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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. 
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