Air Fryer Turkey Meatballs

Make these Air Fryer Turkey Meatballs for an easy 30 minute meal. Toss the air fryer meatballs in some marinara sauce and serve over your favorite pasta!

Make Quick and Delicious Weeknight meatballs in your air fryer

Sometimes all I want is meatballs and pasta but the idea of making meatballs on a weeknight can feel daunting, you know? This air fryer turkey meatballs recipe is here for the craving rescue.

These air fryer meatballs come together quickly and cook super fast in the air fryer. The convection aspect of the air fryer makes the consistency amazing.

Get delicious and tender ground turkey meatballs in less than 30 minutes and then serve them however your family likes. The obvious choice is to toss them in some tomato sauce and serve with pasta and fresh basil, but there are truly so many ways to enjoy them.

Kitchen Tools

• Measuring spoons and measuring cups
• Liquid measuring cup
• Large mixing bowl
• 2 tbsp cookie scoop
• Air fryer

How to serve

Once prepared there are many ways to serve air fryer meatballs. I like to warm jarred marinara sauce on the stove and toss the air fryer turkey meatballs in it.

Then I spoon the meatballs and sauce over cooked pasta. My go-to pasta shape lately is rigatoni, but any shape works!

For a low carb or keto meal you can substitute pasta with some zoodles (zucchini noodles) or serve them over a cooked spaghetti squash. You can even serve them over a bed of cauliflower rice!

These air fryer meatballs are ideal for making meatball subs. They are medium in size and extremely tender.

I like to toast small rolls in butter and then line them with marinara, meatballs and slices of mozzarella cheese. Then, I warm them under the oven broiler to melt the mozzarella cheese.

You can also serve these turkey meatballs as an appetizer. Roll 1 tbsp of mixture into balls and cook for just 9 minutes. Pop a toothpick into the top of each meatball and serve with your sauce of choice.

Air Fryer Turkey Meatball Ingredients

• Ground turkey (dark meat ground turkey preferred)
• Panko bread crumbs
• Egg
• Grated parmesan cheese
• Oregano
• Garlic powder
• Kosher Salt
• Black pepper
• Crushed red pepper (optional)

Is ground turkey healthier than ground beef?

Ground turkey has less fat than ground beef. This makes it a better option for those trying to cut down on the amount of fat that they consume.

The good news is that if you follow this recipe, your ground turkey meatballs will have just as much flavor as ground beef meatballs.

How do you keep turkey meatballs from falling apart?

Sometimes it can be hard to keep meatballs in the proper shape. I recommend using the combination of an egg, grated parmesan cheese, and panko breadcrumbs for the perfect glue to keep the meatballs together.

To make tender and flavorful turkey meatballs in the air fryer it is important to use dark meat ground turkey. Lean white meat ground turkey will result in dryer and less flavorful meatballs. I like to look for the 94% lean and 6% fat label at the grocery store.

It is also important to not over mix the meatball mixture. You may be tempted to do this, but over mixed ground meat can result in tough and chewy meatballs.

ingredient substitutions

You can make these with any type of ground meat you like best or have on hand. These air fryer meatballs are great with ground chicken, ground beef, ground pork or even a blend of meats.

You can make vegetarian air fryer meatballs by replacing the ground turkey with a plant based ground meat. If you are dairy free, you can try a dairy free version of grated parmesan or replace it with some nutritional yeast.

To make this recipe gluten free you can use a gluten free panko breadcrumb mixture. You can also make these air fryer meatballs keto friendly by replacing the breadcrumbs with pork panko or finely ground pork rinds.

I made my own seasoning blend by combining salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder and crushed red pepper. You can use the same blend or use any Italian seasoning blend you have.

How to make air fryer turkey meatballs

Step 1: prepare Ingredients

Measure out the panko bread crumbs, grated parmesan cheese, and spices. Get the egg and ground turkey out of the fridge.

Step 2: Mix the meatballs

Add the ground turkey, bread crumbs, egg, parmesan cheese, oregano, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper into a large bowl. Mix the ingredients together gently with a spoon or your hands until a smooth, even mixture remains.

Be careful not to overmix as this causes tougher meatballs!

Step 3: Prep the air fryer and meatballs

Spray the air fryer basket with non-stick spray and preheat the air fryer to 350F.

Use a 2 tbsp scoop to scoop out 12 meatballs. If you do not have a 2 tbsp scoop, use any kind of measuring device to make even sized meatballs.

Using wet hands, roll the meatballs into tight balls. Then, arrange them on the air fryer basket in an single layer.

Step 4: Air Fry the meatballs

Once the air fryer is warm, place the basket inside and the meatballs in the air fryer at 350F for 14 minutes. The meatballs will be cooked through when the internal temperature reaches 165F.

Can i make these in the oven?

If you do not have an air fryer, you can prepare these turkey meatballs in the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Arrange the meatballs in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes.

Storage, Reheating and freezing

Allow the meatballs to cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Reheat in the air fryer at 350F for about 5-10 minutes, or until warmed thorugh.

Make a batch or a double batch of these air fryer meatballs and freeze them for later. Place the cooked meatballs in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Allow the meatballs to defrost and reheat in marinara sauce on the stovetop.

Check out these other simple meatball Recipes

• Cast Iron Meatballs
• Pesto Turkey Meatballs
• Sweet and Sour Chicken Meatballs
• Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Meatballs
• Easy Instant Pot Meatballs

You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!

Recipe

Air Fryer Turkey Meatballs

★★★★★ 5 from 9 reviews

Make tender and delicious air fryer turkey meatballs in less than 30 minutes!

Recipe By: Madeline

Prep: 10 minutesCook: 14 minutesTotal: 24 minutes

Print Pin it Rate recipe Save recipe

Servings: 3 servings 1x

1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1lb ground turkey (I like to use dark meat ground turkey)
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (omit if you don’t like spice)

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. Pour ground turkey, bread crumbs, egg, parmesan cheese, oregano, garlic powder, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper into a large mixing bowl. Mix together with a spoon or your hands until a smooth, even mixture remains. 
2. Spray air fryer basket with non stick spray. Use a 2tbsp scoop to scoop out 12 meatballs. Roll them into tight balls with wet hands and arrange on the air fryer basket.
3. Preheat your air fryer to 350F. When the air fryer is warm, place the basket inside and cook at 350F for 14 minutes or until the internal temp of the meatballs reaches 165F.

** To serve I like to heat a jar of marinara sauce over med-low heat on the stove. Then, I toss the meatballs in the sauce and serve over pasta!

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.