Spaghetti With Turkey & Veggie Meatballs – Wholesome, Delicious & Easy!

It’s not always easy to find a meal that’s simple enough for a weeknight dinner in between our busy schedules, that all three kids like, that will fill up the never-ending appetite of our almost teen and most importantly, is wholesome and delicious. I was absolutely thrilled when we created this play on a classic dish, packed with veggies and good ingredients. Not only were their plates cleaned, they all complimented the dish and requested to have it again soon. Mom WIN!

This post was sponsored by Acorn Influence on behalf of Barilla; however, all opinions/reviews are honest and the created recipe is our own. Please view our Disclosures Page for more information.

Making the Turkey & Veggie Meatballs

This step takes the longest at about 10 min prep time and 18 min cook time, the nice part is that you can absolutely make ahead of time and keep refrigerated or even make them and freeze them to pull out when you need. You’ll just have to adjust the cook time accordingly.

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Turkey

1/4 Cup Roughly Chopped Bell Pepper

1 Egg

1/4 Cup Roughly Chopped Carrots

1/2 Cup Fresh Baby Spinach

1/4 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

1 Clove Garlic

1/4 Cup Italian Bread Crumbs

1/4 tsp. Salt

1/8 tsp. Pepper

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well chopped and mixed. You don’t want any of the veggie chunks too big or they can separate from the meatballs while cooking.

Once mixed, form 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. I was able to make 15 meatballs.

Bake at 425 F degrees for 10-minutes, flip the meatballs over and continue baking for another 18-minutes or until the middles are fully cooked.

Pasta & Sauce

Now no meatball, no matter how delicious, will make a meal unless you have the perfect pasta and sauce to compliment them. Barilla’s Whole Grain Pasta is a wonderful option to compliment the wholesomeness of the turkey and veggie meatballs. It’s an excellent source of fiber, it’s made with 100% whole wheat and it offers 56g of whole grain per serving. In fact, Barilla has a whole line of products for the health conscious including: Barilla ProteinPLUS Pasta, Barilla White Fiber Pasta and Barilla Gluten-Free Pasta–which was just named one of Parents magazine’s “Top 25 Allergy Free Foods.”

I love making pasta sauce from scratch, but in a pinch Barilla’s Marinara sauce is great. It really has depth and flavors that the whole family likes. It’s also gluten-free, has no preservatives and is made with non-GMO ingredients. To add a little extra creaminess to this recipe and for the added wholesomeness, I added 4 tbls of plain Greek yogurt to the sauce while heating it on the stove-top.

I really hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as mine did. All of the Barilla products are easily found at your local Walmart, and currently there is an Ibotta Rebate available. For more recipe ideas look for inspiration from Barilla online or through the Inspired Dishes Pinterest board.