Turkey & ricotta meatballs from Small Victories: Recipes, Advice + Hundreds of Ideas for Home-Cooking Triumphs (page 168) by Julia Turshen

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Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • sarah_6pau1d on March 29, 2026

    Easy crowd pleaser- made bc we have a GF family member so this was a hit.

  • mdagl on January 21, 2023

    Simple, hearty, tasty. Spouse gives it 4/5 stars. We halfed the recipe.

  • snoozermoose on May 31, 2022

    These were just okay for us. Definitely not the best meatballs I've made. I did appreciate the strong basil flavor, but they were slightly too dry for our taste. We both prefer meatballs made with beef and pork rather than turkey.

  • Melissa_427 on December 16, 2021

    What a mix of reviews! I decided to give these a go and was pleasantly surprised by how tasty they were. Since a common complaint seemed to be the moisture underneath the meatballs, I opted to bake them on a rack placed on the baking sheet which worked out beautifully. Mine didn’t seem to sloppy or hard to handle but I did end up making the mix and then forming the balls the next day after they had chilled. Definitely a repeat for me! Note: I didn’t make the tomato sauce and don’t intend to as I have other ways I intend to use these meatballs and other tomato sauces as needed.

  • lou_weez on April 12, 2021

    The meatballs were a little dry but still really flavourful. Next time will take them out of the oven earlier, as I left them in for the full 25 minutes. They were easy to roll and held their shape but only had browned bottoms. Served with pasta, this was a very hearty meal.

  • stephcoelho on June 26, 2020

    I make meatballs a lot but I did not like these at all. They were too soft and crumbly and largely fell apart in the sauce.

  • lindseyshannon34 on June 14, 2020

    They overcooked at 425 for 25 minutes. I'd start checking them at 15 minutes next time.

  • mamacrumbcake on June 08, 2020

    These were fine. The sauce was just average—my husband said it tasted like jarred sauce. The meatballs are extremely soft/wet when raw—difficult to handle and shape into baked. I think I might prefer the meatballs without the sauce.

  • MollyB on May 03, 2020

    We loved this recipe. The light tomato sauce, in our opinion, worked really well with the herby-garlicky meatballs. I've only made this once, but I'm guessing that the quality of the canned tomatoes (we used San Marzano) and the ricotta probably makes a big difference in the results. That might account for the variety of experiences people have had with the recipe. We'll definitely be making it again!

  • KaraCooks on February 14, 2020

    I LOVE this recipe and make it often. I tweak the sauce a bit and partially pan fry the meatballs so I can get some colour on them.

  • Rutabaga on January 16, 2020

    These meatballs were good, and my older son really loved them - I think he ate at least ten in one meal! They were a little odd, however, because they flattened as they baked and released a lot of liquid. I used 85% lean ground turkey, which is higher in fat than most ground turkey, so perhaps this was the cause? They were still quite tender, but fell apart easily, so I might add a few breadcrumbs or an egg to bulk them up next time. Instead of making the sauce in the recipe, I used a jar of pasta sauce, and I omitted the basil since I had none on hand.

  • ksambogna on July 02, 2019

    Quick and easy meatball recipe; prefer other sauce recipes

  • Zosia on January 14, 2019

    Family liked but didn't love this. The meatballs were flavourful but a little dry even though I took them out of the oven after 18 minutes as soon as they were cooked through. The sauce was fine but I do prefer one made with onion where its sweetness tempers the acidity of canned tomatoes.

  • NJChicaa on April 01, 2018

    I've made these a few times and have been very happy with them. I do make meatballs often with ground turkey so it wasn't a huge flavor change for me.

  • mzgourmand on November 19, 2017

    This was voted a meh recipe at my dinner table, not worth doing again. I agree with the other reviewers who found the meatballs on the dry side, the whole milk ricotta didn't result in the tender meatballs the recipe promised & others describe. I thought the flavors were fine but ordinary - not hugely delicious, and given the time involved want more than just OK. Beyond that I actually found that I didn't love the turkey flavor here - and I use ground turkey to make kofte all the time. And I think the choice of meat/poultry did result in a drier meatball.

  • LMK on September 20, 2017

    We loved these, they had great flavor and texture. The basil and parsley really make them. The simple garlicky tomato sauce was a perfect compliment. One thing to note, the meatballs didn't brown at all (and never would have given how crowded and wet the sheet pan was) I took them out of the oven in the time given without waiting for color since they were going into sauce anyway.

  • clcorbi on September 11, 2017

    Well, we loved these. The sauce reminded me of the one from the Frankie's Spuntino cookbook, which I do prefer, but that one also requires like four hours of simmering. So, this one is a good tradeoff that's a lot faster and still tasty. We especially loved the meatballs--I did find that they were a bit hard to roll up, so they didn't look the prettiest, but their flavor was SO good because of all that basil. I also felt that this recipe was comparatively easier to throw together than most meatballs I've made, and still had a huge flavor payoff, so that's a win.

  • lizbot2000 on July 15, 2017

    My kids turn up their noses at everything I cook because it's "too weird" (i.e., not nuggets or the exact chili they get at daycare), but they ate this enthusiastically. Seriously chowed it and told me it was good - I almost cried with happiness, for real. I was worried the meatballs wouldn't be cooked enough, because they weren't brown at all when I threw them in the tomato sauce, but I just turned up the heat on the tomato sauce for a little longer and they were fine. I'll definitely make this again.

  • KaraCooks on May 31, 2017

    I halved this recipe as well, added lots more basil. I cooked them at 300 in the oven just to get firm enough to put in the sauce. (15 minutes). Simmered in the sauce for 20...added lots of red chili flakes to the sauce as well. I loved this dish!!

  • raybun on May 21, 2017

    I halved the recipe and there was enough for the three of us with leftovers. At 15 minutes I drained the liquid from the baking sheet and put them back in the oven for another 10 mins. I suspect my ricotta was not superior enough hence the excess liquid. The meatballs were perfectly cooked and were very moist and flavourful. I served them with the roasted cauliflower with anchovy breadcrumbs from the same book.

  • ksg518 on March 20, 2017

    My daughter and I liked these meatballs just fine, although we're not sure we'd make them again. Ours weren't dry at all, although I may have brushed them with more olive oil than the recipe calls for prior to putting them in the oven. Only some of ours browned in the oven, but we didn't want to keep roasting them and risk drying them out. I would have preferred a more traditional sauce with some onion.

  • jenmacgregor18 on March 14, 2017

    I had the same experience that Emily Hope did. Not a successful recipe for me. At the 15 minute mark in the oven, there was so much moisture in the pan, they were boiling. Then they were overcooked at the 25 min mark. I just don't think ground turkey works for me in this application. Maybe I'm doing something wrong; but I'm not sure that the ricotta is an effective sub for breadcrumbs. I'll stick to a more traditional meatball recipe.

  • southerncooker on March 10, 2017

    I opted for the option of using Italian Sausage instead of turkey and my son picked out spicy Italian Sausage. Big hit with daughter, son and I. I did only make a half recipe. Sauce was good too.

  • westminstr on March 08, 2017

    Unlike the previous reviewer, I found these meatballs tender and tasty, very good especially for turkey! I think it's the ample amount of basil and parsley that really set these apart. Ricotta is not any easier than bread crumbs and egg, but good to know about if you are cooking for someone with a gluten or egg allergy. I made a half recipe, would probably go ahead and make the full recipe next time and freeze half. I liked her sauce recipe as well (I omitted the water).

  • Emily Hope on September 14, 2016

    These were a disappointment--perhaps my fault for following the recipe too literally, but by the time the meatballs had any sort of browning on them in the oven, they were clearly overcooked and surrounded by moisture on the baking sheet. That problem, coupled with the leanness of ground turkey (even dark meat, which we used) meant that these were dry, hard little balls of sadness, albeit flavorful ones. I'm not convinced that ricotta is an effective substitute for bread crumbs and milk, although I like the idea in theory. I'm still going to try the variation with sausage, which I imagine would be more successful with the higher fat content of sausage.

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