Italian Style Turkey Meatballs with Flaxseed - Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Egg-free

I am very happy with how my Italian style turkey meatballs turned out.  Hubby loved them so much, I made these two nights in a row!  Ground lean turkey meat is normally very dry, due to its low fat content.  Unlike conventional meatball recipes, I used a magic combination of ground flaxseed and water instead of breadcrumbs and egg to bind the meat together for a moist, soft meatball.  I also add ground flaxseed to my hamburger patties too. 

I quickly pan-fried the meatballs for 2-3 minutes on each side until browned and cooked.  I used a 1" ice cream/cookie dough scooper and dropped each meatball onto the hot frying pan without getting my hands dirty.  Note:  the uncooked turkey mixture is very soft but cooks up beautifully.      

I topped them with a tomato spinach sauce with coconut milk.  Hubby LOVED these and he normally prefers the classic all-beef Italian style meatball.  

Italian Style Turkey Meatballs with Flaxseed - Gluten-free, Dairy-free and Egg-free

1lb lean ground turkey

3 Tbsp ground flaxseed

3 Tbsp water

1 clove garlic, grated or chopped finely

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 tsp dried parsley

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp dried basil or 1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped

1/2 tsp salt or no-salt seasoning

1/4 tsp pepper

Place all ingredients in a bowl, and combine with your hand or mixer. (I used my KitchenAid mixer.)   Form into desired sized meatballs.  Turkey mixture is very soft.  

Preheat pan on medium-high heat with about 2-3 tsp extra virgin olive oil.  Pan-fry each side for 2-3 minutes until browned and cooked.  Serve with your favourite sauce.  

- Adapted from Hamburger Patties with Flaxseed

Dinner tonight:  Italian style turkey meatballs and spaghetti squash smothered in a hearty tomato-spinach-coconut milk sauce.  Served with a huge green salad and sauteed kale with garlic and ginger.  The kiddies enjoyed their turkey meatballs with cheese tortellini and sauteed kale.  

Enjoy!

Pin It

Turkey Breakfast Sausage Patties with Flaxseed - Gluten-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free

I like to simplify breakfast as much as possible.  When I wake up, it's a mad dash to get all three kiddies dressed, fed and off to school. Then is it my turn for breakfast!  Now that I am not eating eggs, I sometimes have lean turkey breakfast sausage patties to help start my day.  I make a batch and reheat them the next few days.   
  

At first, I tried Gracious Pantry's Clean Eating Turkey Breakfast Sausage.  It was a very easy recipe to whip together.  However, the ground turkey's flavour was a little too strong/gamey for me and needed a few more herbs and spices to counter this.  Then I found Food.com's Turkey Breakfast Sausage Patties recipe that used more herbs and spices.  It was fun to use a wide range of herbs and spices from my inventory. 

We don't eat spicy food, so I toned down the heat considerably.  I didn't expect the children to eat these turkey patties but they enjoyed them as well!  It is a very forgiving and flexible recipe.  If you choose to make them spicier or more bland, adjust the seasonings as desired.  I played around with this recipe several times and I'm happy with the amounts of these herbs and spices.  I don't use salt, so adjust to taste.  

The addition of ground flaxseed and water helped improve the lean and dry texture of the ground turkey.  It helped bind the meat together (like an egg) and also provided extra fibre and healthy fat.   

I mixed all the ingrediets into my KitchenAid stand mixer and for a minute or until well blended.  Then I used an ice cream/cookie scoop to make large meatballs and patted them out to make 2-inch sized patties. With a digital scale, my ice cream scoop of meat weighed almost 1 1/4 oz.  When cooked, they turned out to be roughly 1 oz each.  Perfect portion control! 

I panfried them with some olive oil.  They cook up really fast!  

Turkey Breakfast Sausage Patties with Flaxseed

1 1/2 lbs lean ground turkey

1 1/2 tsp ground sage

3/4 tsp thyme

3/4 tsp oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp fennel seeds

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/8 tsp chili flakes

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cloves

1/4 cup water

1 Tbsp ground flaxseed

Combine all ingredients and blend well.  Refrigerate meat mixture overnight (optional).  Form into patties and cook as needed, freezing leftovers.  Don't overcook or they will dry out--remove from the heat as soon as they're no longer pink inside, but still juicy.  (If you prefer a moister texture, you add a splash of olive oil or an egg to the mixture just prior to cooking)

- Adapted from Food.com's Turkey Breakfast Sausage Patties

My lunch today!  Turkey sausage patties served with a fresh mixed green salad, some fruit and a side of brown rice pasta topped with melted vegan cheese.  It was delicious!

Enjoy!

Pin It