It's Thanksgiving dinner rolled into a delicious ball! This easy Turkey Stuffing Meatballs recipe is a savory mouthful of turkey, stuffing, and traditional spices in every bite—good year-round!
These are just as good as my Teriyaki Meatballs!
This recipe may be my favorite way to enjoy the tastes and nostalgia of a Thanksgiving feast! These Thanksgiving Turkey Meatballs are so easy to make and taste like a forkful of turkey and stuffing goodness in every bite!
Picture this: a cozy Friendsgiving or a quick, no-fuss appetizer for when the family drops by. These turkey meatballs are the perfect bite-sized recipe! Just pop a toothpick in each one, and watch them disappear from the platter. I know they'll become your go-to for every festive gathering this season.
These Meatballs with stuffing mix are so flavorful and delish! They’re good with biscuits, mashed potatoes, or Instant Pot roasted potatoes, too, and they are the perfect pairing for the best Cranberry Sauce.
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Why You'll Love the Recipe
- Easy
- Freezable
- Large Batch
- Make-Ahead
Did we mention kids love these things? Yep, even picky eaters tend to like this recipe.
How to Make Turkey Stuffing Meatballs
No, bland meatballs here! It is nice to get the classic taste of Thanksgiving so easily! With the addition of cornbread stuffing and fresh herbs and spices, these turkey meatballs are moist and packed full of flavor.
To get that classic flavor, we used traditional stuffing ingredients like onions, celery, and sage to keep the characteristics genuine.
- Cook Veggies: Prep by preheating your oven to 375°F. Then sauté your onions and celery in butter on medium-high heat to soften them and let their flavors meld together.
Tip
A time-saving tip is to add onions and celery to ground turkey without sautéing. This method tends to create a more robust aroma and onion flavor in the meatballs, so choose your preference.
- Make Meatball Mixture: Once you’ve added your garlic and sage (yum! It’s smelling a lot like Thanksgiving!) to your veggies and let them cool, it’s time to add them to your ground turkey along with all your other ingredients, including stuffing. Mix them, but don’t over-mix because that will cause the meat to become tough.
- Make Meatballs: Now, use your hands or a cookie scoop to create 1 ½ - 2-inch meatballs and place them on a parchment-lined baking pan. Spray with cooking oil or baste with a bit of olive oil and put them in the oven to cook and become slightly browned.
Top Tip
If you use your hands to create your meatballs, wet them to prevent the mixture from sticking to them.
- Bake: Place in the oven and bake for 16-20 minutes or until the center of the Turkey and Stuffing Meatball measures 165°F.
Serve with your favorite sides, and enjoy!
My Tips and Tricks
- Don't Overmix: As with most meatballs, you want to avoid overworking the meat when you mix it. This will help the meatballs stay soft and tender.
- Let it rest: After you cook the onions, celery, sage, and garlic in butter, you’ll want to let the mixture cool slightly before adding the ground turkey and egg to prevent the turkey from starting to cook before its time.
- Stuffing Options: I usually use a box of Stove Top Stuffing or Mrs. Cubbison's Stuffing Mix for our meatballs.
- Tool for Making Meatballs: A Cookie Scoop is the best way to get perfectly proportioned meatballs (and cookies 😉 ).
- Check for Doneness: Always cook poultry to an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C). A Meat Thermometer is the ideal way to know if meat or poultry is truly done.
- Make-Ahead: Shape the meatballs and store them in the refrigerator for up to a day before cooking. If you want to prepare them further in advance, bake them and freeze them. When ready to serve, simply reheat them in the oven or with some broth or gravy in a saucepan or a slow cooker.
If you're craving homemade stuffing, make our easy Crockpot Stuffing Recipe.
How to Serve
There are a couple of ways to serve these Thanksgiving Turkey Meatballs.
- On a bed of homemade cranberry sauce! Our favorite way. Oh, so good!
- Another way is to have them on or with mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, or roasted veg. Heck, you could even toss these on a sandwich and make one delicious meal!
If you're wondering What To Do With Leftover Cranberry Sauce, we have tons of delicious ideas!
Freezing Turkey Meatballs
These turkey meatballs and meatballs, in general, freeze and reheat beautifully!
- Place cooked and cooled meatballs on a parchment-lined pan and freeze until frozen (this is called flash freezing).
- Transfer to a plastic bag or airtight container, and keep in the freezer until ready to use.
If you have any questions, check out my Guide To Prevent Freezer Burn.
Reheating
- Oven: Place your Turkey Stuffing Meatballs on a baking pan, cover with foil, and bake in a 350°F oven for about 15-20 minutes or until heated through.
- Slow Cooker: You can reheat these in a crockpot for ease, especially during the busy holidays. Just defrost overnight in the fridge and place in your crockpot with some chicken broth or gravy.
Pro Tip
From experience, I recommend making a double batch and freezing one for later—nothing beats a hot, tasty recipe on busy weeknights or when the holiday hustle and bustle hits. Just pull them from the freezer, and you’ve got dinner or apps!
Recipe FAQs
Great question! You can keep Thanksgiving meatballs from falling apart by using a good binder that acts as glue. This recipe is fool-proof because it includes a great binder—cornbread stuffing! Binders for other meatball recipes include breadcrumbs and almond flour.
You can use any flavor of boxed stuffing mix, whether herb, turkey, pork, or another variety. We like Stove Top.
Absolutely! Using leftover stuffing is a great way to avoid waste and adds a rich, seasoned flavor to your turkey meatballs.
As an appetizer, plan for 2-3 meatballs per person. If these meatballs are part of a main dish, aim for 4-5 per person.
More Meatball Recipes
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Printable Recipe
Turkey Stuffing Meatballs Recipe
Equipment
- cookie scoop
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 large yellow onion (diced)
- 2 stalks celery (sliced lengthwise and diced)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 cloves garlic (peeled and minced)
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage (minced)
- 1 ½ pounds ground turkey
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¾ cup pre-seasoned cornbread stuffing mix
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat a saucepan to medium heat and melt the butter. Add the diced onions and celery and sprinkle with the kosher salt. Cook onions and celery, occasionally stirring for about 5 minutes. Then add garlic and fresh sage. Continue cooking for an additional 2 minutes. Take the mixture out of the pan and let cool to room temperature.
- Line a baking pan with parchment paper and set aside, and preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Add the onion mixture to a large mixing bowl with the ground turkey, dried sage, black pepper, nutmeg, thyme, cornbread stuffing mix, and eggs. Use your hands to mix well, but not aggressively.
- Use a cookie scoop or hands (see tip) to portion out the meat mixture into 1 ½ - 2-inch balls and place them on the baking sheet. Be sure to leave room between the meatballs, so they cook evenly. Spray with cooking oil or baste with a little olive oil. Bake for 16-20 minutes, or until the center of the Turkey and Stuffing Meatball measures 165°F.
Notes
- As with most meatballs, you want to avoid overworking the meat when you mix it together. This will help it stay soft.
- After you cook the onions, celery, sage, and garlic in butter, you’ll want to let the mixture cool slightly before adding to the ground turkey and egg to avoid starting cooking the turkey before its time.
- Use a cookie scoop to create evenly proportioned meatballs.
- Always cook poultry to an internal temperature of 165°F.
Monique Carre says
This was amazing with gravy , mashed potatoes and green beans . will defiantly will make again , kids and grandkids loved it.
Erin Henry says
So good to hear! Our kids love it too! An easy recipe that pleases everyone 🙂