Turkey meatball orzo bowls
45 min · 54 g protein · 476 cals / serving
Tender oven-baked turkey meatballs with lemon, oregano and grated zucchini, over lemony orzo with cucumber, cherry tomatoes, spinach, red onion and feta, and a pot of garlicky dill tzatziki for spooning over. Four lunches, warm or cold.
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 1/3 lb ground turkey breast (99% lean), extra-lean ground turkey breast
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup rolled oats, quick oats
- 1 small zucchini, coarsely grated and squeezed dry
- 2 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Lemon orzo
- 2/3 cup orzo, uncooked
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp olive oil
Tzatziki
- 1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cucumber, grated and squeezed
- 3 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
Bowls
- 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
- 3 handfuls baby spinach
- 1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
- a few leaves fresh mint (optional)
- 1 small cucumber, diced
Steps
- Heat the oven to 400°F and line a tray with baking paper. Mix all the meatball ingredients with your hands until just combined, then roll into 20 balls the size of a golf ball (wet hands stop sticking). The zucchini, oats and egg are what keep extra-lean turkey tender, so do not skip them.
- Bake for 14–17 minutes, until browned and cooked through to 165°F in the middle. Start checking at 14 minutes: lean turkey dries out if it is overbaked.
- Meanwhile, cook the orzo in salted boiling water for 8–9 minutes, until tender. Drain, then toss straight away with the lemon juice, olive oil and a pinch of salt so it does not set into a clump as it cools.
- Stir the yogurt, grated cucumber, dill, garlic powder and a pinch of salt together for the tzatziki, and divide it between four small pots.
- Build four containers: orzo on one side, five meatballs on the other, and the spinach, tomatoes, diced cucumber, red onion and feta tucked around them. Add mint leaves if you have them.
Good to know
Hot or cold, and how long does it keep?
4 days in the fridge. Cold, it eats like a Greek salad bowl. To warm it, pack the meatballs and orzo in one container and the vegetables, feta and tzatziki in another; microwave the first for about 2 minutes, until steaming, then add the cold half on top.
Can I freeze the meatballs?
Yes. Freeze the baked, cooled meatballs on a tray, then bag them; they keep 3 months and reheat from frozen in about 3 minutes in the microwave. The orzo freezes fine too. The vegetables and tzatziki do not, so make those fresh.
Can I use more feta?
Yes, a fuller crumble makes the bowls richer and saltier, at about 68 instead of 72.
Per
- Calories
- 93
- Protein
- (46%)
- 11 g
- Fat
- (21%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (33%)
- 8 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 138 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1906 kcal goes into the pot and 2076 g of ingredients comes out as about 2046 g of food: 93 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.