Turkey Meatballs with Cranberry Glaze

A couple years ago, I was craving “something festive” - but also meatballs.

I wanted the taste of the holidays, just in bite form.

See, it was the holiday season, I had a Facebook feed full of all the wonderful treats my friends - and other bloggers - were planning for their meals and parties, etc.

I was elbows deep in developing New Year Eve recipes for my first blog - not gluten free, not keto, just a bunch of tasty food that I would have to watch my husband enjoy.

Anyway, that’s how my Keto Turkey Meatballs with Cranberry Glaze recipe was born!

Obviously, it’s a turkey meatball recipe that’s even more diet-specialized than most of my Beyond Flour readers will want, so I toned it down a bit to share with you today!

This version is gluten free, and absolutely tastes of the holidays. Between the turkey, the walnuts, the herbs, and the cranberries, it’s like the flavour of half a Thanksgiving dinner, in one bite!

... only this version has plenty of delicious sugar involved, and no worries about the sauce crystallizing!

This recipe was designed as a fancy appetizer, but can also be served as a main. We’ve used it as a cheaper, easier alternative to a full turkey dinner.

This year - as I’m developing camping suitable recipes for our new RV Blog - we’ll be making a version over a camp fire, to see how that works!

All around, a fantastic recipe. Hope you love it as much as we do!

Ingredients

This recipe uses really simple ingredients that should be easy to find in almost any grocery store - if you don’t already have them on hand.

A few notes for you:

Cranberries

You can use fresh or frozen cranberries in this recipe.

I’ll generally use fresh berries when they’re in season, but this festive cranberry meatballs recipe is WAY too tasty to restrict to just that short season!

When using frozen, I’ll usually just toss them in without thawing, and let them thaw in the cooking process.

If you defrost them before using, be sure to use the berries AND all of the juice that comes off them.

Ground Turkey

While this recipe was originally designed as a Thanksgiving meatballs recipe - and used turkey for that, obviously - it works just as well with ground chicken.

You could probably even use it woth ground pork, or a mixture of ground pork and ground poultry.

I think ground beef would overpower the flavour profile, though.

Chopped Walnuts

This recipe was originally designed to use Chopped Walnuts, as that’s usually my go-to for using with cranberries.

You’ll want to finely chop your walnuts BEFORE measuring. They take the place of using a flour or bread crumbs in this meatball recipe, as well as adding flavour.

So, you want them chopped fairly small.

If you’re not into walnuts, you can substitute Chopped Pecans - another great option when working with seasonal cranberry recipes.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need

Granulated Sugar (White Sugar)
Apple Cider Vinegar
Olive Oil
Dried Parsley
Dried Sage (or finely chopped Dried Rosemary)
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Ground Black Pepper
Salt

... but I really don’t have anything to add, as far as these ingredients go. Pretty straightforward!

How to Make Gluten-Free Turkey Meatballs with Cranberry Glaze

The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is a pictorial walk through:

Cranberry Glaze

Measure cranberries, water, sugar, and vinegar into a pot.

Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, turn heat down to medium-low and allow to simmer until all of the cranberries have burst and a sauce is starting to form - don’t let it get too thick, though.

Remove from heat

Press cranberry mixture through a fine metal sieve. Discard solids that couldn’t be scraped through the sieve. Season strained pulp with salt and pepper - to taste.

Set aside.

Turkey Meatballs

Mix ground turkey together with the walnuts, herbs, spices, salt, and pepper.

Form turkey mixture into meatballs, placing into a nonstick pan along with the olive oil.

Add cranberry glaze to the pan, stir well to coat.

Continue cooking until sauce thickens and meatballs are cooked all the way through.

Serve hot.

Once cooled almost to room temp, leftover meatballs can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

More Gluten-Free Holiday Recipes!

Looking for something festive - for the whole family? Here are some great gluten-free recipes perfect for your holiday table!

Cranberry Chicken
Cranberry Jello Salad
Gluten Free Candy Cane Cookies
Gluten-Free Fruitcake
Gluten Free Fruitcake Cookies
Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies
Gluten Free Maple Pumpkin Pie
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Mini Doughnuts
Gluten Free Paska [Easter Bread]
Gluten-Free Sauerkraut Buns [Pyrizhky]
Gluten Free Stuffing Recipe
Honey Roasted Carrots & Parsnips
Pumpkin Cheese Ball - Classier Version
Pumpkin Cheese Ball - Trashier Version
Sweet Potato Souffle

Need holiday foods that are gluten free AND low carb? Here are a few more ideas, from my low carb blog:

Keto Turkey Gravy
Low Carb Stuffing
Keto Scalloped Potatoes
Hasselback Turnips
Low Carb Funeral Potatoes
Pumpkin Fat Bombs
Turkey Meatballs with Keto Cranberry Glaze

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