• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Recipes
    • Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch & Dinner
    • Desserts & Baking
  • About Me
  • Contact
  • Work with Me
  • Cookbook

Home » Recipes » Lunch & Dinner

meal prep meatballs with zoodles

July 3, 2018 28 Comments

Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

Comin’ in hot with some Meal Prep Meatballs and Zoodles today! No sad desk lunches here, folks.

Meal Prep Meatballs with Zoodles - A quick and easy way to meal prep! Baked turkey parmesan meatballs, zoodles mixed with pasta in a garlicky-butter sauce with fresh spinach and herbs - YUM! Freeze half of the meatballs for later. #mealprep #healthydinner #dinnerrecipes #zoodles #turkey #meatballs #easyrecipes #healthyrecipes #bluebowlrecipes | bluebowlrecipes.com this recipe

Meal prep is the best and also the worst. Let me explain – sometimes, I try to save time by making a HUGE batch of something. I then plan to eat said thing for the whole week. By the 4th or 5th day, said thing is NOT appealing anymore and it’s a sad situation.

The fix? This, this, this! Ok, so here’s why these meal prep meatballs will help you avoid that! This recipe makes about 55-60 small meatballs. I wrote the recipe with half the amount of zoodles that you need. Meaning, you’ll have about 8-10 servings of meatballs, and 4-5 servings of zoodles. So, we’re gonna freeze up half of these ‘lil meatballs for a later date – a day in which you open the fridge to find that you have no food prepared (only ingredients!) and that you are hangry. The other half of the meatballs will go into the fridge with your zoodles – leaving you enough servings to make 4-5 yummy meals, but not so many servings that you are determined to never eat another meatball as long as you live.

Meal Prep Meatballs with Zoodles

Sound good? Good. When you’re ready to eat the second half of your meatballs, just whip up another batch of these zoodles – it’s super fast so it will hardly feel like work.

Should we talk about zoodles? I think so. I have only made zoodles a few times in my life thus far and here’s the thing – I like them, but I’m not sure if I like them enough to eat a plate of all zoodles. Ya know? So, I’ve made a mish-mash of half noodles and half zoodles for this recipe. You can use all zoodles, if you’re into that, or all noodles, or half & half like I did. Pro tip: you won’t really notice the zoodles mixed in with the regular pasta, so it’s a super-sneaky way to get some extra veggies in. Also, did I mention that there’s parmesan in the meatballs? ?? This is healthy-ish meal prep food, and it is not sad at all.

Meal Prep Meatballs with Zoodles

Meal Prep Meatballs with Zoodles

Making zoodles does require a spiralizer – there are lots of options out there but I’ve consistently heard good things about this spiralizer. I actually own the spiralizer attachment for my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer – it’s awesome, and it saves space because you don’t have this whole bulky contraption to get out every time you need to get some spiralizing action going. They’re normally a little pricey, but Amazon sells some that are certified refurbished (meaning someone bought it and returned it, so it’s now discounted) which makes it a little more affordable.

Meal Prep Meatballs with Zoodles

Meal Prep Meatballs with Zoodles

Herby noodles, parmesan meatballs, a little fresh spinach + lemon zest action, and some more parmesan to top it all off? I am in. Get ready to be the boss of meal prep!

Speaking of meal prep – do you want to see a post on how to meal plan and meal prep? Let me know in the comments! ?

Did you make this recipe? Snap a photo! 

Be sure to follow bluebowlrecipes on instagram and tag #bluebowlrecipes with your photo! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the bluebowlrecipes Facebook page. I’d love to see what you make!

Meal Prep Meatballs with Zoodles

A quick and easy way to meal prep! Baked turkey parmesan meatballs, zoodles mixed with regular pasta in a garlicky-butter sauce with fresh spinach and herbs - YUM! Freeze half of the meatballs for a later date. 
5 from 8 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Healthy Food
Keyword: Meatballs
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Calories: 573kcal
Author: Stephanie Simmons

Ingredients

  • FOR THE MEATBALLS
  • 2 lbs ground turkey
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup panko breadcrumbs use Gluten-Free if needed
  • 1 cup grated parmesan See Note
  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • FOR THE ZOODLES
  • 1 large zucchini, spiralized
  • 4 oz whole wheat pasta use Gluten Free if needed
  • 6 tbsp butter
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 handful fresh parsley
  • 5-6 ounces fresh spinach
  • 2 tsp lemon zest
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • more parmesan, for serving

Instructions

  • Prep: Make your zoodles following the instructions on your spiralizer. I never peel my zucchini first - the skin is totally undetectable. Put your zoodles in a paper towel-lined bowl and gently press a paper towel over the top of them to get out excess liquid. Cover bowl (with a clean paper towel or plastic wrap) and pop it in the fridge while you cook the meatballs!
  • Make the meatballs: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with foil and spray with cooking spray (trust me - you need to do both!). Mix all the meatball ingredients together in a large mixing bowl using your hands (wash hands and take any rings off first!). Roll into small balls (see photos above for reference).  You'll have 50-60 meatballs. Place on baking sheets and bake for 20-22 minutes. If they're on the bigger side, add a few minutes to the bake time. Meatballs are done when no longer pink inside (cut into one of the larger ones to check). 
  • Make the zoodles: While the meatballs are cooking, get your noodle situation going. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta, saving 1/2 cup of the pasta water. 
    While the noodles are boiling, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and saute for a few minutes. Then add the parsley, spinach, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Saute until the greens have wilted. Turn the heat down to low and let simmer while you're finishing up the pasta, etc. to avoid burning anything. 
    Bump the heat back up to medium/high. Add your zoodles (from the fridge) to the pan with the butter and greens. Let them heat up for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. This is as much as you'll cook your zoodles - it keeps them from getting mushy but still heats them up. Add the regular pasta and stir (tongs are useful here) to get everything mixed together.  Taste and add more salt/pepper if needed. Add a little of the reserved pasta water if you want to make it more "saucy". Add about half your meatballs in and stir everything together. Serve with more parmesan and lemon zest!
  • Meal Prep + Storing: As I mentioned in the blog post (above), I only made half as much zoodles/pasta as you would need to use up all the meatballs. My idea here is that you can freeze half the meatballs (in tupperware) for a later date. This way, you've saved yourself from a little work later on, and you won't have so many servings of your meal-prepped food that you get sick of it. Plus, the cooked pasta/zoodles would get kinda gross in the time it would take you to eat a double batch of it. This way you're getting 4-5 servings of zoodles and meatballs, and when you're ready to eat the remaining half of the meatballs, just thaw them in the fridge and make another batch of the zoodles/pasta. Or pair them with regular noodles and traditional pasta sauce!
    All that being said - we are a two person household. If you have a big family and you aren't worried about excess leftovers, double the zoodles part of the recipe and you'll have 8-10 servings of the zoodles AND of the meatballs!

Notes

NOTE: For the parmesan, you want the kind that's sort of powdery, like you would find in a shaker on a table in a restaurant - don't get the kind that's shredded/grated. It will make your meatballs weird when you bake them - trust me on this. 
NOTE: The first nutrition info box below is for the meatballs, the second is for the zoodles. 

Nutrition

Calories: 573kcal
 

 

The One-Bowl Baker

Order my new book:

The One-Bowl Baker

today!

One-Bowl recipes for incredible cookies, brownies, cakes, and breads made easy enough for anyone to bake!

Order Now:

Walmart // Amazon // Barnes & Noble // Target // Booksamillion // Bookshop // Indie Bound // Book Depository

Get the Bonus e-Book!

Share20
Pin704
Tweet
Share
724 Shares

More Lunch & Dinner

  • one pan chicken fajitas
  • honey garlic chicken bowls
  • traditional vietnamese spring rolls
  • healthy taco skillet

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. Ttrockwood says

    July 14, 2018 at 7:44 pm

    I do some meal prep every sunday, but i make several components that i can mix n match because I can’t literally eat the same meal several days in a row.
    I do a huge batch of a basic massaged kale salad, and cook some lentils or if i have time chickpeas (i make a ton and freeze extras in one portion containers), cook quinoa or farro, marinate and bake tofu, and chop fresh veggies for snacks and salads. Then i can make anything from a grain bowl to a big salad to baked tofu tacos in like five minutes.
    At the end of the week any extras get used in dinners or soup!

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      July 15, 2018 at 2:26 pm

      Those all sound so good!! You must be the meal prep master! ??

      Reply
  2. Heather says

    July 09, 2018 at 4:20 pm

    5 stars
    I love zoodles!! I need to take a tip from you and make some meal prep meatballs. I have been so bad at meal prepping. I miss having yummy food ready to go in my refrigerator !!

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      July 10, 2018 at 8:41 am

      Isn’t it the best when you do have food ready to go?? Haha I’m not always good at it either ?

      Reply
  3. Chef Mireille says

    July 08, 2018 at 12:34 pm

    5 stars
    not sure about where you live but here you dont even need a spiralizer as many supermarkets now sell zoodles already spiralized in the veg section of the market -not just zoodles but also noodles made from beets, carrots or butternut squash
    Makes this meal even easier to put together

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      July 08, 2018 at 1:01 pm

      Yes, I’ve seen those in stores! Another good option – Thanks for pointing that out ?

      Reply
  4. theresa says

    July 07, 2018 at 8:40 am

    this is a good one for the week

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      July 08, 2018 at 1:01 pm

      Absolutely!

      Reply
  5. Brandi Michel says

    July 07, 2018 at 6:31 am

    I LOVE your idea of mixing half zoodles and half noodles. It’s so simple yet genius. It always made me feel like I needed to just pick a team. Lol Thanks! Great recipe!

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      July 08, 2018 at 1:01 pm

      Haha, thanks so much Brandi! Team pasta AND team zoodles here ??

      Reply
  6. Jacqueline Debono says

    July 07, 2018 at 3:49 am

    5 stars
    I love homemade meatballs but have never made them with turkey. Have to try. Also the half and half idea is great! My Italian hubby wouldn’t be happy with only zoodles, but that way I can sneak in some extra veg! Brilliant!

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      July 08, 2018 at 1:02 pm

      Haha, there ya go! Thanks Jacqueline ‘

      Reply
  7. Cassie says

    July 06, 2018 at 2:03 pm

    Great recipe! I’ve never tried making homemade meatballs either, looks so healthy 🙂

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      July 08, 2018 at 1:02 pm

      Thanks Cassie!

      Reply
  8. Linda | Brunch-n-Bites says

    July 06, 2018 at 1:34 pm

    5 stars
    Oh this is so awesome! I love freezer-friendly meals like this especially when it’s easy to prep. I’m totally sold!

    Reply
  9. Mrs. SBF says

    July 05, 2018 at 4:06 pm

    Looks and sounds delicious but my husband hates turkey, so I would have to use a different ground meat.

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      July 08, 2018 at 1:02 pm

      Ground chicken would work well here!

      Reply
  10. Madison Tinder says

    July 05, 2018 at 2:42 pm

    I have been trying to make this and I can’t get it right! For sure going to use this recipie!

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      July 08, 2018 at 1:02 pm

      Thanks Madison! ❤️

      Reply
  11. Kate says

    July 05, 2018 at 9:22 am

    Oh my, this looks and sounds so delicious. I am definitely trying it very soon! Your pictures are so stunning too, I feel like I have the dish sitting right in front of me.

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      July 05, 2018 at 9:25 am

      Thanks so much, Kate! ❤️

      Reply
  12. Joyce says

    July 04, 2018 at 8:46 pm

    Meatballs are such a great make ahead meal, love it!

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      July 05, 2018 at 9:26 am

      Yes they are! ??

      Reply
  13. Gloria says

    July 04, 2018 at 12:51 pm

    5 stars
    LOVE LOVE LOVE zoodles. What a great low carb meal. Everything goes with a great meatball. Perfect for dinner any night of the week.

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      July 05, 2018 at 9:26 am

      Absolutely! Thanks, Gloria!

      Reply
  14. Stine Mari says

    July 04, 2018 at 1:13 am

    5 stars
    I don’t really like the idea of zoodles, it seems like it misses the point of deliciously starchy (and unhealthy) pasta! BUT half and half seems like ana amazing idea! I love finding ways to sneakily eat more veggies. And those meatballs look fantastic!

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      July 05, 2018 at 9:27 am

      Haha, yes gotta sneak those veggies in with the pasta ?

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. School Lunch Ideas for Picky Eaters says:
    August 26, 2018 at 11:31 am

    […] MEAL PREP MEATBALLS WITH ZOODLES […]

    Reply

Primary Sidebar

Hi. I’m Stephanie

I’m a Mom & Grandma-taught cook + baker, and I’m excited to share my love of all things food with you!

Learn more

Order my new book

One-Bowl recipes for incredible cookies, brownies, cakes, and breads made easy enough for anyone to bake!

Order now

Reader Faves

A stack of fudgy brownies with crackly tops and a dusting of powdered sugar.

best-ever 5 ingredient brownies

A straight on view of a slice of banana cake topped with maple cream cheese frosting.

gluten-free banana cake with maple cream cheese frosting

creamy chicken wild rice soup

Monster cookies on a light surface, with a bowl of peanut butter and glasses of milk.

jumbo bakery-style monster cookies

maple bacon cupcakes with brown butter frosting and candied bacon

perfect breakfast quiche

Seasonal Picks

A stack of broken open cookies, showing their gooey insides with chocolate puddles.

jumbo bakery-style chocolate chip cookies

White chocolate drizzled lemon blueberry sugar cookies on a blue surface.

blueberry lemon thumbprint cookies

A close-up of the drop biscuits in a serving tray, brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with sea salt and parsley.

drop biscuits with cheddar and gruyere cheese

Slices of the crumb cake on a cooling rack with lemons and raspberries scattered around.

one-bowl raspberry lemon crumb cake

key lime pie bars with macadamia nut crust

A close-up of a stack of french toast topped with whipped cream, berries, and maple syrup.

restaurant-level stuffed french toast

Subscribe for recipes

Footer

  • Privacy Policy
Blog Meets Brand

© 2023 Blue Bowl Recipes. All Rights Reserved.