Buffalo Turkey Meatballs!

Back at the start of the year I discovered Frank's Hot Sauce (I know, what took me so long) and it has been a regular addition to my lunches ever since. The buffalo version is my favourite as I really like the slightly tangy/sweet flavour too it. And lets be honest, who doesn't love a nice big bowl of buffalo wings, and the sauce gives just a little taste of that! 

I've also been loving turkey mince since the new year, it is just so lean and versatile. It makes a nice change from beef mine which seems to be the main ingredient to a lot of my go to meals. Its so easy to sub in the turkey mince, particularly on a night when you may be short a few smartpoints. 

I wanted something different and something that felt like a bit of a treat so I decided to have a bit of an experiment with my much loved buffalo sauce and I have to say I was impressed. This was a great midweek dinner and felt like a real treat. It was also a huge portion and was left absolutely stuffed after which is always a plus. I made a couple of dipping sauces to go along side this, my light version of a blue cheese dip and a spicy chipotle hot sauce. The meatballs work out at 8 smartpoints for the whole recipe and the sauces are 2 smartpoints each. You can get 2-4 servings out of this depending on how hungry you are, but either way its a bargain dinner! 

Buffalo Turkey Meatballs

Servings: 2-4

Smartpoints per serving: 2sp if serving 4, 4sp if serving 2

Smartpoints on No Count: 1sp for all servings

Ingredients:

400g Turkey Mince

50ml Franks Buffalo Hot Sauce

30g Panko Breadcrumbs

1/2 tbsp dried parsley

1tbsp paprika

1/2 tbsp garlic powder

Tesco Rapeseed Spray oil (12 sprays)

Salt & Pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C. Mix all the ingredients really well. The longer you mix this the better the flavours will be. 

Divide the mixture into large meatballs. I knew I was serving 2 people so I got 10 meatballs out of the recipe but you can make bigger/smaller depending on serving size required (you need the number of meatballs divisible by the amount of servings).

Line a baking tray with parchment and spray with the oil (6 sprays). Place the meatballs on the tray and spray again before cooking in the oven for 15-25 minutes until cooked through (depending on the size of your meatballs). While these are cooking you can make your sauces. 

Light Blue Cheese Dip

Smartpoints: 2sp for whole recipe

Smartpoints on No Count: 1sp for whole recipe

Ingredients:

2 laughing cow blue cheese triangles

50g 0% fat greek yoghurt

0.5 tbsp red wine vinegar

0.5 tbsp extra light mayo

1 tsp dried parsely

salt & pepper

1-2 tbsp water

Mash the laughing cow triangles into a paste and mix with the yoghurt, vinegar, mayo and parsley. Add a little water if needed to thin it out and season to taste. Serve along side the meatballs or anything else. It would be great on a burger, turkey or otherwise, or with some veggie crudites!!

Chipotle Hot Sauce

Smartpoints: 2sp for whole recipe

Smartpoints on No Count: 1sp for whole recipe

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Chipotle paste

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 tsp tomato ketchup

0.5 tsp sweetner

30-50ml water

Put the paste and puree in a small pot over a medium heat and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Add the water, ketchup and sweetner and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, adding more water if necessary. You want quite a runny sauce but just thick enough to cover the back of a spoon.  Serve hot.