Turkey Meatballs with Roasted Summer Cherry Dipping Sauce

This turkey meatballs recipe is sponsored by the Turkey Farmers of Canada, with whom I am SO PROUD to partner with. This Canadian girl loves her some Canadian turkey 😉

If you’ve been following me for some time you know that I love a recipe that you can make once and eat for many meals; because who doesn’t love to cook once and twice or thrice?! #MealPlanning…And this meatball recipe is just that, while being perfect for lunches or on the go because you can eat them with one hand. With the mandate to “make it yummy but make it summer”, I knew summer cherries had to be a part of the mix. 

Although meatballs are SUPER easy to make, and lend themselves to many flavour combinations, there are a few things to keep in mind; let’s discuss…

The Ball

Ground turkey is super delicious and keeps its moisture really well, meaning you don’t need to add breadcrumbs to this meatball, which might be contrary to what you’ve heard before. 

So here’s the deal… 

• Your meatball WILL be dry if you don’t add oil to mix. 
• Your meatball WILL be dry if you cook it too long. 
• Leaving out breadcrumbs WILL NOT make your meatball dry, and I would argue it makes for a better texture for your meatball.

The Breading

If you have “seasoned, prepared breadcrumbs” in your pantry, throw them away AT ONCE- no preseason breadcrumb has ever made for a delicious breading; instead stock your pantry with plain PANKO BREADCRUMBS, which can then be seasoned any way you like. When it comes to meal planning and having a well appointed pantry, never box yourself in with pre-seasoned items, versatility is essential.

In this breading iteration we are using PANKO breadcrumbs, ONION flakes, sea SALT, THYME, LEMON ZEST and olive OIL (for browning); but you could just as easily add garlic powder, rosemary, Chile flakes etc. to your Panko breading with amazing results!

The Sauce

Summer cherries are kind of the best, due in part to the fact that we must savour their very brief season, which leaves us wanting more. In the spirit of celebrating summers bounty, I roasted cherries with thyme, salt and olive oil, and then I blended the roasted cherries with balsamic vinegar. The result is a tangy, lightly sweet sauce that pairs beautifully with these savoury turkey meatballs.

NOTE: you can also cook down the cherry sauce ingredients on the stovetop, but the cherries MUST be pitted first; whereas when roasted, the cherries become so soft that the pit is effortless to remove. I’ll leave that decision to you 😉 

Let’s Talk Turkey

So often when people think of turkey they think of this versatile protein within the confines of the holiday table, but this protein couldn’t be more tailored to your every day meals. And because turkey can be found in so many different styles, like drumsticks, turkey ground, turkey breast and more, there are so many recipes turkey is perfectly suited for.

Turkey is a foul and therefore you’ve got to keep your whits about you when you are handling turkey in your kitchen. DO NOT wash your meat, this creates micro splashes in your kitchen that you might miss when cleaning, which could result in food borne illness. ALWAYS cook your turkey to an internal doneness of 165F or until juices run clear; but this can be a finicky technique, so get a meat thermometer to be on the safe side. And lastly, ALWAYS wash and sanitize your hands and any surfaces you touch while cooking turkey in your kitchen. Food poisoning is hard to live down 😉

Savoury Turkey Meatballs with Roasted Summer Cherry Dipping Sauce

This meatball recipe doubles and triples with ease, so make as much as you like; and this sauce can be frozen and thawed without losing an ounce of textural or flavour integrity, so feel free to make a big batch and freeze for a taste of summer in January.

As always, bon appetit!

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp onion flakes
• 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 cup fresh cherries
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 450F…this might seem very high, but this is how we get a nice crisp on our meatballs.

In a bowl combine the turkey, olive oil, thyme leaves, 2 tsp salt, and garlic powder and form into even sized meatballs; do this by using an ice cream scoop or spoon, this ensures they cook at the same time.

In another bowl combine the Panko, onion flakes, thyme leaves, lemon zest and 2 tsp salt, and roll each meatball to coat evenly with the breading. Place the meatballs on a rack on a parchment lined baking sheet.

In another bowl combine the cherries with thyme, olive oil and salt and lay out onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Place both baking sheets in the oven and turn the temperature down to 385F. Cook the meatballs and cherries for 20 minutes.

Once cooked, allow the meatballs to cool; meanwhile, remove the pits from the cherries (cool them before handling) and place in a blender with the balsamic vinegar; blend until your desired consistency is achieved…I went for a chunkier vibe, but it’s complete up to you!

Turkey Meatballs Recipe Notes

The cherry sauce can be made ahead and frozen. You can also sub in seasonal fruit to prepare this sauce; cranberries, pomegranates and even apples or pears would do well in this sauce.

Both the meatballs and sauce can be frozen BUT you must cool everything completely before freezing. Divide them into your most common serving size portion, because you cannot freeze, thaw and refreeze food without risking food borne illness.

REMEMBER turkey is phenomenal protein and my hope and aim is to help you cook with it more!