These meatballs and homemade sauce are AMAZING…So flavorful! They’ll be a hit with both the adults and the kids. Each serving includes 4 small meatballs, 1 cup of sauce and has 267 calories and 10 grams fat. This recipe is so versatile you can serve over whole grain pasta (as pictured) spaghetti squash, zucchini noodles, steamed veggies, baked potatoes, or over whole wheat toasted bread. Enjoy your dinner!
Ingredients
Ingredients for Meatballs:
- ½ cup whole wheat bread crumbs made from ¾ of a piece of whole wheat or whole grain bread, see step 1
- 1.25 pound package ground turkey breast (20 ounces) 93% lean
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Fresh ground pepper to taste
Ingredients for Sauce:
- 2 cups onions, diced
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1½ tablespoons garlic, minced
- 2 (28 oz.) cans crushed tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- ¾ teaspoon salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (add ⅛ teaspoon more if you like a bit of kick)
Instructions
- To make the bread crumbs: Toast bread. Place in blender and grind into crumbs.
- In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, bread crumbs, cheese, egg, garlic, salt, and pepper. Using clean hands, mix all the ingredients and form 24 small meatballs, about ⅛ cup each (2 tablespoons).
- To cook onions: cook in microwave for 3 minutes to soften.
- In a small, nonstick pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté until lightly golden but not burned.
- Pour into crock-pot garlic and oil, crushed tomatoes, softened onions, sugar, oregano, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Mix well. Drop meatballs into sauce, press them down to cover completely with sauce. Set crock-pot to LOW heat for about 6 hours or HIGH heat for about 3 hours.
Notes
Makes 6 servings. Each serving, 4 meatballs, and 1 cup sauce.
Note: There will be 1½ cups extra sauce for another use. This extra 1½ cup sauce has not been calculated in the Skinny Facts.
Shopping Tips
If you’re looking for a wonderful crock-pot, check out the one I’ve got. I like a large one because you can use it to make a large recipe and still use it for smaller ones. Makes a terrific gift too!
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 7 Blue
WW SmartPoints 7 Green
WW POINTS PLUS 7
Note: There will be 1½ cups extra sauce for another use. This extra 1½ cup sauce has not been calculated in the Skinny Facts.
Shopping Tips
If you’re looking for a wonderful crock-pot, check out the one I’ve got. I like a large one because you can use it to make a large recipe and still use it for smaller ones. Makes a terrific gift too!
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 7 Blue
WW SmartPoints 7 Green
WW POINTS PLUS 7
| SKINNY FACTS: for 4 meatballs and 1 cup sauce 267 calories, 10g fat, 3g sat. fat, 98mg chol, 25g prot, 23g carbs, 5g fiber, 356mg sod, 2g sugar |
Skinny Facts
Serving: 1servingCalories: 267kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 25gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 98mgSodium: 356mgFiber: 5gSugar: 2gBlue Smart Points: 7Green Smart Points: 7Plus Points: 7
