40 Ratings
  • 5 Rating Star 36
  • 4 Rating Star 3
  • 3 Rating Star 1
Reviews:
Most Helpful Most Positive Least Positive Newest
mkstevens09
04/07/2015
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.
Helpful
(33)
SLJ6
02/12/2013
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!
Helpful
(30)
stephbarnard
02/09/2014
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.
Helpful
(12)
Honeycooks
04/25/2013
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.
Helpful
(6)
Kelly
06/06/2016
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!
Helpful
(6)
Abby1919
04/08/2014
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.
Helpful
(4)
PETRIE27
01/08/2015
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!
Helpful
(4)
Bonnie
04/05/2014
I used garbanzo beans but otherwise followed the recipe. Very good!
Helpful
(3)
Linda T
02/09/2013
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
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(2)
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