Heart Healthy Spaghetti and Meatballs

Lower the sodium without sacrificing the bold Italian flavors you love when you make this homemade Heart Healthy Spaghetti and Meatballs.

If you’re trying to watch your sodium intake without sacrificing flavor, you’re going to love this recipe for Heart Healthy Spaghetti and Meatballs. Packed with bold Italian flavors, the homemade low sodium marinara sauce makes this meal perfect. Using ground turkey instead of ground beef lowers the fat content of the flavorful meatballs, making them more friendly to your waistline. This is also a great way to slip fresh vegetables into your picky little eater’s diet. The sauce recipe is a little time intensive, but you can definitely make it in bulk, store some in the freezer, and thaw it out next time you want to make homemade pizza, lasagna, or any other Italian dish.

Heart Healthy Spaghetti and Meatballs

 

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Author: Christy Gossett

Recipe type: Entree

Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

• For the Marinara Sauce:
• 16 Roma Tomatoes
• 2 small sweet peppers, de-seeded
• 1 small onion
• 3 cloves fresh garlic
• 1-2 tbsp corn starch
• 1 tbsp Mrs. Dash Tomato, Basil, Garlic
• 1 tbsp Mrs. Dash Italian Medley
• 1 tbsp Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb
• For the Meatballs:
• 1.25 lbs ground lean turkey
• 1 small sweet pepper
• ¼ cup diced onion
• 1 loaf bread heel
• 1 tbsp Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb

Instructions

1. For the Sauce:
2. Cut tomatoes in half and place in blender or food processor.
3. De-seed the peppers and put them in the blender with the tomatoes.
4. Quarter onion and place in the blender.
5. Peel 3 cloves of garlic and put them in the blender.
6. Blend all to sauce consistency and pour into your Crock Pot.
7. Add seasonings and stir.
8. Simmer on low for 4-6 hours.
9. If the sauce is too thin when it cooks down, mix 1 to 2 tablespoons of corn starch with just enough water to make a paste, add to sauce, and stir to thicken.
10. For the Meatballs:
11. Break up the ground turkey and place in a large mixing bowl.
12. Dice the onion and pepper and toss over ground turkey.
13. Crumble the bread into tiny pieces and place in the bowl.
14. Mix everything together well.
15. Roll into balls, about 1.5 inches, and place meatballs in muffin tin holes.
16. Heat oven to 375ºF and cook on one side for 15 minutes. Turn the meatballs over with a spoon and cook at 375ºF for an additional 15 minutes.
17. When they are finished in the oven, place them in the Crock Pot with your sauce and allow to simmer for 30 minutes to absorb the flavor of the sauce.

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We hope you love this delicious recipe for Heart Healthy Spaghetti and Meatballs as much as we do. If you love this recipe, be sure to visit our Low Sodium Section for more heart-healthy recipes. For daily recipe inspiration, like us on Facebook, follow us on Pinterest, and stop by our Google+ Community to see all of the amazing recipes our community members are sharing. Enjoy!

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