Growing up Italian, making meatballs with my mom in the kitchen, it was as natural as breathing to put parmesan or pecorino romano cheese into the meatball mix. But as I’ve become almost completely dairy-free at home, I have learned SO many tricks to making my favorite foods taste amazing without the use of any butter, milk, cheese, etc! Find out the tricks I use to keep these meatballs incredibly juicy…!
Dairy-free greek yogurt style yogurt makes them SO juicy! Although not at advertisement for them, I do prefer to use Kite Hill’s version of their dairy-free Greek yogurt. It has a great consistency and neutral flavor for cooking and baking.
The other trick? Very minimal mixing of the meat.. really I just mix gently with my hands until the ingredients are just evenly distributed.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup plain dairy-free Greek yogurt I used Kite Hill’s (you can substitute any plain greek yogurt here if you're not dairy free)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast you can substitute parmesan cheese if you're not dairy free
- 1 large shallot finely chopped
- 1/4 cup loosely packed chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound ground turkey 93% lean / 7% fat
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cups marinara sauce about 24 ounces, store-bought or homemade
Instructions
-
Add in seasoned breadcrumbs, yogurt, egg, nutritional yeast, shallot, parsley, garlic, salt, oregano, and black pepper into a medium to large mixing bowl. Mix until well combined.
-
Add in the ground turkey and VERY careful mix it being careful not to overwork the meat, which will help to keep it nice and tender.
-
Gently roll out the meatballs and place onto a non-stick surface like parchment paper or saran wrap.
-
In a saute pan or cast iron skillet, heat the olive oil and medium high heat. Add in some of your meatballs, working in batches of about 1/3 at a time as not to overcrowd your pan. Cook for about 2 min and 30 seconds, flip them over and cook for another 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Transfer to a large pot.
-
Add marinara sauce to the large pot with the meatballs and gently simmer for about 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.
What do you think?