Spinach Artichoke Meatballs
Packed with spinach and artichokes, these turkey meatballs are anything but dry. Spinach Artichoke Meatballs have tons of flavor and can be used with pasta and sauce or for meatball sandwiches.
I bought meat. I know I know I know; I’m supposed to be using the meat in the freezer. BUT I wanted meatballs. Just, for some reason, had a craving for them. I don’t know why. Seriously, do any of us really KNOW why we crave what we do? I know I don’t. I just crave, then eat. Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?
When I lived in Rochester, there was the Spaghetti Warehouse downtown. Man, they had THE BEST meatballs! Actually, it was meatball. Just one GIANT one on your plate. I mean, it was almost the size of the plate…giant. And OMG was it fab-ulous! But that’s not this recipe. LOL
I honestly don’t know why I thought of these., but I just did. I guess with the sun-dried tomato ones I made not too long ago, these just seemed like a logical second recipe? Maybe?
I wanted to use ground turkey and it has a tendency to by dry, so I wanted to make sure they had nice, moist vegetables to blend in with them. I could have done the traditional carrots, onions, maybe celery, garlic, peppers? Nah, I thought spinach. Then well, spinach goes with artichokes. So, Spinach Artichoke Meatballs!
Granted this really does deserve like an Alfredo sauce to go with them. I was just being lazy. However, the tomato basil sauce that I paired with the meatballs didn’t overpower the delicate flavor too much. I could still taste the chokes and nach.
I don’t know about you, but just simply draining spinach isn’t enough for me. There’s still too much moisture left. I have a few old linen tea towels that I use to squeeze the spinach drier.
So here’s the thawed spinach in the old tea towel. See, it has a rip in it already, so I’m not too afraid of losing it should I say, bust it draining the spinach or have it died with the spinach booth. Yes, both have happened to me. Yes. I have squeezed the towel so tight trying to get out all the juices that I busted the towel. *snort*This time, I measured the juice.
Yes, folks. That’s almost 3/4 cup of liquid AFTER draining in a strainer. So, it does pay to squeeze your spinach after you drain it to get more moisture out. It can make or break a dish. Now, I saved this spinach-y goodness and added it to my water for the pasta.
It’s one giant spinach ball! *snort*I took this and chopped it some more before mixing it with the artichokes, ground turkey (93/7) and three cheese blend. Preheat oven to 350.
Then roll out approximately 30 meatballs about 1 inch in diameter.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Turn and bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes or until cooked through.
At this point, we took a pan and heated the sauce on medium heat. We added the meatballs and allowed them to simmer about 15 minutes before serving with the pasta.
Spinach Artichoke Meatballs
Packed with spinach and artichokes, these turkey meatballs are anything but dry. Spinach Artichoke Meatballs have tons of flavor and can be used with pasta and sauce or for meatball sandwiches.
Ingredients
- 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
- 2/3 cup Italian three cheese blend (Romano, Parmesan, Asiago)
- 20.8 ounces ground turkey (93/7)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
- Roll into 1 inch meatballs and bake for 20 minutes. Flip the meatballs and cook an additional 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.
- Serve immediately.
Thank you so much for linking this recipe to the Tasty Tuesdays link party! I’ve pinned this recipe to my Tasty Tuesday’s board. 🙂 This week’s party is live on the blog & I would love for you to come link up with us! Here’s the link: http://anyonitanibbles.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/Tasty-Tuesdays-Link-Party-9.html
I am not sure about these… but I think I may have to give them a try! Thanks for sharing.
These look quite yummy, and I totally have those craving moments too. My husband always knows when the "meatball" craving hits. 🙂 Thanks for linking up at Crafty Tuesday.
Thanks for hosting the party. Glad you stopped to check out my little blog.
We got to make these today! They were very good (though maybe a little too much salt). My hubby said it was a "keeper" recipe. Just thought I would let you know.
YAY! Glad you liked them. I checked the recipe again. We used kosher salt, my bad. I'll correct that straight away.
These look yummy!!! Thanks for sharing at Submarine Sunday!
Thanks for hosting the party!
Sounds like such a fun idea! Yummy 🙂
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
This looks delicious! Definitely on my list to make 😉 Thank you for sharing at our ALL MY BLOGGY FRIENDS party !
Linda
With A Blast
Thanks for hosting the party. Let me know if you do try them.
Gotta try this – we love meatballs in our house (aka the kids eat them!) so new ideas are great! Thank you so much for linking up at the Cafe xx Nat
Thanks for hosting it! I'm glad you stopped by.
These look so good! I am definitely going to try this soon:) I love spinach and artichokes!
I hope you do! Let me know how they turn out. I'd love to hear about it.
great improvised dish. I'll save this recipe.
Excellent! Thanks for saving it.
Ooh, I think I'm going to try these! They look delicious! Visiting from Happy Hour Friday Link party, thanks for the recipe!
I hope you like them! Thanks for checking out my recipe.
Sometimes you just gotta have meatballs! I so get that and I too have made a special trip to the store to make it happen. I like the addition of spinach and artichoke, these sound delish! Thanks for sharing on Hearth & Soul Hop. 🙂
Thanks for hosting the hop and stopping by! 🙂
Your meatballs look delicious. The spinach, artichoke and three cheeses sound like such a lovely combination. What a lovely twist on traditional meatballs.
Thank you for the compliments! I hope you try them and enjoy them.
I always love finding new recipes, pinning to my healthy eating board.
Thanks for sharing at Tuesdays With a Twist Link Up. Remember it is open until Saturday so please feel free to share more.
http://yourlife7.blogspot.com/2013/04/tuesdays-with-twist-link-up_30.html
Thank you for pinning my recipe. I hope you enjoy it.
Visiting from the Hungrylittlegirl link up! These look fantastic, I love anything spinach and artichoke, so I'm loving these!!
I'll be cooking them this week for sure!
http://www.werefarfromnormal.com
Excellent! Please let me know how they turn out!
I'd love it if you link this up to my linky party. It will go on 2 blogs. http://diycraftyprojects.com/2013/04/whatcha-work-up-wednesday-30.html
Just did. Thanks for the invite! I am following you on Twitter and Bloglovin.
Wow, that's a lot of liquid! Who knew? Thank you for being all scientific and measuring! I like this flavor combo you have going on. Really nice! Alfredo sauce is still rolling around my brain (I'm a sucker for creamy sauces). Thanks for not using the meat in your freezer. And for linking up!
Michelle @ Ms. enPlace
Michelle, you crack me up! Thanks for hosting it every week! 🙂
Oh wow! These look so good and love the healthy factor! Pinned it to try! Thanks for the tip on squeezing out the spinach…I had no idea how much water was in spinach. Thank you for linking it up at the Cafe this week!
I didn't either! That's the first time I measured it. I tried a spinach lasagna when I was young and it was TOO wet! That's why. Since then, I've always wrung it out.
These look fabulous!
Thanks and thanks for stopping by!
These sound delicious! I love spinach and artichokes together, and what a great idea to add those flavors to a meatball! Sounds really good!
Thanks! They were pretty darn good.
O-M-YUM!! I love morphing recipes into meatballs. Pinning this and trying it soon!! Stopping by from Bloggy Friends link-up!
Thanks for stopping by! If you do try them, let me know how they turn out.
Oh, this is an intresting concept! I don't think I've ever seen artichoke in a meatball before 🙂 I followed you from the Marvelous Mondays link party, by the way. I've just posted my Tasty Tuesdays link party on my blog & I'd love it if you could stop by & link up some of your recipes! Here's the link: http://anyonitanibbles.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/Tasty-Tuesdays-8-features-ad.html
I know I haven't seen artichoke in meatballs before. It's an interesting flavor combination. I liked up and thanks for inviting me to your link party. 🙂
Hi, you had inadvertently linked this up with our Tuesday Giveaway Link Up and I wanted to say I am glad you did. While I deleted the link (seeing as it is not a giveaway) I have pinned the recipe(hope that is okay) because this looks really really good. I love spinach (we put spinach in our lasagna), though I never have had artichoke hearts. So this looks like the perfect opportunity to try.
I invite you to link up to my Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen linky. I'm sure the kids could help with something, we love having them help in the kitchen.
http://totsandme.blogspot.com/2013/04/kids-and-mom-in-kitchen-43-ocean.html
Have a great day!
Heh yes. I failed at following directions in school. 🙂
Shhh but I just about licked my screen OH MY Goodness delicious!! Thanks so much for sharing at the Inspiration Cafe I'll be sharing this on my facebook page
OMG you are too funny!! Thanks for hosting and sharing my balls! 🙂
I am intrigued, in a good way 🙂 I am going to have to try these!!!
Please do and let me know what you think!
We love spinach in our house and I have just never thought to add spinach (so clever) to meatballs ..which we also love.
I hadn't either until now. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
These sound amazing!! I love using ground turkey and think the idea of putting the spinach and artichoke hearts sounds amazing! Thanks for linking up over at the IC today!
It does make them nice and moist and yummy! Thanks for stopping by and hosting the party.
I have never had Spinach Artichoke Meatballs…but I TOTALLY plan on making these Christie! These look and sound so good! Pinning! Thank you for linking this great recipe to our very first Inspiration Cafe Link Party!!!
I'll try to remember to link up next week, too! Thanks for hosting the party and stopping by. I hope you like them.
I love the idea of spinach and artichokes in turkey meatballs. They do tend to be a bit drier.
That's what I was thinking…with the spinach and artichokes, they're not. They're YUMMY!
These look delicious!
Thanks for joining the Blog Hop this week!
Thanks for hosting and stopping by!
Thanks for stopping by today for Plucky's Second Thoughts Link Party~ Your meatballs look fantastic~ Have a Great Week~ Lynn @ Turnips 2 Tangerines
I'll always try to link up with Plucky. Thanks for co-hosting the party this week and for stopping by.
Had to pin this one–it looks so good, and I can sneak some spinach in, too.
Yup! That's what I was thinking when I made them. Hope you enjoy them!
Wow, these sound amazing! I'm Heather, I found you through the blog collective and I'm always looking for new, healthy recipes!
Hope you'll follow me back! http://www.sarcasmandstilettos.com
Yup! I am following back! Thanks for stopping by and glad you like my meatballs! 🙂