This healthy sheet pan dinner made of turkey meatballs and veggies couldn’t be easier to whip up for weeknight meals. The meatballs incorporate oat flour instead of breadcrumbs (you’d never know!) for added fiber. And most of the veggies are pre-cut or frozen for ultimate convenience factor.
If the thought of weeknight dinners makes you immediately let out a sigh of exhaustion, we’re here to help. And we get it! It is not easy to balance a busy schedule and feel inspired to make a nutritious meal every night. This healthy sheet pan dinner recipe takes two pans and 10 minutes of prep to execute, plus minimal chopping is required.
Not only is it easy, it’s super healthy. Meatballs are traditionally made with breadcrumbs. For this recipe, we used oat flour in lieu of breadcrumbs. Why oat flour? We use oats in so many of our recipes because they provide a laundry list of health benefits when eaten on the reg. For example, oats are an incredible source of soluble fiber and resistant starch. Both aid in supporting a healthy gut microbiome (1), which is essential to our overall health. Soluble fiber helps to increase feelings of fullness (2), which supports weight loss efforts, has been shown to lower cholesterol levels (3), and lowers blood sugar levels after eating (4).
Recommended Reading: How to Balance your Stress Hormones with Carbs
Interested in learning about the nutrition benefits of the other ingredients this recipe? Keep scrolling to read up on the nutrition facts!
High fiber sheet pan dinner nutrition facts
Turkey
At every meal, it’s important to include a significant source of protein to keep you full and help maintain lean body mass. In this recipe, we used turkey as the main protein. Not only is turkey high in protein, it also boasts an impressive nutrient profile. It provides a significant amount of niacin, vitamin b12, and selenium (5) – all of which are essential vitamins and minerals.
Selenium, in particular, is a mineral that doesn’t receive much attention but plays a vital role in our metabolic health. The thyroid needs selenium in order to produce thyroid hormones. Thyroid function and hormones greatly impact our metabolic rate. Eating enough selenium containing foods, like turkey, can help prevent thyroid issues related to selenium deficiency (6).
Cauliflower rice
We know, we know: cauliflower has been having a moment. But there’s a reason for that! Cauliflower is one of the most versatile veggies out there; not to mention, it’s packed with health-promoting nutrients and non-nutrients (like antioxidants).
In case you were wondering, cauliflower rice has no actual rice in it. It’s simply cauliflower that manufacturers cut into a rice-like shape in order to mimic the mouthfeel of actual rice.
Cauliflower rice can be a great swap for regular rice. Especially for people wanting to lose weight. There are several reasons for this. First, cauliflower rice is higher in fiber and lower in calories than both cooked white and brown rice (7, 8, 9). Boosting fiber intake leads to greater fullness, and because we can’t fully break fiber down in the body (it’s indigestible), we extract a negligible amount of calories from it. This is why high fiber foods tend to be weight loss friendly.
Also, cauliflower rice is less calorie dense than white and brown rice. In fact, 100g of cauliflower rice contains 24 calories whereas 100g of cooked brown rice contains 122 calories (7, 8). Put simply, you could eat about 5 times as much cauliflower rice than cooked brown rice for the same amount of calories. This is helpful for weight loss because when we eat a large volume of food, it physically stretches our stomach, sending a signal to our brain that we are full (you can read more about this in our post on overeating). Research has shown that eating foods with low calorie densities can help with weight loss (10).
Sweet potato and carrots
Seeing lots of orange in the photos of this recipe? That’s the beta-carotene in the sweet potato wedges and carrot slices. Beta-carotene is actually a pigment found in plants which gives them color. When we consume it in foods, the body converts it to vitamin A. Vitamin A then acts as an antioxidant, helping to combat inflammation (11). Pretty cool, right?
Looking for another healthy sheet pan dinner recipe? Check out this blog post.
Meatball Sheet Pan Dinner
Equipment
- 2 sheet pans
- 2 large bowls
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey lean
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup oat flour
- A few pinches black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Veggies
- 10 oz. grape tomatoes whole
- 2 cups carrot chips
- 1 cup sweet potato cut into 1/8th wedges
- 2 cups riced cauliflower frozen
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Dressing
- 2 tbsp hummus
- water
- lemon juice
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients for the turkey meatballs in a large bowl. Using your hands, mash together until the mixture is uniform throughout. Do not overmix.
- Lay foil over baking sheet #1 and spray with cooking spray. Then, form 16 equally sized meatballs with hands and place onto tray.
- Place the tray of meatballs in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
- While the meatballs are chilling, preheat the oven to 425° F.
- Combine all veggie ingredients in one large bowl. Ensure that olive oil, tahini, and spices evenly coat all the veggies.
- Lay foil over baking sheet #2 and spray with cooking spray. Dump the bowl of veggies onto tray and spread out, ensuring one even layer.
- Take the meatball tray out of the freezer. Once oven is preheated, put both pans into the oven.
- Cook for approximately 40 minutes, until veggies are soft and meatballs are cooked all the way through. At minute 20, bring the top rack pan to the bottom rack, and the bottom rack pan to the top rack.
- Let cool for several minutes. While cooling, put hummus in a small dish. Combine with a small amount of water and/or lemon juice to thin into a dressing consistency.
- Plate each serving with a handful of greens (optional) and drizzle hummus dressing over the meatballs and veggies.
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