I cannot even tell you how much our family loved this recipe! All of their reactions were priceless, but it was my youngest (our pickiest eater) who won the quote of the day. He said something I have never heard him say EVER before in our kitchen.
He said, “THIS TASTES JUST LIKE FAZOLI’S!”
(INSERT SHOCK FACE)
He kept raving about how good the meatballs were. You just have to know this kid to know why this was a big deal. Kip has been going through a really long phase where he only LOVES about a handful of foods. After seeing his reaction, I just could not wait to get this recipe on the blog and share it with you. These meatballs and zucchini noodles definitely get the kid’s stamp of approval. (They had no idea I hid cauliflower in the meatballs… shhhh…don’t tell them…) 🙂
5 FreeStyle Smart Points per satisfying serving.
By using lean ground turkey, eggs, and cauliflower, I was able to bulk up the meatballs without using very many Smart Points, which meant I was able to add cheese, seasonings, and sauce and still keep this meal down to 5 Weight Watchers FreeStyle Smart Points per serving. You will love how flavorful this dish is when it comes together. It’s delicious!
Tools I used.
Okay, so let’s talk a little bit about what tools I used to make this, and then we will get to the recipe.
Food Processor and Spiralizer.
I decided to use our Ninja Intelli-Sense food processor, because it makes mincing cauliflower and onions into itty bitty pieces super easy. Then, I switched the food processor out for the Ninja Intelli-Sense Spiralizer to make the zucchini noodles. Don’t have a spiralizer? No problem. Scroll to the bottom of this post for a short video that shows three ways you can make zoodles without a spiralizer. The Ninja® Intelli-Senseâ„¢ Kitchen System with Auto-Spiralizerâ„¢ is one of my new favorite things in our kitchen and has the absolute best blender and spiralizer I have ever had the pleasure of using.
Air Fryer.
I used my GoWise USA Air Fryer to make the meatballs, but you do not have to use an air fryer to make this recipe. I am giving you the directions to make the meatballs in the oven or in an air fryer, for those who do not own an air fryer. Using the air fryer added a little bit more crunch to the outside of the meatballs, but truly, they tasted great either way.
This is what our meatballs looked like after being cooked in the air fryer…
and here is what the meatballs looked like when they were baked in the oven…
You may recognize the Ninja system and air fryer in the pictures from our giveaway series that we did in December. Interested in reading more about my experience with the food processor, spiralizer, or air fryer? I did a couple of reviews when we did our giveaways. You can check out my reviews of the Ninja® Intelli-Sense™ Kitchen System with Auto-Spiralizer™ or my review of the GoWise USA Air Fryer, by clicking on the links provided.
Okay, now on to the recipe!
Delicious Meatballs and Zoodles Recipe
Here is what you need:
2 cups cauliflower
1 small onion
1 pound 98-99% lean ground turkey
3 eggs, divided
1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded mozzarella cheese
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
1 (.7 ounce) packet Good Seasons Italian all natural salad dressing and recipe mix
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
Cooking spray
3-4 zucchinis
1-3/8 cup Spaghetti sauce, divided
Here is what you do:
Preheat oven to 425°F or air fryer to 390°F.
Chop the cauliflower and onion into small pieces using a blender or food processor.
Add ground turkey, Parmesan cheese, 1 egg, mozzarella cheese, and Italian seasoning packet to the cauliflower and onion. Blend with food processor or mix well with hands.
Whisk the remaining 2 eggs in a shallow dish and put the breadcrumbs in a separate shallow dish.
Using wet hands, make meat mixture into 18 meatballs, about 3 tablespoons each. Dip the meatballs one at a time in the egg, and then gently roll them into the breadcrumbs to coat.
Spray the air fryer basket, or a large baking sheet, with cooking spray.
Place meatballs in air fryer basket or on large baking sheet. Lightly spray the meatballs with cooking spray.
If using an oven, bake meatballs, turning over once, until they are heated through, about 20 minutes.
If using an air fryer, cook 10 minutes, turning the meatballs halfway through. (This will probably have to be done in two separate batches.)
While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the zoodles. Using a spiralizer, make zucchini into spaghetti noodles. (We used our Ninja spiralizer. See the video at the bottom of this post for other ways to make zoodles if you do not have a spiralizer.)
Place spiralized zucchini in a large pot with 1 cup spaghetti sauce. Cook over medium heat about 8-10 minutes, or until the zoodles are as tender as you would prefer.
Serve 1/3 cup zucchini noodles with 3 meatballs. Top each plate with an additional 1 tablespoon spaghetti sauce.
Makes 6 servings.
One serving is 3 meatballs, 1 additional tablespoon spaghetti sauce, and approximately 1/3 cup zoodles (more or less, depending on the size of your zucchinis).
One serving is 7 Green, 5 Blue, and 5 Purple points.
Italian Turkey Meatballs & Zoodles
Ingredients
- 2 cups cauliflower
- 1 small onion
- 1 pound 98-99% lean ground turkey
- 3 eggs, divided
- 1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded mozzarella cheese
- 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- 1 (.7 ounce) packet Good Seasons Italian all natural salad dressing and recipe mix
- 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
- Cooking spray
- 3-4 zucchinis
- 1-3/8 cup Spaghetti sauce, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F or air fryer to 390°F.
- Chop the cauliflower and onion into small pieces using a blender or food processor.
- Add ground turkey, Parmesan cheese, 1 egg, mozzarella cheese, and Italian seasoning packet to the cauliflower and onion. Blend with food processor or mix well with hands.
- Whisk the remaining 2 eggs in a shallow dish and put the breadcrumbs in a separate shallow dish.
- Using wet hands, make meat mixture into 18 meatballs, about 3 tablespoons each. Dip the meatballs one at a time in the egg and then gently roll them into the breadcrumbs to coat.
- Spray the air fryer basket, or a large baking sheet, with cooking spray.
- Place meatballs in air fryer basket or on large baking sheet. Lightly spray the meatballs with cooking spray.
- If using an oven, bake meatballs, turning over once, until they are heated through, about 20 minutes.
- If using an air fryer, cook 10 minutes, turning the meatballs halfway through. (This will probably have to be done in two separate batches.)
- While the meatballs are cooking, prepare the zoodles. Using a spiralizer, make zucchini into spaghetti noodles. Place spiralized zucchini in a large pot with 1 cup spaghetti sauce. Cook over medium heat about 8-10 minutes, or until the zoodles are as tender as you would prefer.
- Serve 1/3 cup zucchini noodles with 3 meatballs. Top each plate with an additional 1 tablespoon spaghetti sauce.
Don’t have a spiralizer? No problem.
You can still make zucchini noodles without having a spiralizer. Check out this video for 3 ways you can make zoodles without a spiralizer:
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Christina says
I just got done with the hugest meal, and this recipe is making me hungry again! lol. Looks like I can afford it though, points wise. I can’t wait to try!
Alisha Hughes says
🙂 Love it!
jen says
Hi, thanks for all your hard work ! I’m new, i am wondering how come this is 5 points? The only thing in the recipe I see that is not zero points is the cheese and breadcrumbs. Is there anything else you counted?
thanks
Jen
Alisha Hughes says
Parmesan=3, Mozzarella=4, breadcrumbs=7, Italian seasoning packet=2, spaghetti sauce=13… divided by 6 servings= 5 WW SP per serving. 🙂
Robin says
What spaghetti sauce do you use?
Alisha Hughes says
The wording I used in the WW app recipe builder is “bottle spaghetti sauce” which is a generic term. According to the app 1-3/8 cup of this kind of sauce would be 13 WW SP. Hope that helps.
Erin says
Do the meatballs freeze well if I wanted to make a large batch at a time?
Alisha Hughes says
I haven’t tried to freeze mine, but generally speaking meatballs do freeze and reheat well. The Nourishing Gourmet gives instructions on how to freeze and reheat meatballs here: https://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2015/01/how-to-freeze-meatballs.html. Hope this helps! 🙂