Buffalo turkey meatballs are perfect for weeknight meals, appetizers or snacking! You won’t believe how simple these are to make and how much flavor is packed inside! Naturally gluten free, dairy free, paleo, Whole30 and low carb, these meatballs are perfect for just about any crowd!
Why you will love this recipe
- If you love buffalo wings, you are going to love these buffalo turkey meatballs! Dip them in your favorite dressing (ranch or blue cheese) for a fun boneless take on your favorite appetizer!
- These buffalo turkey meatballs are baked, not fried, which gives you the ability to make a large batch at once so you can feed a crowd or make extra for meal prep!
- Naturally grain free and egg free, these turkey meatballs are actually packed with veggies too! These meatballs have grated celery and carrots inside, helping keep the meatballs juicy during baking!
Ingredients
- Ground turkey
- Celery
- Carrots
- Green onion (or scallions)
- Dried chives
- Salt
- Almond flour
- Hot sauce
- Avocado oil
How to make buffalo turkey meatballs
Check out a step by step story on how to make healthy buffalo turkey meatballs!
Preheat the oven to 400F
Chop the carrots and celery into one inch pieces and pulse in a food processor to quickly mince/shred into small pieces.
Chop the green onions and add all the veggies to a large bowl.
Add the dried chives, salt and almond flour to the bowl with the vegetables and stir well.
To the vegetable mixture add the ground turkey and hot sauce and stir well making sure the veggie mixture and hot sauce get well distributed.
Place parchment paper or a silicone liner down on a baking sheet.
Form meatballs by scooping about 1.5-2 tablespoons worth of the meat mixture into your hand and forming a ball. Place on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Makes about 40 meatballs
Place meatballs in the 400F oven for 15 minutes.
After baking for 15 minutes, remove the turkey meatballs from the oven.
Combine 2-4 tbsp hot sauce with 1 tbsp avocado oil and pour over buffalo turkey meatballs
Top tips
- To ensure that the turkey meatballs are moist and tender on the inside, you will want to use turkey meat that has a little more fat in it (93% lean). The chopped veggies inside do add some moisture to the meatballs so if all you can find Is 99% lean, that is ok, just know that they might be a little drier than the 93%.
- To easily chop veggies, you will want to use a food processor. I use the food processor attachment that came with my immersion blender, but a regular food processor would work as well. IF you don’t have a food processor, chop the celery by hand and grate the carrots with a hand grater.
- This recipe makes 8 servings, so it’s great for meal prep or for feeding a crowd at your next game day party! Be sure to make extra hot sauce for pouring over the buffalo turkey meatballs for those that like them really saucy!
- Use an extra large baking sheet or break this recipe up onto 2 regular baking sheets to ensure the meatballs have room between them when baking.
What you need to make this
What to serve with turkey buffalo meatballs
These healthy buffalo turkey meatballs are great as an appetizer or part of a meal! Be sure to make a batch of homemade ranch dressing for dipping or drizzling on top! Here are some great ideas on how to serve the buffalo turkey meatballs:
- Over salad
- With rice, pasta, quinoa or cauliflower rice (drizzled with ranch)
- With mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower
- With roasted veggies, air fryer broccoli or roasted zucchini for a low carb meal
- With sweet potato fries, carrot fries, or regular fries
- With sweet potato tots or broccoli tots
Storing leftovers
Refrigerator: Store these buffalo turkey meatballs in the fridge for up to 3 days in a well-sealed container.
Freezer: Store the cooked meatballs in the freezer for up to 2 months. Tip: let the meatballs cool completely before placing them on a wax paper lined tray to freeze (so they don’t stick together). Once frozen, transfer the meatballs to a freezer safe bag or container.
Defrost in the fridge overnight or place directly in the oven or air fryer to reheat.
Substitutions
Ground turkey: You can also use ground chicken or even ground beef in place of the ground turkey.
Almond flour: If you cannot use almond flour, you could substitute it with oat flour or you can make your own sunflower seed or pumpkin seed flour by grinding up sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds in a food processor until they resemble flour.
If you love this recipe, you should try
- Buffalo cauliflower
- Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken
- Buffalo Chicken Thighs
- Buffalo Cauliflower Salad with Tahini Ranch
- Sweet and Sour Chicken Meatballs
- Whole30 Turkey Meatballs (Crockpot)
- Ground Chicken Sloppy Joe’s
Buffalo Turkey Meatballs
$8.37 recipe/$1.05 servingGuided Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground turkey - $5.98
- 2 stalks celery - $0.25
- 2 medium carrots - $0.22
- 2 tbsp chopped green onion - $0.32
- 1 tbsp dried chives - $0.10
- 1 tsp salt - $0.05
- 1/2 cup almond flour - $0.73
- 1/4 cup hot sauce - $0.25
- 1 tbsp avocado oil - $0.35
- 2 tbsp hot sauce - $0.12
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F
- Peel carrots and chop into 1 inch pieces.
- Chop celery into 1 inch pieces
- Add the carrots and celery into a food processor and process until well chopped.
- Take 2 green onions and chop the green parts into thin slices.
- Add the carrots, celery and chopped green onions to a large bowl.
- Add the dried chives, salt and almond flour to the bowl and stir well.
- Add the ground turkey and 1/4 cup of hot sauce to the bowl. Stir well to fully incorporate the spices and hot sauce in the ground turkey.
- Add parchment paper to the baking sheet.
- Scoop out about 1.5 -2 tablespoons of the turkey mixture into your hand and roll into a ball.
- Place the turkey meatballs onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Repeat until you have about 40 meatballs.
- Bake in a 400F oven for 15 minutes.
- In a bowl, combine the avocado oil and 2 tbsp of hot sauce in a small bowl.
- Pour the hot sauce mixture over the buffalo meatballs and serve hot.
Notes
- Refrigerator: Store in the fridge for up to 3 days in a well-sealed container.
- Freezer: Store the cooked meatballs in the freezer for up to 2 months. Tip: let the meatballs cool completely before placing them on a wax paper lined tray to freeze (so they don’t stick together). Once frozen, transfer the meatballs to a freezer safe bag or container.
- Defrost in the fridge overnight or place directly in the oven or air fryer to reheat.
Leslie
Saturday 4th of June 2022
This recipe was absolutely amazing! I was seriously blown away at how great it was. I substituted chia seeds since I didn't have almond flour on hand - still phenomenal.
Samantha Rowland
Tuesday 14th of June 2022
Thank you for letting me know that chia seeds work well in this recipe! So glad you loved it! Thank you for taking time to leave a comment!
Tammy
Wednesday 2nd of September 2020
This was amazing!! I am doing WW program and fits right into my new way of eating!