I’m a mom of 3 teens and I absolutely love it when our family comes together. Last week even with the holidays–a little bit of honest truth here–it takes effort to bring everyone together for dinner. Especially with social kids, their many friends, jobs, sports, so much to do … our children are pulled in many directions.
But … once we’re together, it’s time to relax.
Often we’ll grab our plates of food and head up to watch our favorite television show, or in the summer, soccer games, or we’ll even sit together in the living room and just talk and eat. A very non-traditional way at times, but we love to change it up!
Last week I cooked this yummy recipe and I’ll be making it again soon – Turkey Bacon Meatballs. We love anything with bacon, don’t you?
Double or triple the recipe and freeze for last-minute-dinners!
You can serve the meatballs over fresh pasta, spaghetti squash, or even rice.
Have you ever tried adding bacon to meatballs?
Recipe: Turkey Bacon Meatballs {ReluctantEntertainer.com}
Summary: Tasty winter treat–meatballs with bacon–that you can make ahead of time and even freeze in Ziploc bags.
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
- 6-8 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed
- 2 pounds ground turkey
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs
- 2 large eggs
- Salt and pepper
- Pasta (or rice or spaghetti squash)
- Optional: white or marinara sauce
Instructions
- Heat the broiler to HI. In a food processor combine the onion, cooked bacon, and garlic; pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a medium bowl, add the ground turkey, cheese, bread crumbs and egg, salt and pepper; mix to gently combine.
- Line a cookie sheet or broiler-proof pan with foil. Form the meat mixture into 1-inch balls and place on pan.
- Broil, turning once, until cooked, 10-12 minutes.
- Cook pasta according to directions. Heat up marinara sauce (or make a white sauce), or eat plain over pasta.
- Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.
Preparation time: 15 minute(s)
Cooking time: 12 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 8
Hi, I'm Sandy. Five years ago I stocked up on beautiful glasses from the Dollar Store. As I started writing about dinner parties, I realized that this “icon” portrays a great message. It says that dinner parties are attainable, they are affordable, and that they can be beautiful even when on a budget. 
This sounds like a winner. Sometimes I find ground turkey a little bland and I’ll bet the bacon takes care of that. Good to have some make and freeze things on hand during the busy month coming up. Thanks Sandy!
Darla
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I’m SUCH a lova of the meatball. And even MORE a lova of bacon. So the fact that these are combined has me wiping vicious tears off my robe as I type.
Nicely. Done.
Bev Weidner´s last [type] ..Guest Post and Mulled Red Wine Sangria
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Yum, those look fantastic!! I love making turkey meatballs but bacon just MIGHT make them better…
Christine´s last [type] ..Top Ten Tuesday- Hope
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I bet the bacon adds a nice earthiness to the turkey which can be bland sometimes. And I agree with you that it’s hard to pull the kids together – my own are grown, but my husband’s two boys (18 & 20) come home and we also try to just sit and relax with them. It’s the only way to really find out what’s going on in their lives – otherwise they are usually linked in to something.
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Who doesn’t love bacon? And in a meatball? Genius. FYI- we sometimes eat dinner on the floor. My son loves a good indoor picnic!
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Oh boy, that’s my kinda food. I love meatballs, and I’ve been eating more and more turkey lately. (Not because of Thanksgiving!).
And then there’s bacon. I love bacon. These meatballs would definitely be a great way to bring a family together for dinner!
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Turkey and bacon- yum =) Pinning this to my “food” board.
Thanks
teresa´s last [type] ..Small Town Christmas Parade-
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Just printed this!! Can’t wait to try. Thanks my friend!
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Oh Sandy…I love the look of these meatballs! I have never tried bacon but can’t wait to make these. I have some ground turkey in my freezer and now I know what to do with it! In the past, I have added chopped prosciutto to meatballs which is just heavenly but can get rather expensive! I have also tried chopped pancetta but love the idea of using bacon instead, as I really prefer the taste of American bacon over the Italian version.
Thanks for the great idea!
Love,
Mary
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Thank you for sharing this recipe! I just printed it out & I cannot wait to make them for our family!
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I’ve never added bacon, but I will now! Thanks for the recipe!
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I do believe everything tastes better with bacon. I usually suffer through ground turkey for the lower fat component but I’ve also got 11 pounds of bacon that I’ve been curing this past week and will be soaking tomorrow; my mouth is watering at how much that bacon will up the flavor of turkey meatballs!
No, I don’t eat that much bacon silly; it’s for holiday gifts!
Barbara | Creative Culinary´s last [type] ..The Howl – A Signature Cocktail for the Di Rosa Winery Auction X Event
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Looks delicious! Can’t wait to give it a try!
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