It’s that time of the year again. Turkey, turkey and more turkey. My mom used to get through it by making her (in)famous “Turkey Tetrazzini”, AKA Cream of Mushroom soup and leftover turkey on noodles. Okay, so she wasn’t a very imaginative cook, but, in her defense, she did have to feed 7 of us while working most days. My dad wasn’t big on eating out, so it was cooked meals 7 days a week.
I thought up these meatballs as a way of using up not just the turkey, but the mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy too!!
Ingredients
- 5 Cups Turkey, stripped off bird
- 3 Cups prepared Mashed Potatoes
- 3 Cups prepared Stuffing
- 1 Cup Cranberry Sauce (Optional)
- 1 or 2 Cups Turkey Gravy
- 3 Large Eggs
Preheat Oven to 400F Degrees
- Using blender or food processor, chop turkey until it’s the consistency of ground meat. Put in large bowl.
- Add stuffing to blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Add to bowl.
- Add potatoes, cranberry sauce (optional), and eggs to mixture in bowl. Mix well, use a hand mixer if you want!
- Make individual meatballs by forming into 2 inch balls. I use an ice cream scooper, but whatever method you prefer is fine. Put on greased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 400F Degrees for 20 minutes.
- OPTIONAL STEP: If you would like to have your meatballs more firm and brown on top, raise oven temperature to 450F Degrees, move rack up one notch in oven and bake an additional 10 minutes. I did this to ours, as shown in picture, as we prefer them this way.
- Serve with Gravy over noodles or rice.
*Yields approximately 35 meatballs, ready to serve and/or freeze*
Any questions or opinions? Please leave comments below and I’ll be sure to answer. I would love to hear from you!! ENJOY!!
Suzy
I really love to make one-pot meals, not just for the easy cleanup, but the fact that you can make large portions and freeze them for another day. This is a great ‘leave it and forget it’ recipe, but you sure don’t have to leave it for long, as it cooks in only 6 minutes after pressure buildup. A great 30 minute (or less!) meal idea. Since this recipe has so many great flavors, you really don’t need to spend too much on the salsa ingredients, (jarred store brands will do) or, even better, if it’s the growing season, you can use soft tomatoes and peppers that you might find marked down at the grocery or, (even better) in your own backyard garden!
I decided to post this crumble recipe because it is super versatile and economical. You can use any type of fruit that you happen to have, and the rest of the ingredients are all kitchen staples, so there’s no running to the store to pick up anything else. The recipe itself can be altered if you want a little or alot of crumbles, too!! I always use fruit that I have picked up at the store discounted, or something that I have in my kitchen that is on the verge of turning, so it doesn’t get wasted!!
 Now, I know that even at this price it’s a little costly, but you do get quite a few servings out of this, and can freeze it for later, or pack it as a lunch to save on eating out. And, this way, you are getting the exact same meat for 40% cheaper, so you can double your recipe for the same price, or, if you are like me, make it for HALF the price!!
  1. Peel the carrots and slice them as you prefer. I cut mine into little discs, so they cook through. Just don’t make them too big, or they will be hard!! Wash your celery and dice that up, and then dice up the onion, and place it all in a colander and wash it up real good. Peel and cube the potatoes and wash them under the sink, then put them aside in a separate bowl.
  2. Cube your chuck meat. (FOOD SAFETY TIP: Have a separate cutting board that you ONLY use for raw meats.) If you want to stretch your stew into more servings, you can make your chunks smaller than mine, but remember that they do shrink when they cook. I made mine about 2 inches x 1 inch cubed.
 3. In a 6 qt or larger stock pot, heat the oil (I added pepper to mine to season the meat) on Medium/High heat (I set it at 8 on my electric stove).
 4. Brown your meat on all sides (just keep tossing it around in there and it should be mostly browned in about 10 minutes or so)
 5. Then add your chopped up veggies. Don’t add the potatoes yet. Stir your meat and veggies up and try to coat everything with the oil/pepper. This is the point you can add more spices (parsley, rosemary, etc) if you would like. I just keep it simple, because the beef has so much flavor after slow cooking!!
 6. Add the water, garlic, bouillon cubes, and Brown Gravy mix (optional) and stir well. Then add your potatoes, being careful not to splash yourself!! Simmer until boiling (still on Medium/High heat setting). Once stew is at a simmer, you can turn down the heat to a low setting. I set my stove at 3 and half cover the pot so it doesn’t boil too much. You just want it to have that slow simmer bubble thing going on.
Money Saving Kitchen 