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Sun-Dried Tomato and Ricotta Turkey Meatballs…with all the spaghetti you can eat.
Because really, is there any other way to eat meatballs?
Well, yes, there is, but pasta is the best way to serve up saucy meatballs like these. And pasta with a good dusting of parmesan cheese, because if you’re eating meatballs and pasta, you might as well add on the parmesan too.
It’s kind of the only way.
Seeing as though it is finally Thursday, and the weekend is right around the corner (yes, yes, yes), I thought I’d share this plate full of cheesy meatballs and pasta with you guys. I don’t know what it is about Friday and Saturday nights, but they always leave me craving some kind of Italian like pasta or pizza. This is probably because when I was a kid my dad would make pasta and pizza on Friday and Saturday nights. In fact, there’s a recipe in the HBH cookbook titled Dad’s Friday Night Pasta. Have any of you tried it? It’s one of my all time favorite recipes. If you have not made it yet, I’d make it soon.
Moving along…
Today I’m sharing a lightened up version of everyone’s favorite Italian comfort food, spaghetti and meatballs!
To be honest, meatballs are not my most favorite food on the planet. I have never really loved them, but I think that’s mostly because I’m not a huge ground beef person. Which is probably why whenever I do make meatballs, they are never very traditional. Enter these ricotta meatballs made with ground turkey (or chicken), lots of ricotta cheese, and flavor packed sun-dried tomatoes. Nothing traditional about these, but oh my gosh, they are so good.
Especially when tossed with a quick homemade basil and white wine tomato sauce…along with pasta and parmesan, of course.
Again, again, SO GOOD.
The meatballs balls are a pretty simple mix of ricotta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, and parsley. There are no eggs and no breadcrumbs. The ricotta cheese acts as a binder, helping to hold the meatballs together, while flavoring them at the same time. While the ricotta is delicious in these meatballs, the key ingredient in this recipe is really the sun-dried tomatoes.
It’s probably no secret that I love sun-dried tomatoes. They hold so much delicious flavor and I often add them to my recipes to add in an extra layer of color and flavor. The tomatoes not only add flavor, but the oils in them help to keep the lean ground turkey from drying out, which is awesome seeing as most of the time meatballs can tend to be on the dry side.
To keep things easy and simple, I prefer to bake my meatballs rather than pan-fry. This just creates less of a mess, it’s also much healthier. Plus I don’t have to stand over the stove and tend to tiny meatballs for thirty minutes. Trust me, baking is the way to go.
While the meatballs bake up in the oven, I like to make a quick tomato sauce using ingredients straight outta my pantry. It’s amazing what a couple of cans of good San Marzano tomatoes, some white wine, and a few handfuls of fresh basil can do.
Put it all together, add some pasta, and a few gratings of fresh parmesan, and dinner is done. Simple, yummy, and a pretty healthy…ish.
Sun-Dried Tomato and Ricotta Turkey Meatballs
Servings: 6 servings
Calories Per Serving: 338 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey or chicken
- 3/4 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
- 1/4 cup marinated oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, oil drained and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 1 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 cans (28 ounces) San Marzano tomatoes
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- spaghetti, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.2. Add the turkey, ricotta, parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes, 1 clove garlic, 1/2 cup basil, the parsley, crushed red pepper flakes, and a pinch each of salt and pepper to a bowl. Coat your hands with a bit of olive oil, and roll the meat into 2 tablespoon size balls (will make 10-12 meatballs), placing them on the prepared baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until the meatballs are crisp on the outside, but not yet cooked through on the inside.3. To a large pot set over medium heat, add the tomatoes - crushing them by hand as you add them, the wine, remaining 2 cloves garlic, oregano, and a large pinch each of salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stir in the meatballs and cook stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly and the meatballs are cooked through, about 25-30 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup basil. 4. Divide the pasta among plates and spoon the meatballs and sauce over the pasta. Top with fresh basil.
Now, is it Friday yet? I can’t wait to eat all the turkey meatballs and pasta?!?! Soon. Soon.
YUM! I had some leftover sun-dried tomatoes from the super green salad of yours that I made. This recipe was so delicious! My husband raved about the meatballs. Thank you for another superb recipe!
I am so glad you loved this Marilu!
Can I substitute the white wine for water?
Sure! That will be just fine. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
Does the recipe call for 28 oz crushed tomatoes total? Or 2x 28 oz cans?
Hey Leah, it is 2x (28 ounce) cans of tomatoes. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
I love these meatballs so much ? I’ve always for no particular reason been lukewarm on meatballs and this recipe woke me up. As a very amateur cook, this has fast become one of my favorite things to make for friends n fam. So thank you!
Question though: I first made these in March when you posted and they were SO good out of the oven but now it’s reached 90 degrees daily where I live, and I want to make them again in my cast iron enamel pot (if I turn on the oven, my small home will get hot af.) You mentioned tending to these on the stove – if I used a dutch oven, would it take around the same time, 30 minutes?
Hey Kim! I would say it should take 20-25 minutes on the stove top in your dutch oven. just roll them around every 5 minutes or so to make sure they are not sticking and re cooking evenly. Please let me know if you have other questions. So glad you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Can I use red wine instead for the sauce? Do you think it would still be good? I have a leftover bottle I need to use up.
Red wine will be great! Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Simple, Excellent and Delicious recipe, We like it very much.
Thank you John! I am so glad you enjoyed this!
This recipe is great! I have made it twice and everyone loved it! I mixed in a little homemade pesto into the meatballs as well.
Sounds delicious! Thank you Renee!
Hi I noticed when you added the tomatoes in the pot you didn’t add any oil and garlic or onions in it first
No, there is no need for those ingredients in this recipe. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
we love turkey meatballs
Great! I hope you love this!
Hi Tieghan!
Do you have any substation recommendations for the white wine?
Also, I got your cookbook in the mail last month and I cannot say enough good things about it! My sister and I do a weekly recipe swap and we joked the other day that it should just be a HBH recipe swap because the last 6 recipes have been from your book!
Thanks for sharing!
Leah
HI! You can use an equal amount of chicken broth. So happy you and your sister are enjoying the cookbook! 🙂
Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
I’m a meatball connoisseur (that’s kinda scary to admit out loud) and these are by far the BEST meatballs I’ve ever eaten. Goodbye old traditional beef meatball recipe. I’m in love with another and never coming back!!
Woo!! So happy to hear that! Thank you Kim!
Quick question – for the tomatoes, do you mean 2 cans that are 28oz each? Or 2 cans for a total of 28 oz? Thanks so much – I can’t wait to try these!
Whoops – just saw that you answered this above 🙂
Great! I hope you love this recipe Josette! Thank you!
I made this last night, and it was amazing!
Thank you Marley!
Hi Tieghan, we made these meatballs on Saturday night and LOVED them. I love the use of the sun dried tomato to brighten them up, such a good addition! Small world coincidence, we knew we wanted a good turkey meatball recipe, something warm and cozy after a day of skiing at Keystone and my husband was looking up recipes, came across yours. I found myself looking at your blog this afternoon and just read that you live in Summit County, too! We made these epic meals while at my parents house in Silverthorne… how neat is that!? Keep up the amazing food and photos. xo
Hi Janna! That is so awesome, I am really glad you enjoyed this recipe and hope you enjoy others as well! Thank you!!
I have made some of your recipes before and loved them. This one – not so much. I picked up ground chicken instead of turkey first off. I figured that the ricotta must go in the meatball mixture so I added it. The meatballs were VERY soft and didn’t have a whole lot of flavor even though I followed your recipe exactly. The sauce was very acidic so I added a pinch of sugar. If I try this again, I think I will add some olive oil to the sauce to round it off. Maybe I’m so used to ready made sauce that I don’t know a good fresh sauce if I taste it? I’m going to give this another try in a couple of weeks using ground turkey and a heavier hand with the salt. Oh well…
Hi Kim! I am so sorry this did not work out for you. Please let me know if it works the next time you try it or if you have any questions regarding this recipe! Thank you!