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Create a delicious, low-calorie Italian dinner with these Crockpot Turkey Meatballs! They blend classic Italian spices with lean turkey and turkey sausage to make the perfect low-effort meatball dinner.
These slow cooker turkey meatballs are gluten-free and lower in calories than your average meatballs, so you can enjoy a comfort meal without the extra calories. Pair these meatballs with veggies, gluten-free pasta, or grains to fit your tastes. No matter how you serve them, these meatballs are always a crowd pleaser!
If you like Italian crockpot recipes, you will love my crockpot pizza quinoa and crockpot chicken cacciatore!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy, Low Effort Dinner: Nothing beats high protein crockpot meals, especially at the end of a busy day! These meatballs are great for preparing in advance, too, so you can make it even easier to get dinner on the table.
- Low-Calorie and Gluten-Free: The lean turkey and turkey sausage help reduce the overall fat and calories of traditional meatballs without sacrificing the protein and flavor. The addition of gluten-free rolled oats also makes them gluten-free.
- A Crowd Pleasing Meal: Who doesn’t love meatballs?! You can pair them with pasta, rice, or vegetables, and your family is still going to love them!
Ingredients
- Ground Turkey: This lean ground meat is a great way to reduce the fat and calories in a recipe while keeping the protein and meaty flavor.
- Turkey Sausage: Turkey sausage is mixed with a little fat and additional spices to enrich the overall flavor. It helps make for more flavorful meatballs than just turkey on its own.
- Marinara Sauce: Use your favorite low-sugar jarred marinara sauce or make a healthy tomato sauce to use with your meatballs.
- Gluten-Free Rolled Oats: Breadcrumbs or flour are necessary for moist, tender meatballs because they act as a binder and moisture retainer. Grind your gluten-free rolled oats into a flour or use gluten-free breadcrumbs. Almond flour may be subbed for the oats as a Paleo substitution.
- Seasonings: You can’t have meatballs without a blend of spices. For this recipe, you need Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, basil, and minced garlic. You can also use garlic powder, just reduce the amount to ¼ teaspoon since it’s more concentrated.
- Parmesan Cheese: Grate some fresh parmesan cheese into your meatball mixture for more flavor! Definitely use fresh parmesan as the preshredded cheeses never melt as well as the fresh!
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.
Variations & Dietary Modifications
- Try Different Meat Combinations: If you don’t want to use double turkey, you can also use ground chicken, lean ground beef, or lean ground pork or pork sausage as a substitute. Just be aware that red meats like beef and pork will increase the calories and fat content of the meatballs.
- Add Veggies: Finely dice some of your favorite vegetables and add them to your meatball mixture! Zucchini, carrots, onion, and kale are a few great veggie options. I used zucchini, carrots, and onion in my turkey veggie meatballs.
- Make It Dairy-Free: Skip the Parmesan cheese or use a plant-based Parmesan to make these meatballs dairy-free.
- Make a Creamy Sauce: On the other hand, you can add more dairy by stirring in a scoop of Greek yogurt in the last 20-30 minutes of cook time to make a creamy marinara sauce.
How to Make Crockpot Turkey Meatballs
These easy slow cooker turkey meatballs are the perfect meal after a long day. The crockpot does most of the work, but you still get to enjoy a home-cooked dinner. You will need to prebake the meatballs, so be sure you preheat the oven to 425°F and prep a large baking sheet with parchment paper before you get started!
Step 1: Grind the Oats. Add the gluten-free rolled oats to a blender or food processor and blend until they become a flour-like consistency. This typically takes only 3-4 pulses.
Step 2: Whisk Together Eggs, Milk, and Seasonings. Add the eggs and almond milk to a large mixing bowl and whisk them together. Then add the garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, and grated Parmesan cheese. Stir to combine the cheese and seasonings into the egg mixture.
Step 3: Add the Meat. Combine the ground turkey and turkey sausage in a separate bowl. Use your fingers to break up the meat. Add the egg and seasoning mixture to the meat and incorporate it together with your hands until just combined.
Step 4: Prebake the Meatballs. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop the meat into 1-1 ½ inch balls. Roll the balls in your hands to smooth them, then place them on the prepared baking sheet. I usually get about 35 meatballs on my tray when I make this recipe. Bake the meatballs at 425°F for about 7 minutes. Then remove them from the oven and set them aside.
Step 5: Load the Crockpot. Add about half of your marinara sauce to the bottom of your slow cooker, then add half of the meatballs. Pour in the rest of the sauce and add the rest of the meatballs. Cover and cook the meatballs on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4-6 hours until the meatballs are cooked through to 165°F. Enjoy with a side of roasted winter vegetables.
Expert Tips
- Don’t Skip Prebaking the Meatballs: Baking the meatballs on high heat for a few minutes before adding them to the crockpot is necessary to avoid them falling apart and making a meat sauce instead of meatballs.
- Layer the Sauce for Better Flavor: Adding the marinara and meatballs in layers helps evenly disperse the flavors of the meat throughout the sauce.
- Don’t Overmix the Meat: Stop mixing the meat once the egg and spice mixture is thoroughly incorporated. Overworking your meat will result in dense, tough meatballs.
- Storing: Keep leftover meatballs in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can also freeze them for about 2 months.
Serving Suggestions
One of the best parts of this turkey meatball crockpot recipe is how versatile it is! If you tend to eat more low-carb, you can serve them over zucchini noodles or cauliflower rice. Whereas if you don’t mind the carbs, you can enjoy them over garlic mashed potatoes or gluten-free pasta. No matter your preference, the meatballs themselves are delicious and will also be a dinnertime hit!
- Pair your meatballs with this healthy copycat version of the famous Olive Garden salad or roasted Brussels sprouts salad to get some more veggies in with dinner.
- While we’re making Olive Garden copycats, this healthy Zuppa Toscano is also perfect with your meatballs.
Crockpot Turkey Meatballs Recipe FAQs
Absolutely! This turkey sausage meatballs recipe is perfect for meal prepping because you can prebake the meatballs and store them in the fridge for 2 days or freeze them for 60 days. Then, you just pop your meatballs and sauce in the crockpot, and dinner prep takes less than 5 minutes.
Reheat individual servings in the microwave in 60-second intervals, stirring between each interval. You may need to cut your meatballs in half to ensure they heat all the way through. You can also reheat them on the stove over medium heat until the center of the meatballs reaches 165°F, or in the crockpot for 1-2 hours until heated through.
You may not have baked them at high heat for long enough. Be sure to bake them at 425°F for 5-7 minutes to ensure they maintain their ball shape in the crockpot.
More High Protein Crock Pot Meals
If you tried this Crockpot Turkey Meatballs recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below.
Crockpot Turkey Meatballs
Equipment
- Crockpot
Ingredients
- 1 lb Lean Ground Turkey, or lean protein of choice
- 12 ounces Turkey Sausage, or pork sausage
- 24 ounces Marinara Sauce, or low sugar pasta sauce of choice
- 2 large Eggs
- ⅓ cup Unsweetened Almond Milk, or milk of choice
- ¾ cup Rolled Oats, or gluten free rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- ½ tablespoon Red Pepper Flakes
- 2 teaspoons Basil
- 1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- ¼ cup Parmesan, grated plus more for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F. Prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat.
- In a blender, process the gluten free rolled oats until it becomes a flour like consistency. Usually 3-4 pulses does the trick!
- Add the eggs and milk to a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine then add the minced garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning and parmesan. Stir to combine.
- Add the ground turkey or sausage to the mixing bowl with the blended oats. Use your fingers to break up the meat and combine with the wet ingredients an oats.
- Once combined, use a medium ice cream scoop to scoop the meat mixture into balls that are 1 to 1 1/2 inches in size. Roll the ball between your hands then set on the baking sheet. Repeat until all the meat mixture is finished. I had 35 meatballs when I was done.
- Bake at 425 F 7 minutes then remove from the oven and set aside.
- Add 1/2 the marinara sauce (or pasta sauce of choice) to a slow cooker then top with 1/2 the meatballs. Pour the rest of the sauce over the top and layer the remaining 1/2 of the meatballs over the top.
- Cook on high 2-3 hours or low 4-6 hours. Serve over zucchini noodles, chickpea pasta or pasta of choice.
Video
Notes
- You must prebake the meatballs to ensure they remain balls as they cook. If you don’t bake them first they will just fall apart and make a meat sauce.
- Add the marinara sauce and meatballs in layers so the flavor of the meat disperses evenly throughout the sauce.
- The meatballs will turn tough and dense if you continue mixing the meat once the egg and spices are incorporated. Once everything is mixed, stop working the meat so your meatballs are tender and juicy.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made these for the first time yesterday and wow they are so delicious. Thank you for this recipe. I’ll be making it again and again.
Is it ground turkey AND turkey sausage
Yes, line item 1 on the recipe card says 1 pound ground turkey and line item 2 says 12 ounces turkey sausage.
We loved these meatballs! I am going try making turkey burgers next time.
So happy to hear you loved them!
I’m a little confused on the meat — are you using ground turkey AND ground turkey breakfast sausage?
Yes two sausages – ground turkey and ground sausage! It’s not breakfast sausage just regular sausage. Combining the two is what makes it really good.
Mouth Watering .. I am starving !!
Thank you!
Looks so amazing and can’t wait to try it.
Thank you! Let me know how you like it.