This Thanksgiving turkey rice bowl is a festive and delicious weeknight dinner to enjoy during the holiday season.
This is the 2nd dish in my 15 easy recipes that are “good on grains”, are made with less than 15 ingredients, and take less than 45 minutes to make. You probably already have these thanksgiving spices in your fridge (sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley), and if not, you can totally still make this without the herbs.
Paired with some easy sautéed kale and quinoa rice, this dinner is well balanced, cozy, and delicious.
Chef Tips:
- Don’t overmix the meatball mixture. Overworking the batter can tend to lead to a tougher meatball mixture. A tender meatball may seem like it will fall apart while browning, but because we pour the gravy over the browned meatballs, you don’t need to worry about flipping the meatballs and breaking apart.
- Use a small ice cream scoop to portion the meatballs. I don’t bother rolling them after their portioned (I don’t mind an imperfectly round meatball!)
- Instead of gravy poaching directly from browned / raw, you can bake the meatballs at 400F for 10 minutes before finishing the meatballs in the gravy. We do this for large batches of turkey meatballs and is what we do when we meal prep at Jackie’s Supper Club!
Ingredients for the Turkey Rice Bowl:
Thanksgiving Turkey meatballs
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup parm cheese, grated
- ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 6 sage leaves, chopped
- 1 sprig thyme, removed from the stem
- 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, chopped
- 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
Gravy
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
For the Bowl
- 1 bunch lacinato kale
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons water
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- 2 cups cooked rice
Ingredient Notes:
- Feel free to substitute ground chicken for ground turkey.
- You can use any leafy green instead of lacinato kale. Make this in the same pot you made the gravy after a quick rinse.
- The thanksgiving essence comes from the use of fresh herbs in the meatball – the sage, rosemary, thyme, and parsley. If you don’t have access to fresh herbs, you could also use 1 teaspoon of turkey rub, or another type of “thanksgiving” spice mix you may have on hand. If you don’t use the thanksgiving herbs, this meatball recipe turns into my 5 ingredient weeknight turkey meatballs, which are also delicious!
High Level Directions
Prep the herbs – chop the sage, rosemary, and parsley. Add this to a mixing bowl along with the thyme.
Prep the lacinato kale and mince the garlic.
Mix all the meatball ingredients together.
Use a small ice cream scoop (about 1 ounce) to portion the meatballs into ~20 meatballs.
Make the gravy. Heat a medium pot on medium heat. Add the 2 tablespoons of butter and melt. Once melted, add the 2 tablespoons flour and whisk together for 2 minutes to eliminate the raw flour taste. Add the chicken stock and salt and increase the heat to medium high. Whisk until the gravy comes up to a simmer, about 5 minutes.
Brown the turkey meatballs.
Pour the gravy into the pan with the meatballs.
Add in the remaining meatballs that didn’t fit into the pan, and cook for 15 minutes, covered.
Cook the kale, then serve with the meatballs and rice.
Other easy weeknight dinner recipes:
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Recipe:
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Thanksgiving Turkey Rice Bowl
Description
This Thanksgiving turkey meatball rice bowl is a festive and delicious weeknight dinner to enjoy during the holiday season.
Ingredients
Thanksgiving Turkey meatballs
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup parm cheese, grated
- 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 6 sage leaves, chopped
- 1 sprig thyme, removed from the stem
- 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, chopped
- 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
Gravy
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
For the Bowl
- 1 bunch lacinato kale
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons water
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- 2 cups cooked rice
Instructions
- Prep the herbs – chop the sage, rosemary, and parsley. Add this to a mixing bowl along with the thyme.
- Prep the lacinato kale and mince the garlic. Remove the kale leaves from the stems. Stack each kale leaf on top of one another, then roll the leaves up. Slice the kale into thin ½” thick pieces. Set aside the kale and garlic.
- Add the ground turkey, egg, panko breadcrumbs, and parmesan cheese to the mixing bowl along with the herbs. Mix until well combined, about 2 minutes. Avoid overmixing to keep a soft and tender meatball.
- Use a small ice cream scoop (about 1 ounce) to portion the meatballs into ~20 meatballs.
- Make the gravy. Heat a medium pot on medium heat. Add the 2 tablespoons of butter and melt. Once melted, add the 2 tablespoons flour and whisk together for 2 minutes to eliminate the raw flour taste. Add the chicken stock and salt and increase the heat to medium high. Whisk until the gravy comes up to a simmer, about 5 minutes.
- In the meantime, heat another pan on medium high heat. Add one tablespoon of neutral oil, then add an even layer of the turkey meatballs. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until brown on one side (just check one). At this point, your gravy should be finished. It will be slightly liquidy, as I prefer a looser gravy.
- Pour the gravy into the pan with the meatballs. Add in the remaining meatballs that didn’t fit into the pan, and cook for 15 minutes, covered. Use a spoon or spatula to gently unstick the meatballs from the bottom of the pan and give everything a shake. The browning helps give the dish more flavor. You can also just add the meatballs directly into the pot of gravy and poach for 15 minutes.
- While the meatballs are cooking, rinse the pot with the gravy. Add a tablespoon of neutral oil, then add the chopped kale. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the minced garlic, a pinch of salt and pepper, then add 2 tablespoons of water. Cook for another 2 minutes, then plate the kale along with some cooked rice and the turkey meatballs.
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