Mini Turkey Balls & Broccoli over Spaghetti Squash
Posted in: Dinner Ideas, Food Photos, Toddler Approved |
When the husband is away, I get to play!
I LOVE when it’s just the toddler and I for dinner. I get to experiment freely without trying to please someone who has completely different taste then I do.
Anyway, I had this idea of mini turkey meatballs. I thought they would be fun for me to make and easy for the toddler to eat. Originally, I was going to do a sweet and sour but I didn’t have enough ingredients so I went with what I had in the pantry.
I’m going to be honest, while cooking, I was debating posting. The prep was a bit shaky, the meatballs stuck, I needed to add more water. So, I figured, hey, worse case scenario I have lunches and I post a new idea tomorrow.
Then… I took a bite.
Oh my word, it was delicious! The combination of spaghetti squash, broccoli, and cream of chicken soup was awesome and the turkey meatballs WERE fun. Best of all, the toddler LOVED them. He didn’t eat the squash but he asked for seconds on the meatballs and broccoli! 
- 8 oz lean ground turkey (I used 93% but you could use 99% lean)
- ¼ cup quick oats (20g)
- 1 egg white
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried chives
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- ¼ tsp dried thyme
- 1 can Healthy Request Cream of Chicken Soup (98% FF and low sodium) (10oz)
- Water
- 1 bag (16oz) frozen broccoli
- 3 cups cooked spaghetti squash
- Non-stick cooking spray
Combine the turkey, quick oats, egg white, onion powder, chives, parsley and thyme. Form into ½ oz meatballs. It should make about 19.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Brown the meatball. Be warned they may stick. When you add them to the pan let them be while they get a crust. Then roll them a bit and allow them to crust on the other side. You don’t have to brown them evenly you just want a nice crust on a side or two.
In a small bowl mix the cream of chicken soup with a can of water. Add the soup water mixture to skillet, watch out its going to be hot. Bring the soup to a boil.
Add the bag of frozen broccoli. The soup will be your gravy so if you want it thinner add a splash more water (I added about ¼ more of the can). Bring back up to a boil then cover and reduce to simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes until broccoli is cooked.
Scoop meatball, broccoli soup mixture over a cup of spaghetti squash and serve!
| Servings | Amount per Serving | Calories | Fat | Fiber | WWPs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 cup of squash and 1/3 of the skillet (6 meatballs) | 300 | 10g | 4g | 6 |
Food ideas you may enjoy... |
Digg it | It's del.icio.us | Stumble This | © 2007-2008 by Roni
Oh this looks so good! And how perfect is this - I have left over ground turkey breast from making your Southwestern Turkey burgers and extra speghetti squash from making your Zucchini and Spaghetti Squash Lasagna.
I absolutely love the burgers - I can’t get enough of them and was completely surprized at cheesy the Lasagna was. My toddler approved both. Can’t wait to see how she likes the meatballs.
I love saucy meat and vegetable dishes and the spaghetti squash instead of the usual pasta or rice is a great idea! I would definitely eat this.
Yum. I love making turkey meatballs. I make mine pretty similar but use cream of mushroom instead. I’ve also thrown in there some squash, onion, bellpepper, spinach. SO GOOD.
I always brown my meatballs in the oven. I put them on a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and let them cook for a few minutes while I do something else. That way I don’t have to deal with them sticking to my pan. :~)
I’ve never been a huge fan of squash, but I think it’s because I haven’t tried it enough different ways. How does spaghetti squash taste? What is it’s texture like? Is it mushy? Tender? Chewy like “real” spaghetti?
I’ve recently been throwing loads of zucchini into whatever I’m cooking (soups, chili, even tacos…no one noticed
) and would love to try this as a new bulking item.
Roni-
I’m a daily follower of your website and have tried many recipes, but this was my absolute favorite! Like you said, the combination of the soup and squash was fantastic - I can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch today. Thanks for the constant ideas and inspiration!
Liz - Spaghetti squash is interesting. The texture is exactly like spaghetti but it’s a slightly nutty flavored squash. If it’s a little on the undercooked side it’s has a bit of a crunch in the strands but if it’s over cooked it get’s a little mushy and watery
It is by far my favorite bulker!
Try it! You may be surprised!!
I’m making this right now. I’m so excited to try it, I can’t wait!
The only change I made is using whole wheat pasta instead of the spaghetti squash. My boys Ifiance and his son) don’t like it. I’ve tried it a few different ways and they’re just not interested.
Tried it. Not my favorite
I loved it! I made a double batch and separated out 2 portions out for my lunches this week, one portion for my dinner and then did 1 1/2 portions each for fiance and his son. Everyone loved it. I think I need to add some more seasoning though when making the meatballs. Weren’t flavorful enough for me BUT I usually eyeball it and didn’t necessarily put in as much as you had in your recipe. Thanks! Found a new go to meal.
we liked (me and 4 year old…anything with meatballs gets his approval!) Believe it or not I had never even heard of or seen a spaghetti squash but i went to the store and sure enough there it was! I cooked it a little too long in the microwave cause it exploded open during cooking. But that made it easierto cut open! LOL I really like it and think I will use it very often! It’s sweet and very yummy!
I made this and it was very good. We did it over whole wheat pasta. I was laughing at the idea of the meat making 19 meatballs however i got the scale out and weighed them and lo and behold, it sure did!
Yesterday we had it for lunch and I stirred in a little light cheddar and it was EXCELLENT! I think that’s my only modification, to stir in a little light cheese at the end.
Super easy and tasty!
What?!? You didn’t believe me? ;~P
Just kidding! So glad you liked it!
-Roni