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🍗 Chicken & poultry

Yotam's turkey & zucchini meatballs

Herby little patties with a tangy sumac sauce

⏱️ Time estimate: about 35 minutes

Ground turkey, grated zucchini, green onions, mint, cilantro, cumin, and cayenne turn into tender meatballs or patties, with a creamy sour cream and yogurt sauce brightened up by lemon and sumac.

Turkey and zucchini meatballs with sauce

Ingredients

Sumac sauce

  • Scant 1/2 cup sour cream
  • Scant 2/3 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 small garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon sumac
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Meatballs

  • 1 pound ground turkey, preferably thigh meat
  • 1 large zucchini, coarsely grated
  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons chopped mint
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/3 cup neutral oil, for cooking

Instructions

  1. Make the sauce. Stir together the sour cream, yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, sumac, salt, and pepper. Chill or set aside.
  2. Mix the meatballs. In a large bowl, gently combine the turkey, grated zucchini, green onions, egg, mint, cilantro, garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Do not overwork it.
  3. Shape. Form into about 18 small meatballs or lightly flattened patties.
  4. Cook in batches. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add a thin layer of neutral oil. Cook the patties in batches, leaving space between them, until deeply golden on one side, 3 to 5 minutes. Flip and cook until browned and cooked through with no pink left inside.
  5. Serve. Serve warm or at room temperature with the sumac sauce on the side. They are also excellent tucked into pita with extra herbs.

Little lunch note: these are especially nice cold from the fridge, which makes them a very handy leftover creature.