Apple Maple Turkey Meatballs

These Apple Maple Turkey Meatballs are juicy and delicious. The addition of grated apple makes them extra tender while apple cider and maple glaze adds tons of flavour and a lovely caramelization.

Hello everyone! Happy – I am sorry to say that – Monday. I hope this did not sound rude haha. But even if you’re not happy about Monday, I bet you will be excited about this recipe. Because who does not love meatballs, right? Also, who does not love meatballs with a seasonal twist?

Indeed, I have a feeling that I’m developing a new obsession. Meatballs. Besides these Cranberry Barbecue Meatballs and these Lavender Barbeque Sauce Meatballs, I have some other ideas I will be sharing soon. But I believe I won’t need to apologize for this. Because, again, show me a person who has something against some good meatballs.

Apple Maple Turkey Meatballs

That’s a relatively simple and not too time-consuming recipe. As noted, there’s a grated apple combined with ground turkey. It does not give any significant flavour, but it makes the meatballs juicy and tender. Since turkey meat is delicate, it also can be quite bland. Thus, it’s important to season the meat well. Here I used garlic and onion powder, smoked paprika, chipotle powder, ginger, and lots of dried herbs.

But the main flavour comes from the glaze. The combination of tart apple cider and maple syrup is phenomenal. This recipes asks for a lot of apple cider, but the sauce isn’t watery. While it cooks, it significantly thickens up and turns into a luscious glaze. Lightly sweet. Lightly tart. And with a subtle apple flavour. Fresh thyme for an extra aroma. That’s so good my friends!

Polenta (Cornmeal) Instead of Bread

As the thickener, I used uncooked instant polenta (cornmeal) – I am just not a huge fan of bread or bread crumbs. However, you can use bread crumbs in place of it. By the way, when making meatballs, always mix the wet ingredients with the spices first and then quickly combine with the ground meat. This will ensure the spices being distributed nicely, so you won’t overmix the meat. Otherwise, your meatballs can turn dense.

This recipe yields roughly 40 small-medium meatballs. That’s quite a lot. Although I am positive you can handle this, you can still make a half of the batch. On the other hand, you shouldn’t :) After all, that can be an excellent dish for your Thanksgiving celebration. Cannot believe it’s Thanksgiving next week in Canada, though.

I hope you like these Apple Maple Turkey Meatballs, and you will try this recipe soon. If you make it, let me know in this post or send me an Instagram message or share you photos adding the hashtag #havocinthekitchen. 

Cheers!

Pin

Print

Apple Maple Turkey Meatballs

Recipe by Ben | Havocinthekitchen

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Mains and Comfort Dishes

Servings

40

meatballs

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

45

minutes

These Apple Maple Turkey Meatballs are juicy and delicious. The addition of grated apple makes them extra tender while apple cider and maple glaze adds tons of flavour and a lovely caramelization.

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Ingredients

• Meatballs:

• about 2 lb. ground lean turkey

• 1 medium apple (about 160 gr.), cored and grated

• 1 egg

• 1/2 tbsp. salt

• 1/2 tbsp. garlic and onion powder (not salt), each

• 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika

• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger

• 2/3 tbsp. dried or 1 tbsp. fresh thyme

• 2-3 tbsp. uncooked instant polenta (cornmeal)

• 2-3 tbsp. of oil, for frying

• Glaze:

• about 600 ml. apple cider, preferably tart

• 1/3 cup maple syrup

• Fresh thyme (optional), for garnish

Directions

• In a small bowl combine the egg with herbs and spices, and whisk until well combined.
• If your grated apple is very juicy, lightly squeeze it to remove the excess of juice. Do not discard all the juices – the grated apple still should be moist when added to the turkey mixture.
• Place the ground turkey in a large bowl along with the grated apple and polenta. Add the egg mixture and mix with your hands or wooden spoon until evenly blender. Do not overmix as the meatballs could turn dense – about 30 seconds should be enough.
• Thanks to apple juices, the consistency of the mixture could be slightly sticky which is fine as long as you are able to shape it into meatballs (Use a bowl of water for your hands – that will help.) If you still think it’s hard to shape the meatballs, add a little bit (about 1/2 tbsp.) of instant p[polenta more and quickly mix to combine.
• Shape the mixture into meatballs (~ 1 inch or as desired). Depending on the size, you should get about 40 meatballs.
• Heat the oil in a pan cook the meatballs over high medium heat, in few batches, moving them, until nicely seared from all sides, for about 5 minutes per batch. Remove and transfer to a plate and cook with the remaining.
• In a meantime in a large pan combine the apple cider and maple syrup over high medium heat. Let it cook for about 7-10 minutes to significantly thicken up, stirring occasionally.
• Once the glaze has thickened up, transfer the meatballs to the pan. Depending on how much of the glaze you will have by that moment, you might not be able to cover the meatballs fully. So using a wooden spoon, stir the meatballs occasionally so they cooked in the glaze for some time.
• Cover and simmer, stirring , for about 12-15 minutes or until the meatballs are nicely glazed and cooked through (15 minutes would be for a tall pan where meatballs are arranged in 3-5 layers. If you managed to have 2 layers of meatballs, 12 minutes should be more than enough.)
• Enjoy with a salad, vegetables or carbs of your choice!