Garlic Butter Turkey Meatball recipe

Happy New Year Squadies!

A new year, means even more leanness and although it's February Squadies the best time to start transforming is now. Despite how challenging times are, I can promise you it has never been more important than now to focus on your mental and physical health! And a great way to do exactly just that is with healthy, easy and lean recipes!!

I am coming at you with this absolutely leanlicious garlic butter turkey meatball recipe with low carb lemon zucchini noodles! All you need is 15 minutes to prep and 15 minutes to cook; you can have this whole tasty meal ready in only 30 minutes! 

But before we get started, make sure you check out my brand new upcoming Lean Challenge! Starting Feb 22nd, myself and 100's of Squadies will be transforming from home, all together!

NEW LEAN CHALLENGE STARTING FEB 22ND! DON'T MISS OUT!

New Challenge Starts Feb 22nd!!!

Why Turkey?! 

Turkey is an awesome lean protein to cook with. Turkey of course is a great source of protein and contains many vitamins and minerals such as vitamin B6, B12, B3, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium. Sometimes, cooking the same old meats can get boring. Adding turkey to your diet will help change things up and keep your meals interesting and fresh! 

This turkey meatball recipe serves 4, meaning it is the perfect quick meal for the whole family OR it is a quick and easy meal prep for the week! When using this recipe to meal prep, the turkey meatballs can be prepared ahead of time and can either be stored in the fridge or freezer, for longer term storage. The low carb zucchini noodles will not last as long as the turkey meatballs COOKED, but the raw noodles will stay fresh for 2-3 days, so you can get your zucchini’s spiralized and ready to go ahead of time, but cook the noodles the day you want to eat them. With the meatballs already cooked, the noodles will take you only 3-4 minutes to cook! 

LEAN ZUCCHINI NOODLE TIP:

Zucchinis are naturally very moist. When cooking them, they will render water which can cause your noodles to become soggy and/or your sauce to become watery. In order to prevent this, sprinkle salt onto your spiralized noodles prior to cooking to help extract that moisture. Let them sit for a while with the salt before cooking for perfectly cooked zucchini noodles! 

Find the full turkey meatball recipe below:

LEAN-GREDIENTS:

• 1 lb lean ground turkey meat (455g)
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella (you can sub in cheddar)
•  6 cloves garlic (4 grated + 2 minced) 
• 1 crumbled bouillon cube 
• 1 cup chopped cilantro 
• juice from ½ squeezed lemon
• 3 tablespoons ghee (or butter) 
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 
• 1 teaspoon red crushed chili pepper flakes 
• Salt & pepper to taste 
• 4 medium zucchinis spiralized (or 1 pack pre spiralized zucchini noodles)

LEAN-STRUCTIONS:

1) In large bowl, combine ground turkey, cheese, grated garlic, italian seasoning, bouillon cube, red chilli flakes, chopped cilantro, and salt & pepper. Mix well and then form into medium balls! Set aside. 

2) Melt 2 tablespoons ghee (or butter) in large skillet over low heat. Add in your turkey meatballs and cook for 6-10 minutes (or until cooked through). Make sure you cover them in  butter, then remove and add to a plate. 

3) In same skillet, add remaining butter, lemon juice, hot sauce, minced garlic, more chili flakes if you want it spicy (and it’ll boost your metabolism), and zucchini noodles. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring regularly. The zucchini noodles are done when they are nice and crisp!

 4) Move the low carb zucchini noodles over, add the turkey meatballs back in, and reheat for a couple minutes! Enjoy the leanness!