Spaghetti Sauce with Turkey Meatballs

Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 80 min
Servings: 6
Yield: 6 servings

Description

This recipe for homemade spaghetti sauce with turkey meatballs is so flavorful you may want to forgo the pasta and eat it straight from a bowl!

Ingredients

3/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 medium white onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon red pepper paste
1 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice, or more to taste
1 pinch salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons oil
4 cups water, or more as needed
1 (28 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

Directions

1 Combine parsley, onion, garlic, and red pepper paste in the bowl of a food processor; process until finely blended. Transfer to a large bowl. Add turkey, basil, thyme, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, salt, and pepper; mix until thoroughly combined. Form mixture into uniformly-sized meatballs.
2 Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add meatballs, working in batches if necessary, and saute until browned on all sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove to a plate.
3 Add 4 cups water, spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste to the saucepan; mix to combine. Add more water if sauce seems too thick. Drop meatballs into sauce and cook over medium-low heat until flavors have melded, about 1 hour.