Buffalo Turkey Meatballs (Keto, Gluten Free)

These juicy, low carb and gluten free buffalo turkey meatballs are absolutely scrumptious. There's super easy to make with just a few ingredients. These healthy meatballs are packed with your favorite traditional buffalo chicken wing ingredients, including buffalo wing sauce, celery, and blue cheese dressing.

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You'll love these tasty buffalo meatballs for any occasion. It's all the things you love about buffalo chicken, with ground turkey, and in meatball form! Whip some up for a super bowl party, meal prep or a weeknight dinner. You'll love how easy these are to make.

Feel free to skip to the recipe card if you're ready to get right into it. We do cover common questions, tips, and tricks in the body of this post to keep reading if you're wondering something. You may also like the step by step photos below.

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Ingredients:​

For the meatballs:​

• Ground turkey - Ground turkey is an excellent alternative to ground chicken for this meatball recipe. Ground chicken could be used instead if you prefer!
• Almond flour - We use almond flour to help bind the meatballs together, while maintaining moisture. Almond flour has a great, neutral taste. You can use almond meal or pork rind crumbs if you prefer.
• Onion - Finely minced. You can substitute onion powder if you prefer.
• Celery - Finely minced, and optional, but adds flavor and moisture.
• Garlic - Garlic powder could be used instead.
• Buffalo sauce - Buffalo sauce will go inside and outside of the meatballs!
• Egg - To help bind the meatballs together.
• Dry seasonings: kosher salt , black pepper, dried parsley, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper. Add more or less of what you like!
• Serve with: buffalo sauce (see below), blue cheese dressing,

For the buffalo sauce:​

• Salted butter - We actually opted for salted butter in this case, because it added just the right amount of salt and flavor! You can always use unsalted, and then salt to taste.
• Buffalo sauce - Buffalo sauce will go inside and outside of the meatballs!
• Dry seasonings: Black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder are great for this.

How to Make Buffalo Turkey Meatballs:

Gather all of your ingredients for the meatballs in a large bowl, and mix together until well combined.

Preheat your oven to 400°F. Roll the meat mixture into equal sized meatballs. We made 18 large meatballs, but you could also make up to 36 smaller meatballs. Place meatballs on a large baking sheet. We used our Lodge cast iron baking sheet, which doesn't require parchment. If using a regular baking sheet, line with parchment.

Bake for 22-27 minutes, until internal temperature is at least 165°F. You could also cook these in batches on the stovetop if you prefer. We prefer the oven method for easy weeknight dinners and meal prep.

While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the sauce by combining all of the ingredients in a small sauce pan, cooking and stirring continuously over medium-low heat until combined.

Clean off any excess fat that from the meatballs that seeped out during baking and place meatballs in a bowl. Pour in the sauce, tossing to coat.

Garnish with green onions, blue cheese crumbles, and blue cheese dressing. Serve with carrots and celery. Enjoy!

Tips For Baking Vs. Pan Frying:

• You can definitely cook these meatballs on the stovetop in a hot cast iron skillet with oil if you prefer. Just make sure to brown on all sides, and make sure the meatballs are completely cooked though.
• We actually prefer the oven method for this recipe, as the recipe creates such a large batch of meatballs. It's honestly just easier to ensure even cooking. Also, we coat these meatballs with a buttery buffalo sauce afterwards, and the sauce doesn't start with pan drippings like many of our other recipes.
• For baking, use a parchment lined baking sheet for easy clean up and to ensure that the meatballs don't stick. We often use our Lodge Cast Iron baking sheet for these because we love how evenly it heats. For our Lodge baking sheet, we don't need to use any parchment paper.

How To Make Turkey Meatballs That Don't Fall Apart:

If your turkey meatballs fall apart, it's probably the binder you're using that's the problem. Our recipe is just the right proportions to ensure nothing will fall apart, all while maintaining the perfect moisture level.

Most meatball recipes of any kind call for breadcrumbs and eggs as the binder. We use almond flour in this recipe in place of breadcrumbs and it works like a charm. Pork rind crumbs should work perfectly as well.

If you add or too much or too little of a breadcrumb replacement, this will cause your meatballs to fall apart. Our recipe has been tested to perfection, and they won't fall apart!

How To Know When The Meatballs Are Fully Cooked:

The easiest way to tell if your meatballs are done is by using an instant read meat thermometer to ensure the temperature is at least 165°F. When you cut the meatballs in half, they should look completely cooked though, and a soft white color.

Turkey meatballs that are pink on the inside are NOT safe to consume. This isn't like preparing a steak. Poultry has a much higher "safe to consume" temperature. Both chicken and turkey need to be fully cooked and there is no such thing as enjoying them "medium rare!"

More Recipes To Try:

• Cast Iron Meatballs - Cheesy Baked One Skillet Meal
• Keto Swedish Meatballs
• Lamb Meatballs with Lemon and Feta
• Keto Buffalo Chicken Chili

Need more ideas? Be sure to check out this massive list of over 85+ low carb and keto friendly recipes on our site!

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Until Next Time,
Briana & Chamere

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