Our turkey meatball sliders give you all the zesty, delicious Italian flavors of a meatball sub in a fun-sized format, with less fat thanks to ground turkey. Don’t worry; they’re still so juicy!
Sliders are a great choice for main dish recipes or hearty appetizer recipes. We love serving these classic comfort food options whenever possible, including pastrami sliders, sausage and pepperoni pizza sliders, and ham and cheese sliders.
Our newest addition brings more classic flavor in a handheld package with turkey meatball sliders packed with zesty flavor, sauce, and cheese.
Serve them with air fryer curly fries, air fryer Alexia onion rings, and macaroni and cheese for a comfort food feast perfect for weeknight dinners or parties.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Basic Ingredients: All you need are basic staples found in any kitchen or grocery store.
- Easy: This is a simple recipe that only takes a few steps and about 45 minutes from start to finish.
- Classic Flavor: These sliders feature tender, juicy meatballs, pizza sauce, provolone cheese, and soft buns.
- Better for You: These sliders still aren’t exactly health food, but using turkey in place of ground beef drastically reduces saturated fat and cholesterol.
- Customizable: You can easily tweak this recipe to make it your own.
- Versatile: These make a great main meal or appetizer.
- Great for Meal Prep: The meatballs are freezer-friendly, and using jarred pizza sauce means there’s no extra work when you’re ready to make these sliders.
Key Ingredients
You’ll find a full list of ingredients and their exact amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Ground Turkey: Ground turkey takes the place of beef, creating tender meatballs with much less fat.
- Pepperoni: Finely diced pepperoni adds more flavor and a little fat to keep the meatballs moist.
- Parmesan: Parmesan adds an earthy, nutty cheese flavor to the meatballs.
- Seasonings: A blend of garlic powder, pepper, red pepper flakes, dried basil, dried minced onion, and Italian seasoning gives the meatballs classic Italian flavor with a kick of heat.
- Pizza Sauce: Jarred pizza sauce adds classic flavor without extra work.
- Provolone Cheese: Adds smoky, melty cheesy goodness!
Variations
- Ground Beef: You can use ground beef if you prefer a more classic approach.
- Semi-Homemade: Use pre-cooked Italian meatballs for an even faster version.
- Mild: Omit the red pepper flakes.
- Provolone: Mozzarella is an excellent option, as well.
How to Make Turkey Meatball Sliders
Step 1: Mix the meatball ingredients and form them into 1-inch balls.
Step 2: Place the meatballs on a prepared baking sheet and bake at 400°F until cooked through.
Step 3: Slice the buns in half. Then, add cheese, followed by sauce, to the bottom halves. Add sauce, followed by cheese to the top halves.
Step 4: Place the cooked meatballs on the bottom buns, and bake again at 425°F until the cheese is melted. Place the tops on and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- It’s best to mix the meatball ingredients by hand, then mix only until combined. This avoids overmixing, which can lead to tough meatballs.
- A very sharp, serrated knife lets you easily cut your buns in half without squishing them.
- Be sure your seasonings are fresh. The older they get, the less flavor they have!
Turkey Meatball Sliders FAQs
For juicy turkey meatballs, add egg as both a binder and a source of fat, extra liquid, and breadcrumbs to act as a binder and to hold the liquid as the meatballs cook.
If you don’t add enough liquid to the mixture, the lean ground turkey will become dry as the meatballs cook. In addition, if you overmix the meat, it will cause the proteins to contract too much as the meatballs cook, squeezing out the juice.
When constructed, these sliders can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. However, the meatballs can be frozen on their own for up to 3 months in an airtight, freezer-safe container or heavy-duty freezer bag.
Great Appetizers to Serve with These Meatball Sliders
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Turkey Meatball sliders
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds ground turkey
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
- ⅓ cup diced pepperoni
- ⅓ cup panko breadcrumbs
- (2) 12 mini slider buns, I used Martin brand
- 14 ounce pizza sauce
- 8 ounce provolone, sliced and quartered
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400, and line a baking sheet(s) with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Set aside.
- In a medium size bowl, add ground turkey, grated parmesan, herbs, seasonings, breadcrumbs, diced pepperoni, and egg into a bowl. Mix well.
- Form 1-inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheet(s) at least 1-inch apart.
- Repeat steps until all of the meatball mixture is used.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- While the turkey meatballs bake, separate slider buns in half.
- Place quartered cheese slices over the bottoms of each bun, and top with a teaspoon of pizza sauce.
- On the top side of the bun, add a teaspoon of sauce and top with remaining quartered provolone.
- Remove the meatballs from the oven, and increase the temperature to 425 degrees.
- Place the cooked meatballs on the bottom side of the bun, leaving the tops of the sliders to cook open faced in the oven.
- Once the oven has reached 425, bake the sliders for 4-6 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
- Remove from the oven and place the tops of the sliders onto the meatballs. Serve warm.
- Makes 24 mini sliders.
Notes
- It’s best to mix the meatball ingredients by hand, then mix only until combined. This avoids overmixing, which can lead to tough meatballs.
- A very sharp, serrated knife lets you easily cut your buns in half without squishing them.
- Be sure your seasonings are fresh. The older they get, the less flavor they have!
These are yummy! I used ground beef because I already had some in the freezer. So good.
I made a full meal out of these with some frozen French fries in the air fryer. Delicious.
These turkey meatball sliders look like such a fun and approachable appetizer. They’re a great way to keep things a bit lighter while still looking totally indulgent.
Tried them today and they turned out great. Easy to assemble and really filling!
These were so fun to make and so comforting too! The family loved them..I served with soup for a cozy snow day meal.
These Turkey Meatball Sliders were so good! Delicious and so comforting!
These Turkey Meatball Sliders were so yummy. Easy to assemble too!