Juicer turkey meatballs with ground turkey and added goose meat (optional). This turkey meatballs recipe is very easy to make at home, packed with flavour and extra soft and moist on the inside. Our turkey meatballs can be cooked in the air fryer or baked in the oven.
Perfectly moist on the inside and crunchy on the outside, these turkey goose meatballs are a dream. Once upon a time, when my husbands grandpa had a small farm, these goose turkey meatballs were regularly on the menu. If you are not a fan of goose meat, or simply do not have it on hand, simply skip adding it. The turkey meatballs will turn as moist and delicious!
Turkey Meatballs – Ingredients
- Ground turkey, lean– I recommend using lean ground turkey meat as it it’s the most healthful version according to experts. Plus, it’s incredibly tasty too.
- Goose meat, optional – adding goose meat to the turkey meatballs makes them extra extra delicious. Goose meat is much drier than turkey and thus requires longer cooking times. Therefore, if you decide to add goose meat to meatballs, it should be previously cooked (on stove) and finely minced. That way the extra goose fat (from skin) remains in the cooking water.
- Egg, medium to large – eggs act as binding agent for any meatball recipe, including this one.
- Moist bread, crumbled – to get your meatballs to be extra extra juicy on the inside use crumbled wet bread (even stale bread works wonderfully), instead of regular bread crumbs. I prefer to use parts of the bread with crust on them. That gives a better crumb once bread gets wet.
- Greek Yogurt – a tablespoon of plain Greek yogurt gives these meatballs extra moisture. It also helps meatballs bind easier without falling apart during cooking.
- Mint, dried and powdered – adding dried mint gives a lovely fresh feel to these turkey meatballs.
- Parsley, fresh – adding parsley is optional, but tasty. Make sure to mince it well. You can use frozen minced parsley as well.
- Salt and pepper – always recommend adding salt and pepper to taste and based on other ingredients salt content. The ground turkey I buy does not contain any salt / pepper, so I make sure to add salt accordingly to the meatballs base.
How to make Turkey Meatballs
Making these turkey goose meatballs at home is pretty easy. Let’s see the actual steps:
- If you choose to add goose meat (or leftover chicken meat) to these turkey meatballs, prepare the meat in advance. In a large sauce pan with lid place goose meat, liquor (like vodka) and water. Bring to a boil and let cook completely. Then remove bones and skin if any. Mince cooked goose meat finely and set aside.
- In a separate bowl add bread and cover with water. Let sit for about 10 minutes or until bread is completely moist. You can use stale bread if desired.
- Then in a large mixing bowl, combine cooked goose meat, crumbled wet bread and all other ingredients. Mix well
- Make small balls with your hands and place in air fryer / oven. Cook according to instructions in recipe below.
How to keep turkey meatballs from falling apart?
You keep meatballs from falling apart by adding egg, Greek yogurt and crumbled moist bread. All of these 3 ingredients create a strong bond that keeps meatballs from falling apart during cooking.
What to serve with turkey meatballs?
We like our turkey meatballs served with a fair share of vegetables and a sauce. Here are a few suggestions from the blog:
- Easy grilled asparagus (using a portable apartment grill)
- Creamy mashed potatoes (make them with or without milk)
- Basic sweet potato wedges (we love this one!)
- Thin German potato pancakes
MORE EUROPEAN RECIPES
- Chicken Meatball Soup with Kale and Rice Noodles (Instant pot friendly)
- Egg Noodles (Spätzle) with cheesy shiitake mushrooms and broccoli sauce
- Cellentani pasta with ground turkey and tomato sauce
- Mini Apple Strudel (Apfelstrudel)
- Beef Liver Steak Recipe (for Iron Deficiency)
Moist Turkey Goose Meatballs recipe (air fryer/oven)
Juicy turkey meatballs with ground turkey and added goose meat. This turkey meatballs recipe is very easy to make at home, packed with flavor and extra soft and moist on the inside.
Ingredients
Turkey Goose Meatballs
- 1 pound (400g) ground turkey, lean
- 2 cups goose meat (optional), previously cooked & finely minced*
- 2 cups moist bread, crumbled
- 1 egg, medium to large
- 1 tbsp mint , dried & powdered
- 1 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup parsley, fresh, optional
- salt and pepper to taste
Goose meat (optional)*
- 1/2 lb (200 g) goose meat (one leg quarter)
- 50 ml liquor (vodka/brandy)
- water for cooking goose meat in
Instructions
Prepare Goose Meat (in advance) *
- In a large soup pan with lid place raw goose meat with skin on. Add vodka/brandy and water. Bring to a boil and let simmer until fully cooked (usually 1-2 hours on my stove).
- Remove cooked goose meat from water and let cool. Then finely mince goose meat (remove bones and skin if any) and set aside. Use water as broth for another meal if desired.
Meatballs
- Place bread in a large bowl and add water – to cover it completely. Leave to sit for 10 minutes (or more if stale bread). Then squeeze the water out of the bread and crumble finely. Crumbled bread should be moist, but no water should be dripping. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl add cooked minced goose meat, ground turkey, egg, crumbled moist bread, mint, parsley, salt & pepper and Greek Yogurt. Mix until combined.
- With your hands (or a spoon) make medium sized meatballs. Place in air fryer basket and air fry until completely cooked (in my air fryer -> 10-15 min. on 200C/400F). The longer meatballs cook in the air fryer, the more moisture evaporates from them. So be sure to get them out on time by checking regularly.
- Alternatively, place on parchment paper and bake in the oven (with ventilation) on 180C/360F for 10-20 minutes, until cooked.
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These are great! My 3 year old loved them Thx
Made these last night. They were scrumptious. Didn’t add the goose meat though.