I was inspired to create these meatballs when I thought about the chicken taco I tasted from Gadzooks in Phoenix. I thought besides good seasoning and other good things what made the taco delicious was the cornbread. So I made fresh cornbread to make these meatballs. My twist to add more flavor was that instead of oil in the cornbread I used saved chicken fat for more layers of flavors…..These meatballs are well seasoned and FORKING delicious. They truly are Thanksgiving in a ball. You will have more cornbread than you need for the recipe. You only need about 1/3 of the cornbread for the meatball recipe. I saved the extra cornbread to add to my stuffing mixture I’m going to make latter. Also I have to apologies for my photo….I don’t know why but I get a false yellow color in my photos sometimes. I figure my light is the reason.

Ingredients for about 30 meatballs or 6 servings.

1 1/4 cup flour – cornbread

3/4 cup corn meal – cornbread

1/4 cup sugar – cornbread

2 teaspoons baking powder – cornbread

1/2 teaspoon course sea salt – cornbread

1 cup water – cornbread

1/4 cup chicken fat – melted – cornbread

1 egg – slightly beaten – cornbread

non stick spray

1 lb ground turkey (I used 93% lean this time) – meatball

2 large eggs – slightly beaten – meatball

1 1/3 cup fresh made cornbread (packed loose) – meatball

2 teaspoons vegetable base – meatball

1/4 cup sweet onions – fine chop – meatball

2 garlic cloves (I used large ones) microplane or ground to paste – meatball

1/2 rib celery – fine chopped – meatball

1/2 sprig fresh rosemary – fine chopped – meatball

1 sprig fresh thyme – fine chopped – meatball

1 1/2 teaspoon fresh sage – fine chopped – meatball

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper – meatball

pinch crushed red pepper – meatball

1/3 cup dried cranberries – meatball

non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 400 degrees F.

Spray a pan with non stick spray. Set to the side.

In a large bowl combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and  salt.

In a small bowl combine water, chicken fat and egg and mix well.

Add the small bowl contents to the large bowl and mix well.

Pour batter into sprayed pan and place in oven until done. (about 20 minutes)

 

For the meatballs the oven needs to be set at 350 degrees F.

Spray a sheet pan(s) with non stick spray.

In a large bowl mix everything remaining together except for the nonstick spray.

I recommend you to make a 1/2 size tester meatball. Cook it for about 7 minutes and decide if you need to make any adjustments. (but I don’t think you will need to adjust)

Then-

Use a small scoop and roll out your meatballs. Space them slightly on the pan(s).

cook until done. (about 15 minutes)

People are going to love them!

Hopefully you saved some drippings from your last turkey in your freezer so you can whip up a quick gravy. Just add some flour to thicken and vegetable stock with a small amount of fresh thyme, sage and rosemary. It will be delicious!

This way you can enjoy Thanksgiving whenever you want. These Thanksgiving Meatballs also can be a great appetizer too! These are delicious full flavored Turkey Meatballs that taste just like Thanksgiving.