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These Air-Fryer Turkey Meatballs make the best easy protein-packed dinner. They are made with simple ingredients like egg, almond flour and spices and pair perfectly with your favorite sauce and gluten free pasta! These gluten free meatballs are also Paleo and Whole30-friendly.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Versatile: You can eat these gluten free meatballs with pasta, on a salad, or with a side of mashed potatoes or veggies!
Great for meal prep: Make a double batch on a Sunday and have a yummy protein on hand to have for meals throrughout the week.
Protein-packed: Easy meatball has 10 grams of protein, so this recipe can help you hit all of your macro goals!
Budget-friendly: Ground turkey is fairly cheap compared to other types of meat. I love to keep a bunch in the freezer to pull out and use as needed.
Easy: Making turkey meatballs in the air fryer could not be more simple! They are ready start to finish in just 15 minutes!
It’s definitely one of my favorite air fryer ground turkey recipes!
Ingredient Notes for Air Fryer Turkey Meatballs
Ground turkey: You can also sub ground chicken, ground beef, or ground lamb in this recipe.
Almond flour: This makes a great grain free “breading” to help bind the gluten free turkey meatballs together. If you need a nut-free alternative, sub 2 tbsp coconut flour instead.
Egg: If you need a substitute, try 2 tbsp almond milk instead.
Coconut aminos: I like the flavor this gives to meatballs. If you don’t have it, you can simply omit it!
Nutritional yeast: This is deactivated yeast that gives recipes a “cheesy” flavor without the dairy! If you tolerate dairy, you can use parmesan, if preferred.
How To Make Turkey Meatballs in the Air Fryer
- Combine all meatball ingredients in a large bowl.
- Mix to combine.
- Use a 1.5 inch cookie scoop to help shape 12 uniform meatballs. Preheat your air fryer to 400 for 3 minutes. Spray the basket with cooking oil.
- Add the meatballs in a single layer (in batches if needed) and cook for 6 minutes. Flip and cook for 4-5 additional minutes.
- Serve with your favorite marinara sauce (I like Rao’s) and some gluten free pasta!
How to Make These Gluten Free Meatballs in the Oven
To make these gluten free turkey meatballs in the oven, preheat the oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper for easy clean up. Place the meatballs on the baking sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes until browned and cooked through. Serve with your favorite sauce!
Mary’s Tips and Tricks
I like to use a 1.5 inch cookie scoop to make my gluten free meatballs all the same size.
To prevent the turkey meat from sticking to your hands while rolling it into balls, dip your hands in a bowl of water prior to rolling them.
Do not over-mix the meat mixture or it can cause the meatballs to turn out tough. Simply mix everything using your hands until well-combined.
Make sure to spray the basket with avocado oil before air frying to prevent the meatballs from sticking.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! As long as you use nutritional yeast instead of parmesan, these gluten free turkey meatballs are also paleo-friendly.
Yup! Each meatball has just 2 carbs, so you can definitely enjoy these if you’re doing a keto diet!
Absolutely. Feel free to use ground chicken, ground beef, or ground lamb in this recipe!
Definitely. I would cook them first, let them cool, then store in a tightly-covered freezer friendly container for up to 3 months.
To reheat frozen meatballs, simply add the meatballs to the air fryer and 5-7 minutes of cooking time! Total cooking time will be about 17-19 minutes.
More Gluten Free Meatballs Recipes
Baked Butter Chicken Meatballs
Whole30 Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Gluten Free Meatballs with Homemade Marinara
Gluten Free Air Fryer Turkey Meatballs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 egg
- ⅓ cup almond flour
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast, or parmesan if not dairy free
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tbsp dried parsley, or 3 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper
Instructions
- Combine all meatball ingredients in a large bowl and mix to combine.
- Use a 1.5 inch cookie scoop to help shape 12 uniform meatballs.
- Preheat air fryer to 400 for 3 minutes. Spray the basket with cooking oil.
- Add the meatballs in a single layer (in batches if needed) and cook for 6 minutes. Flip and cook for 4-5 additional minutes until browned and cooked through.
- Serve with your favorite marinara sauce (I like Rao's) and some gluten free pasta!
Notes
Nutrition
All nutrition facts are an estimate and automatically calculated. While I fact check them using My Fitness Pal, please note that they may not always be 100% accurate and depend on ingredients used. Weigh your total and divide by the number of servings for the most accurate grams per serving size.
Made these multiple times. They are so delicious. Always cook perfectly, a bit of crunch on the outside, soft and juicy on the inside.
Thanks Jocelyn!
These were delicious
They are good plain just as well as with sauce. I added some finely chopped mushrooms and zucchini that I needed to use up.
Made these for a friend in need so looking forward to making more for ourselves.
Thank you Sandra!
Yummy!! Doubled this recipe tonight for meal prep, and so excited to eat these for lunch this week! I’ve had a hard time finding a recipe I liked that was also gluten-free- this will be on rotation going forward, for sure 🙂
So glad you love them, Meghan!
Mary thank you for all the great gluten free recipes! I am not celiac but try to eat GF by choice and your recipes make it soooo easy!!
Abby from Iowa
Thanks Abby! So happy I can help 🙂
Easy to make and delicious!
Thanks Amanda!
Just made these the other day and couldn’t stop eating them. So delicious. I made a double batch and they were so simple to make.
Thanks Katie!
Made these last night and they were so good! Super quick and easy to make too!
Thanks Shelby!!
These were so easy to make in the air fryer! I omitted the nutritional yeast and didn’t use any parmesan and they were still great! They were even a perfect meal for my toddlers school lunch!
Perfect! Glad they worked out for you!
These meatballs came out really well. To keep it nut-free I subbed cassava flour. They took less than 20 minutes to prepare and cook in the air fryer. Once they were done, I let them simmer in Rao’s while I cooked our cassava spaghetti. The perfect grain-free pasta dinner! Thank you Mary!
Yum! So glad you enjoyed them. Thanks Bridget!
If I could rate it with 10 ⭐️ I would. The flavor is amazing!! I had all the ingredients on hand and decided to try them. So glad I did! I will be making multiple batches so I can have some on hand in the freezer!
YAY! Thank you!!