Beef and Turkey Meatball Subs
These hearty, satisfying Beef and Turkey Meatball Subs are a tasty, lighter way to indulge your comfort food cravings! Each sub features three homemade Italian meatballs made with a mix of ground beef and ground turkey. The meatballs are baked and then mixed into warm pasta sauce, placed on a bun and topped with Mozzarella cheese. You’ll then broil them for a couple minutes so that the cheese melts and the bun gets toasted to perfection. I love meatballs, and I will eat them any which way, but as a sub is one of my favorites. These Beef and Turkey Meatballs Subs are super filling and full of flavor, and a whole sub is just 311 calories or 7 WW (Weight Watchers) Points each! To view your current WW Points for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
Before baking
Lately I’ve been really into mixing ground beef and ground turkey together to use for meatloaf, meatballs, etc. It still offers beefy flavor, which I love in those types of dishes, but the lean ground turkey breast lightens it up. You may have noticed this meat combination used in my Lasagna Soup or Meatloaf with Gravy recipes, and I have a Gyro recipe coming soon that uses it as well. Keep your eyes peeled for that one!
After baking
I’ve seen people talking about the Schmidt 647 breads and buns on social media, so when I saw them at Wegmans I picked up some of their long rolls (hot dog bun size). My Wegmans also had their hamburger buns, English muffins, and bread. The long buns I used in this recipe are 80 calories or 2 SmartPoints each on the three WW Plans. They also have 9 grams of fiber. That’s significantly less calories and more fiber than traditional hot dog buns, and I was super pleased to discover they taste the same! I genuinely would never have thought they were a “light” version if I didn’t know. This post isn’t sponsored, by the way, I just wanted to share the find with you all! Looking forward to trying more of their products.
Looking for more tasty comfort food recipes using ground beef or ground turkey? Check out my Italian Sausage Bread, Meatloaf with Gravy, Slow Cooker Meatballs and Marinara, Korean-Inspired Ground Turkey, Greek Turkey Burgers, Beefy American Goulash, Chili Cornbread Bake, One-Pot Cheesy Chili Mac, Swedish Turkey Meatballs, One-Pot Turkey and Veggie Spaghetti, Chili Wonton Cups, and more in the Ground Beef and Ground Turkey categories of my recipe index!
Beef and Turkey Meatball Subs
Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup plain breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, the kind in the shaker
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoons dried minced onion, (found by the spices, also sometimes called chopped onion)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup water
- ½ lb (8 oz) 95% lean ground beef
- ½ lb (8 oz) 99% lean ground turkey breast
- 1 ¼ cups pasta sauce, (I used Mid’s Meatless Pasta Sauce)
- 5 light hot dog buns, (I used Schmidt 647 long rolls)
- 10 tablespoons shredded 2% Mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the egg, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, Italian seasoning, minced onion, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and water, and stir together with a fork until well combined. Add the ground beef and ground turkey to the bowl and use clean hands to mix everything together until just combined.
- On a clean, dry surface (like a cutting board), separate your meat mixture into 15 equal piles. Wet your hands or spray them with a bit of cooking spray and then roll each little pile into a ball. Place each ball on the prepared baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until cooked through.
- When there is about 5 minutes left on the meatballs, pour the pasta sauce into a medium saucepan and cover. Place on a burner over medium-low heat, and switch to low heat if it starts bubbling. Stir occasionally.
- When the meatballs are finished, combine them with the sauce (you can put them all together, or you can separate out ¼ cup of sauce to every 3 meatballs, as that’s what each sub will get). Move an oven rack to the top position and switch the oven to broil.
- Remove the used parchment from your sheet pan and replace it with a clean piece. Place your open buns onto the baking sheet and fill each one with 3 meatballs covered in ¼ cup of sauce. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of shredded Mozzarella over the top of the meatballs on each sub. Place the pan under the broiler and broil for about 2 minutes*, or until the cheese is melted and the tops of the buns are a bit toasted. *Keep an eye on the subs under the broiler, some cook faster than others and things can go from golden/toasted to blackened fairly quickly!
Notes
8 per sub (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition info below
My goodness, these meatballs are easy to make and taste great! I used a 2 tablespoon scoop to form the meatballs. I was concerned they’d be too soft and fall apart in the sauce. That was not a problem at all. I’m using the meat I didn’t use in this recipe to make a small loaf of your Meatloaf and Gravy tomorrow night. Thanks for sharing.
Hi,
How many points for the meatballs? We do not have light buns in Ontario so I would have to account for the buns available.
The buns I used are 2 SPs each, so you can subtract that from the points for the plan you’re on.
We made these last night and they were absolutely delicious!!! My husband is a picky eater and he loved them. They were also super easy to make which is a huge plus.
Delicious recipe and really easy to make! I used 99% lean ground turkey and took some of the inside out of the rolls I used (I did not use hot dog buns) to make them less points. I topped them with WW string cheese.
Anyone make these ahead of time and then put in the crockpot on low for the day with the sauce?
I haven’t done that with these meatballs specifically, but I often cook meatballs all day in my slow cooker with sauce. I usually brown the outsides a bit first. Enjoy!
The meatballs were amazing!! Very flavorful and by far the best meatball recipe I have made!
Can these be made ahead of time?
Delicious! but a quick public service announcement. I don’t recommend using the second piece of parchment piece under the broiler, even if it is just 2 minutes (our broiler hits 1400). Parchment paper is not meant to be used in a broiler or for oven temps over 420. Our family always loves your recipes! Thanks!
I totally agree. Our parchment paper stayed to burn pretty quickly.
I loved the meatballs! I was doubting that they would still have a beefy flavor but they do. There are only 2 of us in the house so we only used 6 meatballs total from the recipe but I froze them to add to our spaghetti next week.
I wanted to thank you for the wonderful recipes that never make us feel deprived of the comfort foods we love. My husband needed to lose 40 pounds in order to have a hip replacement surgery and we used recipes from your website at least 5 nights a week. He hit his goal less than 2 months after starting. I have also lost 20 pounds!
Thanks Angie, that makes me so happy to hear!!