Buffalo Turkey Meatballs With Drizzled Blue Cheese

We are making an effort to reduce our grocery store spending, and I'm going to tackle this with two methods: meal planning (to reduce the number of times we find ourselves at the store), and building a menu around meats that are on special at my grocery store.

Last week, ground turkey was $3.99 for a one-pound package, so I picked it up and remembered about a Pinterest recipe that I'd saved that called for ground chicken. I knew the ground turkey would be an easy substitute. 

Buffalo Turkey Meatballs 

(adapted from this recipe)

1 pound ground turkey

3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs

1 large egg 

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 

1/2 teaspoon onion powder 

2 green onions, thinly sliced 

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 

3/4 cup buffalo sauce 

1/4 cup blue cheese dressing

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat and set aside. 

In a large bowl, combine ground chicken, Panko, egg, garlic and onion powder and green onions; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Combine ingredients with a fork. Roll the mixture into 1 1/4-to-1 1/2-inch meatballs, forming about 24 meatballs. 

Place meatballs onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 4-5 minutes, or until all sides are browned. Place meatballs into a slow cooker. Add buffalo sauce and gently toss to combine. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 hours. Serve immediately, drizzled with blue cheese dressing.

I substituted chives for green onions since I'm growing some in a pot on the patio. Other than the turkey, the buffalo sauce is the only ingredient I didn't already have on hand, and a bottle of it was less than $1.50 (Harris Teeter brand) and I only used half of the bottle. A very cost-effective meal!

We served the meatballs alongside wedge salads with ranch dressing, cracked black pepper, and blue cheese (the lettuce was leftover from lettuce-wrap burgers) and stewed white beans with fresh rosemary.

For the beans, I just use a can of cannelini or Great Northern beans, rinse them off well, put them in a saucepan with some water, salt, pepper, and sprigs of fresh rosemary from the yard, and let them simmer for at least 30 minutes. They get really creamy and delicious. One of our favorites, and not bad for a side that is under a dollar.

These meatballs were perfect as an entree, however I could also see them as a great gameday appetizer, served on a platter and skewered with a toothpick. The perfect pick-up-and-pop-in snack!