Raspberry Glazed Cocktail Meatballs (With Ground Turkey)

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Adding a Wow Factor to a Classic Holiday Appetizer: Turkey Cocktail Meatballs With Raspberry Glaze

The holiday season is upon us (finally!), which means holiday parties and a lot of festive food, so I figured I’d share one of my favorite meatball appetizers with a total wow factor – turkey cocktail meatballs with raspberry glaze.

Cocktail meatballs are a nostalgic appetizer – I remember going to Christmas parties when I was younger, and there would always be a slow cooker filled with savory and delicious cocktail meatballs covered in sweet and sticky sauce. Plus, I loved that they were served with a toothpick when I was little.

Now that I’m an adult… not much has changed. I still love cocktail meatballs served with toothpicks at parties; I just have a new favorite version of them (this one!). My cocktail meatballs are made using turkey, lactose-free milk, and sourdough breadcrumbs, so they aim to be a leaner than the usual meatball. The glaze is made using organic raspberry jam and sherry, a flavor combination that pairs beautifully with the savory meatball mixture.

Cocktail Meatballs with a Couple of Special Little Twists

Meatballs are delicious as is, but if you’ve seen my recipes before you probably know that I like to make certain special little tweaks to culinary classics as possible. In this recipe, instead of pork or beef, I opted for lean ground turkey. Panko breadcrumbs and milk are also generally used in meatball recipes, but here, I substituted sourdough breadcrumbs and lactose-free milk to make them a little lighter.

If you follow a gluten-free diet, you can easily substitute sourdough breadcrumbs for gluten-free breadcrumbs.

For the glaze, I like to use organic raspberry jam without any added sugars and organic maple syrup to keep this recipe refined sugar free.

Why I Love This Turkey Cocktail Meatball Recipe and My Reasoning For Making Substitutes In It

In 2024, I discovered that my body produces antibodies that attack my thyroid. My doctor highly recommended that I stick to an anti-inflammatory diet because of the correlation between thyroid function and inflammation. I create most recipes, including these Raspberry Glazed Turkey Meatballs, with the intention of making something delicious that is going to serve my needs and leave me feeling my absolute best. I’ve noticed that eating as clean as possible has made me feel better, heal faster, and help with my overall cognitive function. I am by no means a doctor or registered dietician, but I did want to share my personal “why” for creating recipes like this one.

Customizing Your Turkey Cocktail Meatballs Appetizer

My favorite thing about cooking is that it’s not prescriptive – following a recipe is nice, but after reading Salt, Fat Acid Heat (the bible if you’re looking to learn cooking basics), I realized that all is fair when you step into the kitchen. This meatball recipe is perfect the way it is (in my humble opinion…), but you can always make adjustments like adding in breadcrumbs of your choice (including gluten-free!) and using the jam that you prefer (strawberry, blackberry, etc.). You can also adjust the spiced to your liking – as long as you keep the ratios of the main components in this recipe the same, feel free to make it your own!

How to Make Turkey Cocktail Meatballs

These Turkey Cocktail Meatballs are absolutely delicious! They do require a few different steps to make sure that the meatballs and the glaze come together just right – but in the end, the effort is definitely worth it! Here’s how to make them:

Prepare Your Meatballs: Add your sourdough breadcrumbs, ground turkey, egg, diced onions, garlic, lactose-free milk, and spices to a bowl. Mix until everything is evenly combined.

Shape Your Meatballs: Using a small cookie scoop or large spoon, scoop out even portions of your turkey meat mixture and roll them into evenly sized balls. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Brown Your Meatballs: Heat extra virgin olive oil in a large pan over medium heat and place each meatball in the pan, browning the bottom side of the meatballs (about 3 minutes). Flip and repeat on the other sides until your meatballs are browned on all sides. Remove your meatballs from the pan and set aside.

*NOTE: I do NOT recommend tasting your meatballs yet because they have not finished cooking – they will finish during the next steps. Undercooked meat can make you sick.

Make Your Glaze: In the same pan you cooked your meatballs over medium heat, add your tomato paste and stir for 1-2 minutes, allowing it to turn a deep burgundy color. Add your chicken stock, raspberry jam, sherry, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce.

Add Back Your Meatballs: Stir your sauce and let it come to a subtle boil, then add your meatballs back into the pan with the sauce, bring it down to a simmer, and cover. Cook until your sauce has reduced down to a glaze, checking it every few minutes – this will take about 30 minutes in total

Garnish Your Meatballs: Garnish your meatballs with chopped fresh chives and serve with toothpicks.

Ingredients:

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Sourdough Breadcrumbs
• White Onion
• Egg
• Fresh Garlic
• Lactose-free Milk
• Lean Ground Turkey
• Salt
• Pepper
• Allspice
• Coriander
• Nutmeg
• Tomato Paste
• Chicken Stock
• Organic Raspberry Jam
• Sherry
• Maple Syrup
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• Soy Sauce
• Worcestershire Sauce

Full Turkey Cocktail Meatball Recipe:

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