Turkey Ricotta Spinach Meatballs are so easy to make -add some marinara sauce and vegetables and serve over pasta for a deliciously well-balanced meal!
Turkey Ricotta Spinach Meatballs come together easily to help create a simple and delicious meal that the whole family will enjoy!
Like many of you, I try to make sure that my family is eating a well-balanced diet. I have four kids and life is busy, so I have to find ways to serve nutritious meals that don’t take too much time to prepare.
I love the Buitoni pastas and sauces because they are basically ready to go and if you just add a few simple ingredients, you have an entire meal ready to eat in just a few minutes! The meatballs in this dish provide a wonderful source of protein (and dairy too!) so when you add them to your pasta and mix in a few vegetables, you have a complete and well-balanced meal.
Our whole family enjoys pasta with a variety of sauces and I love Buitoni because both the sauce and the pasta taste so fresh! The noodles are absolutely incredible and I absolutely love that you only have to cook them for 2 minutes! Two minutes – that’s it!
One thing you can do to save even more time is make the meatballs ahead of time and then freeze them. Add some Buitoni Marinara sauce and vegetables, cook the pasta and you have a meal ready in just a few short minutes.
Eating dinner together as a family is something that I place a high priority on, and in order to make this happen consistently, I need to be able to make fast and simple meals like this one. Nestlé has designed an educational program, Balance Your Plate, to help provide quick, easy and well-balanced meal ideas. I love the idea of adding fruits, vegetables, protein and whole grains to frozen and prepared foods in order to make easy meals that are also delicious and nutritious!
TURKEY RICOTTA SPINACH MEATBALLS
MEATBALLS
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh spinach
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of ground pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
SAUCE
- 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
- 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped zucchini
- 1- 9 oz. pkg Buitoni Linguine
- 1 -15 oz. pkg Buitoni Marinara Sauce
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients together except for the olive oil and mix until well combined.
- Shape the mixture into 24 meatballs (about 1″ in diameter).
- Coat the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil and heat over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Place meatballs in a single layer into the skillet and brown on each side.
- Add the Buitoni Marinara Sauce, mushrooms, green pepper and zucchini to the meatballs and simmer over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes.
- While the meatballs are simmering, bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Just a few minutes before the sauce is ready, cook the Buitoni Linguine according to package directions (it only takes 2 minutes!).
- Serve the linguine immediately with the meatballs and sauce on top. Enjoy!
TURKEY RICOTTA SPINACH MEATBALLS
Ingredients
MEATBALLS
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh spinach
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
SAUCE
- 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
- 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
- 1/2 cup chopped zucchini
- 1- 9 oz. pkg Buitoni Linguine
- 1 -15 oz. pkg Buitoni Marinara Sauce
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients together except for the olive oil and mix until well combined.
- Shape the mixture into 24 meatballs (about 1" in diameter).
- Coat the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil and heat over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Place meatballs in a single layer into the skillet and brown on each side.
- Add the Buitoni Marinara Sauce, mushrooms, green pepper and zucchini to the meatballs and simmer over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes.
- While the meatballs are simmering, bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Just a few minutes before the sauce is ready, cook the Buitoni Linguine according to package directions (it only takes 2 minutes!).
- Serve the linguini immediately with the meatballs and sauce on top. Enjoy!
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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Balance Your Plate and Buitoni. The opinions and text are all mine.
Rebecca Hubbell says
I never thought of adding ricotta to meatballs, but it sounds like a delicious idea!
Julia says
This looks like a great weeknight meal! Easy and delicious!! Love the addition of ricotta.
Colleen Benedict says
Can I bake these instead? 350 20 minutes?
Libby says
Sounds delish – can I sub mozzarella for ricotta?
Nellie says
They have very different consistencies so I’m not sure that mozzarella would work as well to help hold the meatballs together.