Hot meatballs at 7:40 beat a granola bar every time
Roll a pound of ground turkey into twenty small meatballs, bake at 400 for eighteen minutes, and freeze what you do not use in a flat bag.
Fill the thermos with boiling water and let it stand five minutes before you pour it out. Then in go the hot meatballs and a few spoons of marinara over them.
That preheat is the difference between steaming food at 7:40 and lukewarm food a kid pushes back at you. It takes five minutes you spend doing something else anyway.
Ingredients
The batch makes 4 snack cups, about 16 meatballs. Plan on about 30 minutes.
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup marinara sauce, for dipping
How to Make It
- Heat the oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Mix the turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, parmesan, garlic powder, and salt until just combined.
- Roll into 1-inch balls and space them on the sheet.
- Bake 15 to 18 minutes until cooked through and 165F inside, then pack into cups with warm marinara on the side.
Make It Work for Picky Kids
Plenty of kids eat the meatball and skip the sauce, so dipping should be their call.
- Pack the marinara in a separate cup so dry meatballs stay dry
- Keep the meatballs plain and let the kid dip if they want to
- Cut a meatball in half for a younger kid so it is easy to bite
Pack or Store
These go hot in a thermos and make a real snack after a long practice.
- Pack the meatballs hot in a warmed thermos to keep them safe and warm
- Send the marinara warm in a separate leakproof cup
- Refrigerate cooked meatballs up to 3 days or freeze for a month
- Serve with: a small roll, cucumber slices
Parent Tip
Roll all the meatballs the same size so they cook evenly and finish at the same time.
Make it fit tonight
Small changes that make this one fit your night
Mozzarella center
A cube of mozzarella pressed inside each meatball melts into a middle worth finding.
Teriyaki toss
Baked meatballs tossed in teriyaki suit a kid who has decided they dislike tomato sauce.
Ranch on the side
A small cup of ranch instead of marinara keeps the thermos from staining a uniform.
Sub roll
Send a small roll alongside and a hungry teenager builds a meatball sub in the parking lot.
Ground chicken
Ground chicken swaps in directly and stays a little moister when it sits in the thermos.
Frozen store-bought
A bag of frozen meatballs microwaved for two minutes gets you to the same thermos on a bad week.
Plan the next step
Find more filling snacks
Browse a few more protein-heavy snacks for the longer days.