To be frank, I’m not exactly a football fan. I like cheering for my home team (and I also went through a Tim Tebow phase. I know…. I was young), but in general I would rather be doing anything other than an activity that requires me sitting for hours on end.

That being said, my attitude towards football always shifts a bit this time of year. The games leading up to the Super Bowl are woven with a sharp intensity from the players, the fans, and even the announcers. Every yard matters more. Every mistake is scrutinized more harshly. Every play seems like the game is on the line.

In general, there just seems to be a magical spark in the air that makes you believe that anything can happen and that the underdog just may win it all. It’s emotional for all parties involved; there’s a multitude of tears of both joy and sorrow shed by players and fans alike.

On top of this riveting drama playing out on our television every Sunday, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the other highly important part of playoff football: the food.

We’ve all been to game-watching gatherings and we all know the usual spread:

• Dips (usually of the cream-cheese or sour-cream based variety)
• Chips/Nachos
• Buffalo wings
• Lil’ smokies/Pigs in a Blanket
• …and (last but certainly not least) meatballs

Now my husband loves himself some meatballs. He loves them on his spaghetti. He loves them on their own. He even really, really loves them from the bag in the freezer. In fact, he thinks that frozen meatballs are pretty much the best thing since sliced bread–open the bag, dump ’em in the crock pot, and cover with barbecue sauce. In his mind, this is basically heaven.

And while I completely understand the beauty of the simplicity from going from bag to crockpot, I do have some hesitations when he looks at me with puppy-dog eyes as we push our cart through the Target frozen aisle and he lingers by the frozen pre-cooked meat products:

• Sodium
  • Most heat & serve meatballs are packed with sodium–even the “all natural ones” can easily have almost half of your daily sodium intake in one serving of six meatballs…and there is no way in heck my husband is only eating six meatballs (try more like twenty-six)

 

• Saturated Fat
  • I’m not afraid of fat (fat=flavor is my mantra) but these items are often filled with your entire day’s allowance of saturated fat in one serving. Tom–despite being the epitome of health and working out every day–has some cholesterol issues that (while getting better since we’ve gotten married!) are still lingering from his bachelor days of consuming a lot of Jimmy John’s. I love this man’s heart–so there is no way I’m taking any chances in him eating too much of this type of fat.

 

• Added Sugar
  • Believe it or not, most heat & serve meatballs contain corn syrup and other added sugars in them to add flavor to the meat. On top of this, most barbecue sauce’s are almost all sugar. The combination of frozen meatball drenched in sugary barbecue sauce is one that just doesn’t work for my pre-diabetes. 
    • Note: Stubb’s Original BBQ sauce is the one exception to this rule. There’s still some sugar, but it’s way less than anything else you’ll find in the sauce aisle!

And while I am usually a sucker for Tom’s puppy-dog eyes, these frozen meatballs are where I draw the line. Not because I don’t want him to enjoy some meatballs, but because I know that we could make something so much better*

{*Note: The one thing Tom’s puppy-dog eyes will ALWAYS work on is sushi. I know he loves it…but there is no way in heck I’m making him homemade sushi. I hate the smell of fish. Luckily, he knows this…so he tends to get sushi a lot…}

And since I’ve recently been joining my football food-loving husband in these all-day football watching-filled extravaganzas, I decided we needed to find a way to create a healthier version of his favorite game-day treat…and amp up the flavor without having to drench it in sugary barbecue sauce so I could enjoy it too.

So…where’s the compromise?

Here’s our answer:

• Swap the traditional fatty ground beef used for meatballs and replace it with ground turkey and add a touch of shredded cheese to make up for the lack of fat in such a lean meat
• Use my mom’s trick of swapping oats for breadcrumbs to keep the carbohydrates down
• Increase the nutrient-density of the dish by adding ground carrots & celery
• Toss out the idea that meatballs have to have sauce to be flavorful by filling the meat with lots of spices 
• Replace the sugary barbecue sauce with a Frank’s Red Hot mixture that delivers additional flavor and moisture to traditionally dry meatballs

| Game-Day Meatballs |

Serves: 5 Tom’s or 15 Alaina’s

Ingredients Needed:

For the meatballs:

• 1.5 lbs ground turkey
  • Use 1 lb and adjust accordingly below if you’d like, but this is how it comes at Costco and it makes the perfect amount for a crowd!
• 2 cups quick cook oatmeal, roughly processed or finely chopped
  • You want the oats to be broken down–not in their full “oat” form; this is most easily done in a food processor to get them to be the consistency of bread crumbs
• 3/4 cup finely shredded cheese
  • I prefer a “mexican” cheese blend or a colby-jack blend for this dish, but any will work!
• 3/4 cup carrots, finely chopped
  • This is about 4 carrots
• 1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
  • This is about 4 stalks of celery
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp. garlic, minced
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. salt

For the sauce:

• 2 cups Frank’s Red Hot
• 4 tbsp. butter
  • Yes, you need the butter. It thickens the sauce so it sticks to the meatballs! This is key. 

Directions:

First up: get everything ready…

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F
• Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat
  • One is fine, but the process will go quicker if you have two pans going!
• Dig out your crockpot, set aside
  • We all know that getting your crockpot out is a process…ours is in the most hard to reach cupboard! 
• Using a food processor (can also use a knife), process your oats, carrots, celery, and onion one ingredient at a time and set aside in a large mixing bowl

Second, get your meatball mixture together…

• Once you’ve processed/chopped the above, add the remaining ingredients to the bowl

• Using your hands, mix ingredients together until well combined and ingredients are evenly distributed

After you wash that sticky, meaty mess off your hands, start making your meatballs…

• Using your hands (I know you just washed them…sorry!) form 1 1/2 inch meatballs by grabbing a heaping teaspoons worth of mixture and tightly rolling into a ball
• Place meatball onto baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between all meatballs

Now you just have to quickly bake ’em to set their shape and color…

• Once baking sheet is full, bake in the oven for 10 minutes

• Once ten minutes have passed, transfer to a plate or other baking sheet until all meatballs are complete
• Continue above steps until all meatballs are rolled and cooked
  • This recipe makes about 85-90 meatballs! Just FYI! 

Now that your meatballs are done, you have to make your sauce…

• In a medium saucepan or medium microwave-safe bowl, melt your butter into you Red Hot–stirring frequently
  • Note: Although I did it in the microwave in the photos, I will say that doing it in a saucepan is easier!

Woo hoo! Now you just have to put it all together!

• Gently (this is key!) place all of your meatballs in your crockpot
• Pour sauce mixture over meatballs
• Gently (again, this is SO key–you don’t want broken meatballs!) and using a silicone spatula or other soft-edged kitchen utensil, combine your meatballs and sauce until all meatballs are well-coated

Now the crockpot does all the work!

• Set crockpot to HIGH and cook for one hour–stirring halfway through
• After the first hour, set crockpot to LOW and cook for an additional hour–stirring halfway through
• After two hour have passed, you’re ready to serve!
  • The meatballs can stay in the crockpot on low for another 2 hours if needed–just be sure to continue to stir every twenty to thirty minutes

Ready to serve? Here’s a few ways to do it…

For a crowd/football-watching soiree:

• Plain Meatballs: Nothing fancy here–let people serve themselves out of the crock and give them a fork. Mission accomplished.
• Meatball Appetizer: Using toothpicks, stab one meatball onto each stick and dip into blue cheese dressing; sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles and chopped green onion; serve with more blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.
• Build-Your-Own Meatball Sub: Create a meatball sub assembly line: lay out buns, cheese slices, chopped onions, and extra Frank’s/blue cheese on the counter next to the crockpot containing the meatballs. Tell your guests to go to town with their creations…but make sure you have extra napkins handy!

For dinner:

• Buffalo Chicken Salad : Serve over lettuce with a drizzle of our favorite greek yogurt blue cheese dressing

• Buffalo Chicken Wrap: Follow the recipe in my previous blog post and substitute the meatballs for the pulled chicken

Tip: No matter what you make, ensure you have this greek-yogurt based blue cheese dressing…it’s our favorite!

As you can see, the options are endless with these delectable meatballs. They are so flavorful–it’s honestly the tastiest meatball we’ve ever had. There’s obviously a kick from the Red Hot and the cayenne, but the flavors run so much deeper: a subtle sweetness from the carrots, a savory bite from the onion, and a slight saltiness from the cheese. It’s truly unlike any meatball you’ve ever had.

On top of all this, these meatballs are actually really good for you. They are packed with nutrients from all the veggies, and they have a ton of lean protein. A serving of meatballs (which I think is about eight meatballs) contains 235 calories, 12 carbohydrates, 2  sugars, and a whopping 16 grams of protein!

Here’s the best part: Tom loves them. And I know the bar for Tom to love a meatball isn’t set all that high (I mean, he loves the frozen ones too), but he ate 26 of them when I made them for dinner last week. TWENTY-SIX.

If he ate that many of the frozen ones I’d be concerned for his health…but with these? He can eat as many as his heart desires. His crazy serving of 26 meatballs was still under 800 calories (with only 38 carbohydrates and 8 sugars) and gave him over FIFTY grams of protein.

This weekend our hometown Vikings have a big playoff game and I am truly excited to watch it with my husband. Being that it’s supposed to be a high of zero on Sunday, I can’t imagine a better dish to serve than some easy, spicy meatballs that will warm us and our friends from the inside out.

So enjoy this playoff season and make your fellow fans (or maybe just your family) this easy crockpot dish that’s sure to leave everyone feeling like they’ve won the big game.

Here’s to making many more culinary compromises…all in the name of love.

xoxo,

alaina

PS: Go Vikings!