These easy turkey herb and goat cheese meatballs are a showstopper, a one-pan wonder and ideal for any holiday get-together. Warm tender meatballs smothered in a warm cozy sweet and tart fresh cranberry sauce.
Friendsgiving and Potlucks
Turkey herb and goat cheese meatballs are the definition of Friendsgiving and perfect for potlucks. These easy and quick slow simmered tender turkey meatballs will make you the best host or party guest. Get ready to be a very popular friend. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
Turkey and Goat Cheese
Ground turkey can be hard to cook because it can easily become dry or under-seasoned. Goat cheese will lock in the moisture and give it such an amazing flavor that is hard to beat.
The Coziest Fresh Cranberry Orange Sauce
With the simmered cranberries, freshly squeezed orange juice, brown sugar, cinnamon and cloves, it will make your kitchen smell like the holidays! Simmer the fresh cranberries over low-medium heat for 15-20 minutes, until they start to pop as the sauce thickens. These layers of flavor and will balance the creamy goat cheese and moist tender turkey meatballs.
Browning the Turkey Meatballs
In melting butter over medium-high heat, add the meatballs. They will sizzle as they hit the warm butter. You may notice that the turkey meatballs “stick” to the pan, they will loosen up on their own as they brown. Once browned they will be able to turn them over to brown the other side. Try to resist the urge to ripe them off the bottom of the pan.
Quickly brown all sides of the turkey meatballs, they will finish cooking through when they are smothered in the sauce.
After the meatballs are browned, remove them from the pan and start making the cranberry sauce. As the sauce forms, you can use a wooden spoon or spatula to gently scrape up the turkey meatball bits off the bottom of the pan and add back into the sauce.
Add the meatballs back into the sauce and simmer over low until the meatballs are 165F and the cranberries have popped into a thick beautiful sauce.
Turkey Herb and Goat Cheese Meatballs in a Cranberry Orange Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lbs Ground Turkey
- ½ cup Breadcrumbs
- 0.5 oz Plain Goat Cheese
- 2 TBSP Fresh Chopped Sage
- 1 Egg
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 TBSP Butter
Fresh Cranberry Orange Sauce
- 12 oz Fresh Cranberries
- ¼ cup Brown Sugar - packed
- ½ Orange - Zested & Juiced
- ¼ cup Water
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Ground Cloves
- 3-4 Springs of Thyme
- 3-4 Springs of Sage
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix together the turkey meatballs. Crumble up the goat cheese before adding it to the bowl. Mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Scoop out and roll into about 1 inch meatballs.1 lbs Ground Turkey, ½ cup Breadcrumbs, 0.5 oz Plain Goat Cheese, 2 TBSP Fresh Chopped Sage, 1 Egg, 1 tsp Salt
- In a large pan with a lot of surface space, melt the butter over medium -high heat, hot but the butter shouldn't be browning or splattering.2 TBSP Butter
- Add in the meatballs and quickly brown on all sides. Once brown, remove from the pan and set aside.
- In the same pan, over medium low heat, add in the fresh cranberries orange sauce ingredients. Add in the browned turkey meatballs and cover.12 oz Fresh Cranberries, ¼ cup Brown Sugar - packed, ½ Orange - Zested & Juiced, ¼ cup Water, 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon, ½ tsp Ground Cloves, 3-4 Springs of Thyme, 3-4 Springs of Sage
- Over low/medium heat let the cranberries slowly pop and the meatballs continue to cook through, turkey should be 165F. About 15-20 minutes.
