Cranberry Glazed Meatballs

Cranberry-glazed meatballs. Holiday party anyone? I don’t know about you, but I love party appetizer meatballs.

These cranberry-glazed meatballs are particularly fun, in that they are sweet, sour, spicy, and savory, all at once. Cheerful little flavor balls in a festive, candy red cranberry glaze. Yum! I can say that because I made 6 batches working toward this final recipe, and I think I personally ate most of them.

I’m using naturally lean and mild ground turkey which needs all the help it can get. So with these meatballs, I’ve herbed them up a bit with thyme and fennel seeds, and folded in some ricotta cheese and milk-soaked torn bread to help make them tender and soft (but still sturdy enough to pick up with a toothpick).

The sauce is a cranberry glaze made with fresh or frozen cranberries, and spiced with orange zest, fresh ginger, and a little cayenne. Enjoy!

Cranberry Glazed Meatballs Recipe

Ingredients

Cranberry Glaze

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 12-ounce bag of cranberries, fresh or frozen (no need to defrost)
• A pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, to taste

Meatballs

• 2 large slices white bread, crusts removed, bread torn into small pieces (approximately one cup, packed, or 2 ounces of bread, can sub 1/2 cup of plain breadcrumbs)
• 2 Tbsp milk
• A generous 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 scant teaspoon fennel seeds
• Flour for dusting (optional)
• Vegetable oil

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