Raise your hand if you have multiple Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving gatherings to attend this year. 👋 Well you can’t make a turkey for all of them, so how about bringing these fun Turkey and Stuffing Meatballs instead? They make a really fun appetizer, addition to a Friendsgiving potluck spread, or if you’re a million miles away from home and still need those Thanksgiving vibes, these Turkey and Stuffing Meatballs got your back. They’re super easy, have all that Thanksgiving flavor, and make great leftovers (I speak from experience).
What Kind of Stuffing Should I Use?
There are many kinds of stuffing mixes on the market, but the most common variety comes in a 6oz. box and basically just contains dried bread, dehydrated vegetables, and bouillon powder. The bread absorbs some of the moisture from the turkey and egg, and helps keep the meatballs moist, while the dehydrated vegetables and bouillon powder flavor the meatballs, and provide all the salt and seasoning necessary.
You can use any flavor, whether it be herb, turkey, pork, or any other variety. I have not tested this recipe with cornbread style stuffings, but I expect it would work just the same.
NOTE: If the directions on your stuffing mix say to add chicken broth instead of water, it is likely that bouillon powder is not included in the mix and you should use chicken broth in place of the water when making the meatballs.
What to Serve with Turkey and Stuffing Meatballs
These tasty little meatballs make a great appetizer served with mushroom herb gravy and cranberry sauce for dipping, but you can also make it a meal! Serve the meatballs on a bed of mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes, steamed green beans on the side, and either gravy or cranberry sauce on top.
Can’t Find 19oz. Ground Turkey? No Problem.
I don’t know why, but some brands sell ground turkey in 19oz. packages, while others sell it in one pound (16oz.) packages. I’ve made this recipe using both amounts of ground turkey, with no additional adjustments, and it works great either way!
Turkey and Stuffing Meatballs
Servings 20 meatballsIngredients
- 1 6oz. box stuffing mix ($0.69)
- 1 cup hot water* ($0.00)
- 19 oz. ground turkey (93% lean) ($3.49)
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten ($0.26)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.26)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Place the dry stuffing mix in a large bowl, add the hot water, and stir until no more water pools on the bottom of the bowl. Let the stuffing sit for another 5 minutes to further soften. (Less water is added to the stuffing mix than is listed on the box in order to leave room for the absorption of moisture from the turkey and egg.)
- Add the ground turkey and beaten egg to the bowl with the partially hydrated stuffing mix. Combine these ingredients by hand until they are evenly mixed. Form the mixture into 20 meatballs, slightly larger than ping pong balls, or about 3 Tbsp each.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then place the meatballs on the parchment. Bake the meatballs for 20 minutes in the preheated oven.
- Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add half of the baked meatballs and allow them to cook in the butter until browned on most sides (about 5 minutes). Transfer the browned meatballs to a serving dish, add a second tablespoon of butter to the skillet, and repeat with the second batch of meatballs.
- Serve warm over a bed of mashed potatoes or with gravy or cranberry sauce for dipping.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Turkey and Stuffing Meatballs – Step by Step Photos
Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Place the contents of one 6oz. box of stuffing mix in a large bowl, add 1 cup hot water, and stir until no more water pools on the bottom of the bowl. Let the stuffing sit for five minutes more to continue to soften. You’ll be using less water than the instructions on the box list because you want to leave room for the stuffing to absorb moisture from the turkey and egg.
Add 19oz. ground turkey (93% lean) and one lightly beaten large egg. Mix these ingredients together with your hands until they are evenly combined.
Shape the mixture into 20 meatballs, each slightly larger than a ping pong ball in size (about 3 Tbsp each). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and place the meatballs on the parchment.
Bake the meatballs in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Next, melt 1 Tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the baked meatballs and sauté in the butter until they’re browned on most sides (about 5 minutes). Transfer the browned meatballs to a serving dish, add a second tablespoon butter to the skillet, and repeat with the second batch of meatballs.
You can serve these Turkey and Stuffing Meatballs as a mini-Thanksgiving style dinner, or as a party or Friendsgiving appetizer.
They’re awesome for dipping into cranberry sauce or gravy, and make great leftovers!
I’ve been making this recipe for years and it is always a hit!
You might want to revisit price estimations on your recipes. Stuffing is now locally $3.18 a box (not 69 cents) and ground chicken/turkey $6.67 a pound. No longer 2018 prices
That being said I’m following your recipe Sunday and look forward to it and know it’ll turn out great as always
Thanks, Jen! Unfortunately, it’s just not feasible for us to go through our entire library to constantly adjust prices to reflect inflation. As much as prices change, we just can’t keep up with that as we do it by hand. We still think that the prices serve as a good starting point to give you a general ball park idea of cost, even years later.
Can I put them in a slow cooker after they are cooked with gravy
I’m sure you could do that to keep them hot on low or the warm setting!
What do you think would happen using an 80/20 ground turkey?? I’m on a budget this year:)
It would be totally fine!
We love this recipe. Thanksgiving on a plate any day of the week.
I am way past due leaving a review of these. I’ve now been making them for years. This is an excellent meal prep recipe. I generally use honey mustard as a sort of dip or just put some on the plate and put warm meatballs on top.
Can you bake ahead and freeze? Then just warm up the day you need them?
Thank you
For sure! To freeze the meatballs, pack them in an air-tight container after cooking and chill completely before transferring to the freezer where they can be stored for about three months. To reheat the meatballs, simply add them to a pan until heated through. Or, allow them to thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then heat through in a skillet with butter or oil.
Thank you so much! Was looking for a compromise Thanksgiving entree for our family of two and these look perfect! My daughter didn’t want roast or fried turkey, I didn’t want ham because we can never use it all. This recipe is a good size with SOME leftovers but not a ton.
I agree! We had an unexpected work situation keep our extended family apart until Saturday. As we want to have a “little” Thanksgiving just our immediate family on the day AND I don’t want to cook “big” two days this week, PERFECT recipe. Thank you! I already made the cranberry sauce ahead of time tonight – DELICIOUS. I’m planning on making your crock pot mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, and on Saturday, your balsamic roasted veggies as well. On a week we try to remember what we’re thankful for, I’m thankful for YOU, Beth and all of the hard work you’ve put in on this website!
Hello,
What is the calorie conversion? I could not figure out the google answer. I’m going to make them for this Thursday Thanksgiving but now I am very curious re the calorie conversion.
Thank you,
Kathy b
Hi Kathy, the estimated nutritional facts are at the bottom of the recipe card. Please keep in mind that these are only estimates based on ingredient databases and your meatballs may be different.
These balls are amazing. I forgot the egg and they were still wonderful. They got brown on the bottom from baking, so I ended up browning them on the other side in browned butter which tasted delicious. I used 85/15 turkey which probably was dark meat and had lots of flavor. I ate these hot, warm and room temp with my fingers and did not dip them in anything….still sooooo good. They are not messy to eat either, so are good for eating at your desk etc.
These would be great to add to your Thanksgiving grazing board!
What kind of gravy works best with these meatballs??
Any kind will work! You can either use a store-bought gravy or make your own. Here are our suggestions from the blog post:
“These tasty little meatballs make a great appetizer served with mushroom herb gravy and cranberry sauce for dipping, but you can also make it a meal! Serve the meatballs on a bed of mashed potatoes or mashed sweet potatoes, steamed green beans on the side, and either gravy or cranberry sauce on top.”
I would add 1 tsp poultry seasoning to the mix, and you could also put chopped cranberries in the meatballs as well.
Do the meatballs freeze well?
Yes, they do. :)
Delicious and easy! I sub Impossible meat for a vegetarian alternative and it rocks!