Turkey Meatballs with Blue Cheese & Horseradish

Meatball Bars are kind of the in thing lately, even at fancy dinner parties.  Here in Los Angeles, I’ve seen Meatball Bars at all kinds of Hollywood events.  There are so many delicious flavors you can pack into a one bite meatball.  I love this recipe because I can use either turkey or beef and still achieve a fantastic and unique flavor.  The Pink Horseradish Sauce will surely be the talk of any dinner party and will liven up the Meatball Bar.

Rather than mincing onion and garlic, I like to use a Medium Course Grater right over the bowl filled with turkey, so that all the onion and garlic juice fall into the mixture.

Worcestershire Sauce helps give turkey a meaty flavor and oatmeal or whole grain nuggets help to retain moisture in the meatballs.

Crumble in some blue cheese, salt, pepper, an egg, fresh parsley, scoop of horseradish sauce and combine.  I like to put the turkey mixture in the refrigerator for about an hour, to give the ingredients a chance to incorporate.

Mix up the horseradish sauce and put it a covered container in the refrigerator until needed.

I like all my meatballs the same size and shape, so I use the KitchenAid Cookie Scooper, which holds 1.5 Tablespoons and makes the perfect one bite meatball.

You should get approximately 40 meatballs, which fit perfectly on a Baker’s 1/2 Sheet Cookie Sheet, so either line your pan with aluminum foil or use a Reusable Silicone Cookie Sheet Liner and save on waste!

Bake them in the oven for 30 minutes.

Serve with the horseradish sauce.  This makes a great addition to any Meatball Bar!

Equipment Used

• J.A. Henckels Classic 7-inch Hollow Edge Santoku Knife
• Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
• Culina Stackable (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
• Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
• Rösle Stainless Steel Flat Whisk – a MUST have, probably my most used utensil
• Rachael Ray Stoneware EVOO Oil Dispensing Bottle
• Alton Brown Salt Box
• OXO Good Grips Cutting Board
• 3.5 Quart Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl
• Microplane Artisan Fine Cheese Grater
• KitchenAid Cookie Scooper,
• 1/2 Cookie Sheet
• Reusable Silicone Baking Mat
• OXO Stainless Steel Tongs

Here is your handy printable recipe:

Turkey Meatballs with Blue Cheese & Horseradish

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

Author: Jill

Recipe type: Appetizer

Serves: 40

Ingredients

• Meatballs
• 1 ½ pounds ground turkey
• Kosher salt and coarse black pepper
• 3 to 4 Tablespoons grated onion or shallot
• 2 to 3 large cloves garlic, grated/chopped
• ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
• ¾ cup oatmeal or whole grain nuggets
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup crumbled smoked dry blue cheese
• 3 to 4 Tablespoons horseradish
• ½ cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• Good drizzle of olive oil
  
• Pink Horseradish Sauce
• 2 cups sour cream
• ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
• ¼ cup breadcrumbs
• ¼ cup minced chives
• 2 to 3 Tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• ¼ cup horseradish with beets (or plain horseradish w/a few pieces of beet)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
2. Place beef in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
3. Add onion/shallots, garlic, Worcestershire, breadcrumbs/panko, egg, blue cheese, horseradish, parsley and olive oil.
4. Mix to combine and let chill for a few hours to develop flavors.
5. Sauce - combine all ingredients in bowl and let stand for breadcrumbs to soften. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. (If using fresh apples, peel, seed and place in VitaMix . Blend on a low speed until it's applesauce. Add in the rest of the ingredients, blend on low for a few seconds and then turn to high just for a second.) Place in refrigerator to chill.
6. Roll large, walnut-sized balls using oiled hands or a small scoop and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
7. Roast to golden and crisp, about 30 minutes.

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