These Apricot-Basil Breakfast Meatballs made me a local legend (well, kind of!)
I am the ‘Meatball Lady’
I am now know at my daughters’ school as the ‘meatball lady’ or the ‘meatball queen’ after having served these Apricot-Basil Breakfast Meatballs at several community events in the past year. Totally not kidding here. Blogger by day, meatball queen by night. That’s me!
They really are amazing though and after just one bite you’ll see why I’m pseudo-famous for these incredibly delicious little breakfast bites.
But I can’t take all the credit
Even though I’m the one basking in all the meatball glory these days I do owe the credit to Stacie for coming up with this recipe for our Spring 14-day Real Food Reboot program (now retired). She jokes that she just ‘threw a few things in the bowl’ and only tested the recipe once but I have to say…she nailed it. And I have an entire community of meatball-lovers to back me up on that one.
Short and sweet – just like the ingredient list
I could wax on all poetic about how flavorful these Apricot-Basil Breakfast Meatballs are, what with their juicy bits of sweet apricot and pungent basil mingling with the garlic…but I won’t. You’re better off just making them yourself. With just 6 ingredients there’s no reason not to.
They freeze beautifully so take advantage of bulk meat purchases and consider making a double or triple batch. You’re going to love these as an alternative to higher-sodium breakfast links – and they’re made without any added sugar making them a great option for the Whole30 or for those watching their intake of added sugars. And they’re crazy kid-friendly (even with that extra spinach in there).
That’s it! Short and sweet — just like the ingredient list. Now go forth and make meatballs!
Apricot-Basil Breakfast Meatballs
Ingredients
- ½ lb. ground pork
- ½ lb. ground turkey
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup fresh spinach leaves, chopped
- ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped
- ¼ cup dried apricots, finely diced
- ½ – ¾ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine ground pork, turkey, garlic cloves, spinach, basil, salt and pepper.
- Add apricots to remaining ingredients and mix with hands.
- Form mixture into 15 meatballs and place them on baking sheet.
- Bake in oven for about 13-15 minutes or until cooked through.
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Notes
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Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1/5th recipe (3 meatballs)
- Calories: 210
- Fat: 12g
- Sodium: 127mg
- Carbohydrate: 5g
- (Fiber: 1g
- Sugar: 3g)
- Protein: 20g
Dietary
What’s your favorite unusual flavor combo? How about your favorite way to add protein to your breakfast? Share in the comments below!
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My family and my bible study group loved these! Thank you for an easy and impressive recipe! When I make these again, I may sub cranberries for the apricots.
This is great! Happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for leaving a 5-star rating and review!
Love these!! They pair very nicely with the RFD egg muffin recipe. I eat both very frequently.
Perfect Roberta! We appreciate the 5-star review!
I made the recipe and I don’t know if I accidentally used too much ground meat or chopped the dried apricot too finely, but the meatballs were not quote as flavourful as I want them to be. I think next time I will increase the quantity of apricot and maybe cut them in larger chunks as mine do appear smaller than the apricot pieces I see on the meatballs in your pictures. My small screwup notwitstanding, I quite like these meatballs and will be eating them with creamy lemon-cheese orzo pasta.
That sounds wonderful, Marie, and I think your small changes for next time will make a difference!