One of my favorite sauces on earth happens to be enchilada sauce. GIVE ME A SPOON AND A BOWL OF IT.
Of course, enchilada sauce is best when it’s homemade with dried red chilies, but when you don’t have time, nor really care, then I vote for store-bought! Simply slide down the aisle of your local grocery store like you’re Bruno Mars, pick up a can of your favorite enchie sauce (that’s what we call it), plop it in your cart, grab the remaining ingredients in this recipe and be on your way.
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Since my one pan meals are ridiculously popular with you kids, I decided it was time for another one. And what better excuse to use zucchini than in a flavorful little cozy turkey meatball? Even better when they are nestled into enchilada sauce, fluffy rice and veggies. These enchilada zucchini turkey meatballs are about to be a family fav.
What I love about using zucchini in this recipe is that it helps to keep the meatballs extra moist, and also adds a healthy dose of fiber. Meaning that these are once again perfect for both kids and adults!
Ingredients in zucchini turkey meatballs
These easy, one pan zucchini turkey meatballs just use turkey, a bunch of delicious spices & veggies, some yummy sauce and cheese. Here’s everything you’ll need:
- Lean ground turkey: I like using about 93% lean so that the meatballs are still nice and juicy. Feel free to use ground chicken if you’d like.
- Zucchini: the secret veggie ingredient to keep these meatballs perfectly moist.
- Egg: to help hold the zucchini turkey meatballs together.
- Panko breadcrumbs: breadcrumbs will further help them stick together, but you can also use a fee tablespoons of coconut flour to keep them gluten free.
- Onion, jalapeño & cilantro: for bites of freshness and a little heat in the meatballs themselves.
- Spices: we’re packing these babies with flavor from garlic, cumin, salt & pepper.
- Olive oil: a little olive oil for browning the meatballs in your pan first.
- Veggies: we’re using poblano pepper, red bell pepper & frozen sweet corn.
- Enchilada sauce: use your favorite brand or my homemade recipe!
- White basmati rice: this rice cooks up nice and fluffy in the pan. Do not use brown rice as it will take too long to cook.
- Cheddar cheese: is there anything better than layers of gooey cheese with enchilada flavors?
I love serving it with creamy avocado slices, cilantro for a burst of fresh flavor, green onion and even sour cream or plain greek yogurt to cool it down. Also, if you LOVE spicy foods, I suggest using a HOT enchilada sauce instead of mild or medium.
How to make zucchini turkey meatballs
These healthy zucchini turkey meatballs only take about 35-40 minutes from start to finish and are incredibly easy to make, especially since everything is cooked in one pan! Here’s how you’ll do it:
- Assemble the meatballs. Use clean hands to mix together the zucchini, turkey, egg, panko breadcrumbs (or coconut flour), onion, cilantro, jalapeno, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper. Form the mixture into 16 balls.
- Brown the meatballs. Next, place olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat and add meatballs; brown on all sides, then transfer to a plate.
- Cook the veggies & rice. Add your poblano, red bell pepper and corn to the same skillet; saute for a few minutes then pour in the enchilada sauce and stir in the rice. Place meatballs on top and bring sauce to a simmer, then cover the pan, reduce heat to low and cook for 20-25 minutes.
- Add cheese & serve! After the meatballs and rice are done cooking, remove the lid and sprinkle cheese on top. Cover again and cook for 2-3 minutes more or until cheese is melted. Garnish with cilantro, avocado and green onion and serve. This is also delicious with plain greek yogurt or sour cream on it!
Looking for a lower carb version?
- Instead of white basmati rice, you can use 3/4 cup quinoa or even cauliflower rice to keep it low carb. You decide!
- You can also make these zucchini turkey meatballs without breadcrumbs by simply using 2-3 tablespoons of coconut flour.
Prep these zucchini turkey meatballs ahead of time
These one pan zucchini turkey meatballs can easily be prepped ahead of time for ease!
- Mix and form the meatballs as directed in the recipe.
- Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and then tightly cover the meatballs with plastic wrap.
- Put the meatballs in the fridge until you are ready to cook them. You can prep these meatballs up to one, or even two days ahead of time.
- Once ready to cook, simply follow the recipe as written.
My best tips for cooking with zucchini
- Use the small side of your grater so that you get little shreds of zucchini. No one will be able to tell there’s a veggie rolled right into their meatballs!
- Squeeze out your zucchini shreds as much as possible to get all of the excess liquid out.
- Measure the shreds before you squeeze the moisture out.
- Feel free to shred a bunch of zucchini and freeze it for later! Follow my tips and tricks here.
How to store and freeze zucchini turkey meatballs
- To store: once completely cooled, portion out the meatballs and rice into glass meal prep containers and store in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Simply reheat them in the microwave.
- To freeze: once completely cooled, portion out the meatballs and rice into freezer-friendly containers and store them in the freezer for up to 2 months. To reheat simply allow the meatballs and rice to thaw in the refrigerator before microwaving them until they’re hot.
More zucchini recipes you’ll love
- Zucchini Mac and Cheese
- The BEST Zucchini Lasagna Recipe (low carb!)
- Buffalo Zucchini Chicken Burgers
- One Pan Sazon Skillet Chicken
- 30 Minute Brown Butter Goat Cheese Grilled Veggie Orzo
Get all of my amazing zucchini recipes here!
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I hope you love these healthy one pan enchilada zucchini turkey meatballs! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and rating so I know how you liked them. I greatly appreciate it – xo!
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
One Pan Enchilada Zucchini Turkey Meatballs and Rice
Ingredients
- For the meatballs:
- 1 pound 93% lean ground turkey (or lean ground chicken)
- 1 cup shredded zucchini, that’s been squeezed of ALL excess moisture with a paper towel
- 1 egg
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs (or if GF sub 2-3 tablespoons coconut flour)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- ¼ cup finely diced cilantro
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- For the veggies, rice and sauce:
- 1 small poblano pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
- 3/4 cup frozen sweet corn
- 3 cups red enchilada sauce (mild or medium)
- 1 cup white basmati rice (do not use brown rice as it takes too long)
- For the topping:
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- To garnish:
- Diced green onion
- Fresh cilantro
- Diced or sliced avocado
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the ground turkey, shredded zucchini, egg, breadcrumbs, onion, cilantro, diced jalapeno, garlic, cumin and salt and pepper. Use clean hands to mix and form into 16 golf ball sized meatballs.
- Place a large deep 10 inch skillet (or large pan) over medium heat and add in olive oil. You can also use a large pot, but I prefer a skillet. Add the meatballs and brown on all sides, using tongs or a fork to flip. They should cook for about 5-6 minutes total. You may need to do this in batches, depending how many meatballs you can fit in your skillet without overcrowding them. When meatballs are done browning, transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add in the poblano pepper, red bell pepper and frozen sweet corn. Saute for a minute, then add in the enchilada sauce. Bring enchilada sauce to a simmer, then fold in the rice, making sure it is evenly distributed. Add the browned meatballs on top. Cover the pan, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20-25 minutes.
- After 20-25 minutes, remove the lid and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top. Cover, cook for 2 more minutes to melt cheese, then serve immediately with cilantro, green onion and avocado, if desired. Serves 4.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This is a delicious recipe! I made this as written and added in even more veggies. It was very savory and satisfying. I will definitely make it again soon!
Amazing! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
This was absolutely delicious. We substituted a 10 oz bag of cauliflower rice for a lower carb version and it worked perfectly. The meatballs are flavorful and the sauce had a mild level of heat.
Perfect! Glad it was a hit!
I love anything Mexican-inspired, and this is one of the most creative recipes I’ve seen! It’s a great way to use up zucchini & sneak in a bunch of veggies, too.
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed!
I absolutely adore this recipe. I’ve made it three times now and although I no peppers, I just use green chilies in the rice. This is amazing.
So I followed this exactly and after 25 minutes, the rice wasn’t anywhere near cooked. I ended up having to add another 2.5 cups of liquid (I used bone broth to dilute the remaining enchilada sauce I had) and simmered it for another half hour, checking every 5 min so it didn’t burn at the bottom. Otherwise, totally love this – always into a one-pan situation and it was delicious. Ate it with some sour cream on top.
So strange! Was everything cooking at a nice simmer? It sounds like the heat may have been a bit too low. I’m glad the extra liquid helped and you enjoyed!
I had the same issue as others with the rice burning. Three cups of enchilada sauce didn’t seem sufficient for the rice and veggies and I was right – burned rice, raw veggies and undercooked meatballs. I tried to salvage the whole thing by adding nearly three cups of water, but it was pretty disappointing..
We loved this. I used ground chicken and added smoked paprika, dark chili powder and a pinch of chipotle chili powder because I used mild enchilada sauce. My rice was a tad mushy, but that was my fault, I let it cook too long. We had it with a dollop of sour cream, delicious! Thank you, I love your recipes and look forward to trying more!
Great idea to add some extra spices! Glad you love this one 🙂
So delicious! The meatballs were tender and had so much flavor. The whole dish comes together beautifully. Another winner from Monique❤️
One of our fav dinners! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
When I first found this recipe I made it so frequently that I actually had to stop making it for a while. So much flavor, some sneaky veggies in the meatballs, and a kick of heat. I made this a lot particularly when I was living alone, so I had leftovers for days with this dish, but it’s perfect for a family dinner. You can easily kick up or dial back the heat depending on the sauce & peppers you use. I personally love that the rice cooks right in it–it’s one less step–but be careful that your rice doesn’t stick to the bottom and burn! Considering how much is going on in this dish, it comes together fairly easily and relatively quickly, with the meatballs being the only thing that takes some time as I have to do multiple batches.
Such a great go-to! Glad it’s a favorite!
Had to make this after making the curry turkey zucchini meatballs. This one is delicious is too! I love enchiladas, really does taste like them while being healthier. Thank you ❤️
WOO! Glad you are loving this recipe and it turned out amazing for you, Merri!
I made this for meal prep, doubled the meatballs, kept the sauce/rice as written. I added the remaining onion from the meatballs into the pepper and corn mix for the sauce. I also used manchego instead of cheddar since I like that better. This has been a delight to eat all week – I have very much looked forward to it every day. Hightly recommend!
Yay!! Thanks for sharing, Kati! SO happy you love this one.
Coming back to say that this was delicious, thank you! I do think I need to cook it longer next time with the long grain white rice as some along the edges of the pan was underdone, but that’s on me. The meatballs were AMAZING, really tender and flavorful! I used a few tablespoons of cilantro chimichurri I had in my freezer instead of fresh cilantro and added a teaspoon or so of sriracha into the store bought enchilada sauce. Really excellent, will definitely be making again.
The chimichurri + extra hot sauce sound amazing in here! Glad you loved it!
My husband and I both loved this flavorful dish! It took me a LOT longer than 25 min to prep the veggies, make the meatballs, and brown them. Maybe I’m super slow. So glad it was tasty!!
I am so glad to hear that you are both loving this recipe and it turned out great for you! ❤️🙂
Hi, this looks really delicious and I can’t wait to try it, but I had a question concerning the rice and didn’t see it mentioned in any of the previous comments. Do you think I would be able to use long grain white rice instead of basmati without changing how much liquid there is in the recipe? Or would I need to add a little more water to adjust? (We just have a ton of white rice and I want to use it up before buying more lol)
Yes! That should work just fine 🙂
This was a fantastic meal for our Tex Mex Tuesday! I added some chopped zucchini in with the veggies since I had part of a zucchini leftover after shredding it for the meatballs. I ended up using a packet of “microwave” brown rice that I had on hand. Instead of cooking everything all together for 20-25 minutes, 15 minutes was perfect to cook the meatballs through and warm up the rice. We’ll definitely add this to our meal rotation!!
Ah this sounds amazing, Kelly. Loved the way you mixed in those veggies and I’m so glad you’re loving this recipe 🙂
Do you cook the rice before adding it to the skillet?
Nope, it’ll cook with the other ingredients for 20-25 minutes. hope you enjoy!
Delicious! This was a big hit with the whole family. The enchilada sauce can I purchased ended up being about 2 1/2 cups but it still turned out ok.
I made these for dinner and my BF inhaled them in about 5 seconds – he is Latino and loved the flavors! Going into our rotation immediately – love that it’s also a great way to use up whatever veggies we have on hand!!
I’m SO happy you both loved these! Yay!!
DELICIOUS!!! Another Ambitious Kitchen win, as usual! Only had 2 1/2 cups of enchilada sauce and I do suggest following the recipe to a T, liquid wise, because my rice got quite crispy! It honestly reminded me of a paella so it was still very good. Also I used fresh corn and leftover onion from the meatball ingredients in my rice. I think you could put any veggie in this rice and you wouldn’t go wrong.
This recipe was great—awesome flavor, filling, and nutritious. I accidentally used too much meat (1.5 lbs, thanks Costco!) but quickly realized when the meatballs weren’t forming. Adding more panko helped. I was worried they wouldn’t have enough flavor because of this, and still they were great. My 13 month old had three meatballs! I left the jalapeño out because we didn’t have one on hand.
Oh YAY, I’m glad it all worked out and that you guys enjoyed them! Thanks so much for the review 🙂
Very tasty, Incredibly filling. Will make next time with more veggies & more sauce as I found the rice sucked up a lot of moisture. Great for meal prep for sure!
Glad you enjoyed them! And thanks for the feedback. Good idea!
My family loved this recipe. The meatballs were so tender and delicious. Healthy, delicious and easy.
Already saved under tried and true!
Yay! SO happy that you guys loved these 🙂
Flavourful, healthy and yummy!
Yay!! So glad you loved these 🙂
My husband said this is one of the best meals he’s ever had when I made this. It was so easy and delicious, I’m definitely making it again.
I was looking for something easy to spice up our weeknight meals, and this hit the spot! The meatballs were absolutely perfect, and I loved the zucchini for some added veggies. Also love that this was a 1 pan meal. My husband and I both loved all the flavors and I’ll definitely be making this again!
Yay!! So happy to hear you loved these, Shannon!
Was looking for ways to use up my zucchini from my garden in creative ways, this recipe was delicious!!!
Awesome, so happy you found this recipe! And glad you loved it 🙂
Wonderful flavors! My family of four loved it, no leftovers. Will definitely make it again.
Made this for dinner the other night, super flavorful and delicious! It reheats just as well the next day! Thanks for all the great meatball recipes!
SO GOOD! And surprisingly easy to make. Live!
Super easy and toddler friendly. Easy to throw in any veggies you have in the fridge you want to use up. Also reheats great so good for meal prep
This was seriously one of the best recipes I’ve ever made from AK. I ate it for 5 days straight and enjoyed every minute of it! As always, Monique outdid herself. It was beyond delicious.
Whaaaaat omg I’m so happy to hear that! Yay!!
According to my slightly picky 6 year old, “Mommy, these meatballs are excellent!” And the 8 year old beat dad to the leftovers for lunch! I did use canned medium enchilada sauce (2 cups + 1 water) and it was a little spicy but added sour cream to the rice for the kids. Also skipped the poblano and used 1/3 of a jalapeño to tone down the heat. Next time I’ll make my own sauce from the AK recipe and skip the cayenne for the kids but overall a winner!
Thanks for sharing, Amanda! I’m so happy that you guys are loving these! ❤️
I really liked the flavor but my meatballs didn’t stay together very well. The end result looked more like an enchilada stew. Like I said, I liked the flavor so maybe I just needed to do a better job of squeezing the water out of the zucchini?? Thanks!
Hi, Gena. Yes, could be too much moisture in the zucchini for sure! Feel free to squeeze out more moisture and add extra breadcrumbs next time.
Hands down a 5-star recipe! I used Monique’s homemade enchilada sauce from this site. Amazing!
Woohoo!! Glad that you loved it!
Im sure it wotn mind if I use ground cow meat, right? Can I skip the rice but still use the rest of the ingredients like the sauce and cheese and corn, etc?
Ground beef will work, too! And absolutely! They just will be extra saucy meatballs.