Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs
with Parmesan, Kale & Tomatoes
- Milk
- Wheat
Spaghetti with creamy tomato sauce is always a recipe for success. Is there anyone who’d turn down a plate of noodles piled high and dusted with cheese? Surely not, although adding some extra meat and veg certainly makes it all the more crave-able. Which is exactly what we’re doing: taking a tried-and-true Italian American classic and adding hearty turkey meatballs and bites of chewy kale.
Ingredients
¼ cup
Parmesan Cheese
4 ounce
Kale
4 ounce
Cream Sauce Base
(Contains: Milk)
1 unit
Lemon
2 unit
Tomato
8 ounce
Pre-Cooked Turkey Meatballs
1 tablespoon
Tuscan Heat Spice
6 ounce
Spaghetti
(Contains: Wheat)
1 teaspoon
Garlic Powder
Not included in your delivery
1 teaspoon (tsp)
Cooking Oil
2 teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
2 tablespoon (tbsp)
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Wash and dry all produce. • Remove any large stems from kale; roughly chop leaves. Dice tomatoes. Zest and quarter lemon. • Halve meatballs*.
• Heat 1 TBSP butter in a large, wide pot over medium-high heat. (TIP: Use a pot or pan as wide as the spaghetti is long—ideally 11 inches or wider.) Add meatballs and cook, turning occasionally, until browned all over, 3-4 minutes. Transfer to a plate. • Return same pot to medium-high heat with a drizzle of oil. Add kale and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5-7 minutes. Transfer to plate with meatballs.
• Melt 1 TBSP butter in same pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic powder and half the Tuscan Heat Spice (all for 4 servings); cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. • Stir in tomatoes, cream sauce base, 2 cups water, and ½ tsp salt (3 cups water and 1 tsp salt for 4). TIP: Cut top off carton of cream sauce to open fully; transfer contents, using a spoon or spatula to scrape sauce from carton sides.
• Add spaghetti to pot with sauce; lay noodles as flat as possible (they should be mostly submerged in liquid). (TIP: Break noodles in half if your pot isn’t wide enough for them to lay flat.) Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low. • Simmer, stirring occasionally and making sure noodles stay submerged, 15 minutes. (At this point, spaghetti should be malleable but not yet fully cooked; sauce will be slightly thickened.)
• Once spaghetti has cooked 15 minutes, return meatballs and kale to pot. Cook, stirring, until spaghetti is al dente and sauce has thickened and coats noodles, 3-5 minutes more. (TIP: If sauce thickens too much before pasta is tender, add splashes of water as needed.) Remove pot from heat.
• Taste and season pasta with salt and pepper. Stir in lemon zest and a big squeeze of lemon juice to taste. • Divide pasta between bowls and top with Parmesan. Serve with any remaining lemon wedges on the side.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the creamy sauce and lemon zest, though some found the meatballs too spicy or oddly seasoned.
- Ease of prep: Customers appreciated the convenient one-pot cooking method, with several noting how quick and simple it was.
- Suggestions: Consider swapping kale for spinach, cooking pasta separately, or making fresh meatballs instead of using pre-cooked ones.
- Portions: Generous servings left plenty for leftovers, with some saying it could easily feed more than two.
- Texture: Some found the pre-cooked meatballs dense or rubbery; a few mentioned the pasta was starchy when cooked in the sauce.
Reviews from our home cooks
To be honest I didn't expect much out of this recipe. I picked it as the "eh, it's not pork, and it'll probably do" choice. Boy, was I wrong. It was fabulous. As far as cooking it, I can't leave well enough alone, so I sauteed the meatballs & kale with a diced onion, added a tablespoon of chicken bouillon to the pasta cooking step, and used dry sherry to thin the sauce while cooking in the final stage. Some mushrooms would have been good too, if I'd had them in stock.
I think giving this recipe only 3 stars is a little misleading, since it was a wonderfully delicious dish, but I had to take off a star because the pre-made turkey meatballs are so full of pepper that it really does throw off the balance of the rest of the meal. Instead of meatballs with a 'breakfast sausage' vibe, they should have had an 'Italian sausage' vibe.
We love the sauce. The lemon zest complimented the herbs and kale so well. I was actually pleased with the taste of the turkey meatballs until I bit down a bone chip, which kept me from even trying a second bite of a meatball. One pan was a plus also.
WOW, who would have imagined that turkey meatballs could be so delicious. What a great and different meal. The kale added just the perfect balance to the whole recipe. Again, many thanks!
I LOVED this recipe. The turkey meatballs, the sauce, the noodles were all amazing. Highly recommend and would order again.
This was fantastic. Loved the sauce and cooking the noodles on it. Turkey meatballs and kale paired with everything perfectly. I'll order this one every time I can!
Having the pre-made meatballs was refreshing and quick for a school night. They also tasted great! I thought the bitter crunch of kale went well with the acidity of the tomatoes. Kids approved too!
Delicious but a little too heavy for us with the cream sauce. Great combo with the turkey, kale and tomatoes with lemon!!
I will be getting this recipe to my mom. She's unable to eat a lot of tomato based sauces and already uses ground turkey. The lemon zest and squeeze gave this dish a nice little twist. I loved it!
DELICIOUS! Such a tasty pasta. I did have to to the store and buy 2 new tomatoes because they were bad but can't complain! The kale was new and exciting to cook with. So good!
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