These apricot basil breakfast meatballs made me famous in my town. After serving them at several community events at my kids’ schools when they were younger, my daughter’s friends dubbed me the ‘meatball lady’, a title I still carry proudly. However, I can’t take all the credit because Stacie originally developed this breakfast meatball recipe.
She claims that she just threw a few things in a bowl and it turned out great, even after just one test. And, I agree. She nailed it. These meatballs are sweet, savory, and truly worth raving about.
Recipe Highlights
- Simple and quick: This recipe calls for eight easy-to-find ingredients. Once those are gathered, all I have to do is mix them up, portion, and bake. The meatballs are ready to eat in less than 30 minutes, start to finish, and cleanup is easy.
- Meal prep friendly: One batch makes a lot (I usually get 22 to 24 meatballs), which feeds plenty of people. They also store and reheat well, so I often make extras to enjoy for an easy high-protein breakfast, particularly on busy days.
- Get protein at breakfast: A serving of 4 meatballs provides 26 grams of protein, making it easier to reach my daily protein goals. And thanks to the spinach and apricots, I’m able to sneak in vitamins, nutrients, and fiber for any picky eaters, too.
Key Ingredients
This isn’t the full ingredient list, just a few of my notes regarding the main ones:
- Ground meat – I use a combination of ground pork and ground turkey or ground chicken to keep the meatballs moist and flavorful, but any ground meat or combination of ground meats will work.
- Fresh spinach – the spinach provides vitamin K, vitamin A, B vitamins, manganese, folate, and copper. I like to use baby spinach for a slightly sweeter taste.
- Fresh basil – use fresh basil and chop it finely. May sub other fresh herbs or use a combination of a few herbs, such as parsley, sorrel, tarragon, mint, cilantro, dill, or chervil.
- Dried apricots – chopped dates or figs will also work.
Find the ingredient list with exact measurements in the recipe card below.
My Favorite Ways to Serve
I often make these breakfast meatballs for meal prep and serve them alongside fresh fruit or my go-to green smoothie. They also make an excellent addition to a spring breakfast or brunch on Easter, Mother’s Day, or for baby and wedding showers.
For special occasions, I pair them with more Mother’s Day recipes or healthy Easter recipes. Or, if I’m hosting a weekend brunch, I make a big spread with options like easy cheesy scalloped potatoes, Greek yogurt bagels, crockpot french toast casserole, and my healthy deviled eggs.
How to Store
To store, I transfer cooled meatballs to an airtight container and keep them in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Or, for a longer-lasting option, I freeze for up to 3 months.
To serve, I thaw frozen meatballs in the fridge overnight. Then, I just pop them in the microwave or a skillet on the stovetop to warm them back up.
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Apricot Basil Breakfast Meatballs Recipe
These breakfast meatballs are a quick and easy, high-protein, nutrient-dense protein option for breakfast. Naturally gluten-free, grain-free, egg-free, and dairy-free, these sweet and savory meatballs store, freeze, and reheat well, making them great for meal prep.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 lb ground turkey or ground chicken
- 4 garlic cloves, minced (1½ tablespoons)
- 1½ cups finely chopped fresh spinach
- ⅓ cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
- ½ cup finely diced dried apricots
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the ground pork, ground turkey (or chicken), garlic, spinach, basil, dried apricots, salt, and pepper. Use a large spoon or your hands to mix the ingredients together until well combined.
- Using a 3-tablespoon scoop, form the mixture into 22-24 meatballs. Place the meatballs on the prepared baking sheet, leaving space between the meatballs for even baking.
- Bake until the internal temperature of the meatballs reaches 165°F, 15-18 minutes.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To freeze, let meatballs cool completely then place in a freezer-friendly container and freeze for up to 3 months.
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Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1/6 of the recipe (4 meatballs)
- Calories: 312
- Fat: 18 g
- (Sat Fat: 6 g)
- Sodium: 327 mg
- Carbohydrate: 9 g
- (Fiber: 1g
- Sugar: 6 g)
- Protein: 26 g
- Cholesterol: 97 mg
Dietary
The photos in this post were taken by Megan McKeehan.
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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!
Excellent! I made double batch to freeze some. I used my Kitchen aid mixer to blend all ingredients except dried apricots which made it super easy.
Great Claudia!
These are delicious! Thank you for sharing your recipes. I used dates in place of apricots… the only issue I had was trying to get the dates mixed into all of the meatballs, they tend to clump together.
Thanks for the feedback, Kat!