You'll love this leaner, low-calorie alternative to ground beef.
After one too many spaghetti dinner nights, your family, dinner guests, and taste buds will shake their heads with boredom. Crank up the heat with our Italian Meatballs with Spicy Marinara Sauce! Made with enticing spices, this clean, wholesome recipe restores life to the classic dish.
Our Skinny Ms. version uses ground turkey as a leaner, low-calorie alternative to ground beef. Nutritious garnishes like parsley, minced onions, and red pepper flakes give these meatballs a peppery kick with a host of health benefits. After biting into one of these warm, chewy balls, your taste buds will sing with flavor. These meatballs are the ultimate companion to whole-wheat spaghetti noodles or pasta, and will forever put an end to lackluster spaghetti dinners!
Italian Meatballs with Spicy Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
For the Meatballs
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fennel seeds
- 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper divided
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 1/2 cup parmesan grated
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 cup whole-wheat panko or breadcrumbs
- 1 egg large
- 1/2 cup onion minced
- 1/4 cup curly parsley or flat leaf, chopped
For the Marinara Sauce
- 24 ounces marinara sauce jar, sugar free
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/8 cup onions minced (optional)
- 1/8 cup curly parsley or flat leaf, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Mix all of the meatball ingredients (except ground turkey). Add the meat and incorporate into the ingredients with your hands. Roll into 12 (1-1/2-inch) meatballs and place on a nonstick or parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn the meatballs over and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until cooked through.
- Meanwhile, pour marinara sauce and crushed red pepper flakes into a saucepan. Cook on the stovetop over low heat until simmering. Add cooked meatballs. Garnish with parsley and minced onion, if using. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition Information
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Hi there! I just found this recipe and I was wondering if you'd be able to give me the method in Australian measurements? I don't know what a "pound" or an "ounce" of such and such is and 400 degrees is extremely hot for an oven haha. So I was just wondering if I could get the measurements in Australian or if there was a way to convert them myself 🙂
Sure.
1 pound = 453.592 grams
1 ounce = 28.34952 grams
400 degrees F = 204.444°C
You can find tons of conversion charts online…just google it. 🙂