Italian Turkey Meatball Muffins – mini meatloaves that taste like Italian meatballs!
It has long been our family tradition to under-cook meatloaf. We tried a number of different recipes, different pans, different cook times. You name it, and we probably tried it. But every time we would end up thinking the meatloaf was done, pull it out, slice it up, and find out that the center was still bright pink. So back in the oven it goes, in and out, in and out, as we keep deciding it has to finally be done and finding it’s still not finished. (Tell me this sounds familiar to you too??) So we gave up cooking meatloaf for a while until one day my mom found a recipe for meatloaf muffins on the side of a stove top stuffing box. And lo and behold, they cooked up perfectly! So our family tradition was called off in favor of personal-sized meatloaves. There was much rejoicing!
Over the years, meatloaf muffins become one of our family favorite recipes and there have been many, many variations made on the original meat muffins. This version I shared a while back with turkey, dressing, and cranberry sauce is definitely up there on the top of my list. And they’ve popped up all over the place on Pinterest – somebody even started “frosting” them with mashed potatoes! (How clever!)
This version of Italian Turkey Meatball Muffins was inspired by my favorite meatball recipe, but I was too lazy decided I wanted to save some time and not roll them into tiny meatballs, so instead I just shoved them in a muffin tin and popped them in the oven. They came out super moist and flavorful, and Hubby decided he didn’t even need to put ketchup on them! (This is a HUGE deal. He ketchups everything.) He said I needed to share the recipe on my blog, so here you go! Enjoy!
Italian Turkey Meatball Muffins
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 35
- Yield: 12 1x
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lb ground turkey
- 1 (6oz) box Stove Top stuffing mix, dry (I like the pork or herb flavors)
- 1 cup water
- 1.5 cups (divided) marinara or pasta sauce
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Combine water, stuffing mix, 3/4 cup marinara sauce, and Italian seasoning in a large bowl.
- Add ground turkey and mix until well-combined.
- Grease a 12 cup muffin tin and divide the meat mixture evenly between all 12 cups.
- Make a small dent in the top of each “muffin” and, using a spoon, divide the remaining 3/4 cup marinara sauce among the 12 “muffins”.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Top each muffin with some of the mozzarella cheese and return to the oven for another 5 minutes, or until cheese has melted.
- Serve while warm.
Notes
- Gluten-free: These can be gluten-free if you use a gf stuffing mix (both Rudi’s and Glutino make them) or make your own stuffing mix with toasted gf bread.
- These freeze really well and defrost in the microwave for quick lunches later.
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