Mediterranean Baked Turkey Meatballs are turkey meatballs mixed with the warm, rich spices of cumin, cinnamon, allspice and cayenne pepper. These meatballs are lean and baked to create an easy meal option. Pair these with fresh Mediterranean ingredients to create a rice bowl for dinner!
We love meatballs in my house! The whole family will go crazy for them and I like experimenting with new flavor combinations.
These Mediterranean Baked Turkey Meatballs were a new combination that I made recently and a very easy dinner. They also make a fun addition to an appetizer spread alongside a tahini dipping sauce or this creamy dill sauce.
Lean, ground turkey is mixed with the warm, rich spices of allspice, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne pepper, breadcrumbs and an egg and then baked to perfection.
The spice combination is typical in a lot of the Lebanese recipes that my family makes. I love the warmth of the cinnamon paired with the allspice and cumin and that hint of kick from the cayenne pepper.
One of my favorite things about this turkey meatball recipe is that they are an easy option for meal prep that you can have on hand for the kids. Make a double batch and freeze some for later. As you can see from the pictures, I like to create rice bowls with my easy baked turkey meatballs.
Looking for more meatball recipes? Try these Maple Dijon Turkey Baked Meatballs, Mediterranean beef meatballs, Baked Chicken Meatballs, Beef Kafta Meatballs, these Slow Cooker Mediterranean Beef Meatballs.
Recipe Ingredients You’ll Need
Please see the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts and instructions.
- Ground Turkey: I used a lean ground turkey but any ground turkey will work. I do find that the turkey with a bit higher fat content works better to create juicier meatballs.
- Breadcrumbs: I like to use regular breadcrumbs but you can also use panko. The texture is just a bit different with panko.
- Egg: the egg helps to bind together the turkey meatball mixture.
- Garlic: I used fresh garlic in these meatballs but make sure you mince the garlic small. You also could use garlic powder.
- Shallots: I like the flavor that shallots add to meatballs but you can use minced sweet onion or red onion. You also can skip onion if you don’t want to use it.
- Fresh Herbs: fresh herbs are a great way to take meatballs to the next level and add flavor. The herbs in these meatballs are fresh parsley. You also could use fresh dill, fresh basil or fresh oregano.
- Spices: the spices in these turkey meatballs are warm and add a nice depth of flavor. I added cumin, allspice, cinnamon and cayenne red pepper. You also could use oregano, Italian seasoning or paprika. These would all add nice flavor.
Ways to Modify These Meatballs:
- Protein: This recipe works great with ground lamb, ground beef, ground pork or ground chicken. You might find that the ground chicken is a more wet consistency and you may need to add more breadcrumbs to bind the meatballs together.
- Sauce: You can serve these meatballs as an appetizer. If you are serving a crowd try making smaller sized meatballs and putting them on a toothpick to serve. You can serve them with your favorite sauce like a tzatziki sauce. Tahini Sauce or this Creamy Dill Sauce.
- Spices: You can add other spices to these turkey meatballs. Some I like are Italian seasoning, paprika, chili powder, crushed red pepper, za’atar or sumac.
- Fresh Herbs: You could add other finely chopped fresh herbs. Some good ones are chives, fresh basil, fresh mint or oregano.
- Other Ways to Cook You also could cook these in a frying pan over medium-heat or in an air fryer.
How to Make These Baked Turkey Meatballs
Step 1: Mix Ingredients: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. In a large mixing bowl mix together the breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, shallots, parsley, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper and olive oil.
Step 2: Add Ground Turkey in: Add the ground turkey and use your hands to gently mix everything together. Don’t over-mix the turkey mixture. Form the turkey mixture into 1-inch turkey meatballs using wet hands or a small cookie scoop and put on the cookie sheet.
Step 3: Bake: Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the meatballs reach an internal temperature of 165ºF. I suggest checking your meatballs at about the 15 minute mark to see how they are progressing.
Serve over rice with hummus and veggies or store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can freeze these meatballs for later. Let them cool completely and store in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to 3 months.
Storage Tips
You can store these meatballs in an airtight container for up to 4 day in the fridge. These also freeze great. Just make sure to let them cool completely and then you can freeze them for up to 3 months.
Recipe FAQ
I highly suggest using a cookie scoop to help form your meatballs. I use a smaller sized one but you can use a large cookie scoop for bigger meatballs. When they are an even size they cook more evenly.
Mix the ingredients just until combined but do not over mix. Overmixing can make the meatballs tough and a bit dry and not create juicy meatballs.
You need to add moisture to the meat mixture. Some options are to add an extra egg to add moisture, soak bread in a small amount of milk until just mushy and mix that with the ground turkey or add finely grated veggies like minced onion, zucchini or carrot. This is a great way to also add in extra vegetables to your diet.
If you let the meatballs sit for a few minutes before serving them to guests this will help redistribute the juices and keep them moist.
Ways to Serve These Meatballs:
- Serve these over a bed of greens or try adding it to this Lemon Arugula Salad, Lemon Arugula Salad with Capers, Arugula Orzo Salad, or this Tomato Feta Orzo Salad.
- Add these meatballs to a bowl. A few bowls I really like are this Buddha Bowl, Greek Quinoa Bowl or this Mediterranean Hummus Bowl.
- Serve these meatballs alongside a Mediterranean dip. I like this Easy Lebanese Hummus, Baba Ghanoush, Whipped Feta or Lemon Hummus.
Other Ground Turkey Recipes:
Tried this recipe? Leave a star rating and comment below! Subscribe to my newsletter or follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest for the latest.
Mediterranean Baked Turkey Meatballs
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey, {try to find ground turkey that is 93/7 fat content if you can to help keep the meatballs from drying out}
- 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1/4 cup shallots, finely minced
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely minced
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne red pepper {optional}
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl mix together the breadcrumbs, egg, garlic, shallots, parsley, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper and olive oil.
- Add the ground turkey and use your hands to gently mix everything together. Don't over-mix the turkey mixture. Form the turkey mixture into 1-inch turkey meatballs using wet hands or a small cookie scoop and put on the cookie sheet.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the meatballs reach an internal temperature of 165ºF. I suggest checking your meatballs at about the 15 minute mark to see how they are progressing.
- Serve over rice with hummus and veggies or store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- You can freeze these meatballs for later. Let them cool completely and store in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Serve these meatballs in a rice bowl with brown rice, chickpeas, Lebanese salad and hummus.
- You can freeze these meatballs for later. Let them cool completely and store in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to 3 months.
- Protein: This recipe works great with ground lamb, ground beef, ground pork or ground chicken. You might find that the ground chicken is a more wet consistency and you may need to add more breadcrumbs to bind the meatballs together.
- Other Ways to Cook You also could cook these in a frying pan over medium-heat or in an air fryer.
- Spices: You can add other spices to these turkey meatballs. Some I like are Italian seasoning, paprika, chili powder, crushed red pepper, za’atar or sumac.
- Fresh Herbs: You could add other finely chopped fresh herbs. Some good ones are chives, fresh basil, fresh mint or oregano.
- Sauce: You can serve these meatballs as an appetizer. If you are serving a crowd try making smaller sized meatballs and putting them on a toothpick to serve. You can serve them with your favorite sauce like a tzatziki sauce. Tahini Sauce or this Creamy Dill Sauce
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I make these meatballs a couple times a month, they are definitely one of my favorite healthy protiens for meal prepping. I love the blend of spices, the flavor in these is perfection. We like to eat them with homemade tzaziki sauce.
I made these with some improvising. I realized I forgot to buy bread crumbs so I crushed up some crackers. Also couldn’t find all spice at my local grocery store, but still stuck with the recipe and it turned out amazing! I made my version of a tzatziki sauce and it paired so well with the dish. My husband and I are keeping this recipe for sure!
The meatballs were absolutely DELICIOUS!! The flavor profile was new to me in cooking (I was hesitant about the cinnamon, lol) but OH SO TASTY!! Thank you for graciously sharing. This will be become a regular.
Thank you! I am so glad you liked them. We use a lot of cinnamon in Lebanese cooking. I think people often aren’t sure about it but I think they end up liking it in recipes once they try it!
This was excellent! Omitted the feta and drizzled dill sauce over the bowls. Big hit for the family – thanks!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for letting me know.
Tried these today and added just about 2 tablespoons of chopped golden raisins after reading the other reviews. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly. The meat balls turned out delicious!. I will be making them regularly. Thank you for sharing 💛
That’s a great idea to add the raisins. I have to try that. So glad you liked them!
This is a popular recipe in our house. I usually serve it with quinoa in a bowl with seedless cucumbers, sliced graped tomatoes, hummus, and feta cheese. I grate the garlic and the shallots.
I have made this a few times, as written. It is an excellent recipe. These can be served as a bowl or in pitas. We all love it.
I am so glad you like them!
This is FABULOUS!!! We love it and now I make it all the time! Thank you so much for sharing. I hope to try many of your other recipes.
I am so glad you liked them! We love these meatballs too.
Looks so tasty!! Do you have instructions on freezing and reheating?
Thank you!
Hi there! They are really good- hope you try them! I would make sure they are fully cooled then I would add to gallon freezer bag, seal bag and freeze. To quickly reheat just remove a 1-2 out of bag and microwave on high for 1-2 minutes and serve as desired. Or place in oven and bake until warmed through.
Hi Julia,
I am just wondering if you can make these meatballs into turkey burgers? Should I still bake them at the same temperature? or should I pan fry them, since they will be bigger and thicker than a meatball?
Thank you.
Great idea- I think you totally could. And yes, I would say you would want to pan fry them until they are done on the inside- so the temperature would be 160 degrees F. I hope you enjoy them- let me know!