We love meatballs! If you make your own at home, you know exactly what’s gone into them and you can add lots of lovely flavours, too. They are easy to make and the kids love them.
These are really tasty, I used turkey mince (very lean and great value) and added leeks and freshly grated Grano Padano cheese for extra flavour to make turkey and leek meatballs. Serve with lots of tagliatelle pasta and tomato sauce and everyone is happy! If you wanted to, you could use an onion, but my kids prefer leeks. You can also add a teaspoon of mustard or even a tablespoon of ketchup for something a bit different.
I’m really pleased to be taking part in the Lean on Turkey recipe challenge, as we’re really keen to eat more turkey, instead of beef or pork and red meat. This time, the challenge was to create a pizza or pasta meal for the family for under £10.
The total cost of this meal was £9.91 from Ocado, but in fact, the turkey breast mince was on special offer (3 for £10) instead of £4.50 for one 500g packet so I was able to freeze a couple of packets for another time, too. Grano Padano cheese is a great alternative to the slightly more expensive Parmigiano Reggiano, which is worth keeping an eye out for as it brings the costs down a little.
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Costing
- £1.99 – tomato and Basil Sauce
- £1.75 – fresh tagliatelle
- £4.50 – turkey breast mince (500g)
- 60p – large leek
- 20p – large egg
- 10p – garlic (one clove)
- 12p – bread (2 slices)
- 65p -Grano Padano cheese (50g)
- Olive oil, store cupboard
- Salt and Pepper, store cupboard
£9.91 at Ocado
Sponsored Post + cost of ingredients covered
With many thanks to Lean On Turkey for asking me to create a recipe for them
Have you tried making your own meatballs at home? What’s your favourite family meal? Let me know if you try these!
Other family favourites
anna @ annamayeveryday.co.uk says
These look fabulous, and the photographs are great. I often use turkey mince for meatballs, burgers etc but haven’t tried leek as an alternative to my regular onion. I will give it a go, great tip!
Ren Behan says
Thanks Anna – lovely of you to stop by and comment, hope you do try them
Louise@cakeandcalico.com says
This looks delicious – I love making my own meatballs. I’ve never added leek though. Thanks for the inspiration!
Ren Behan says
Thanks Louisa glad you liked the recipe x
olivia kirby says
We have turkey mince a lot, we rarely use beef mince now, I find it expensive or fatty and the taste is not appreciated by our little ones. For us, £10 is too much for a family meal but we usually shop at Morrisons, their meat is very good and extremely reasonable and we would normally use a small pack/half a pack and make a bolognese, bulking it up with red lentils or even chickpeas. I am a massive tight wad but I want the kids to eat well too.
This looks a delicious recipe, I think my eldest boy would enjoy cooking it too.
Ren Behan says
Hi Olivia, I should have added (and will do) that the budget was £10 so these were just under – plus the meat was 3 for £10 so I had extra to freeze. I agree that other supermarkets could be even more cost effective – I love Morrissons, too. Also turkey thigh meat is a great option and usually cheaper than breast mince. They’ll taste every bit as good, if not better! The lentils and chickpeas are a great addition to a mince. x
Hussy London Housewife says
The detailed costing are so handy. Thank you Ren for a great recipe
Ren Behan says
Thank you so much – that’s good to know. I’ll try and do it more often
Dom says
LOVE meatballs and have never made turkey ones so this is a lovely bit of inspiration and just that little bit lighter for a warm spring evening… gorgeous stuff!
Ren Behan says
Thank you Dom, yes, do try the leeks trick, lovely flavour.