Whoever said you can’t have meatballs without spaghetti has never had my grandmother’s famous meatballs. She used to make meatballs as big as your plate, and you were a trooper if you could eat a whole one. In fact, my younger brother and I used to split one and still couldn’t finish it. Nobody ever had room for spaghetti, and truth be told, nobody missed it!

With the low-carb lifestyle many are now becoming accustomed to, many folks are ditching the pasta for healthier options. And not only are we ditching the pasta, but we’re also switching from heavy cream sauces to lighter tomato-based sauces.

With the following Instant Pot turkey meatballs recipe, I went all in on a healthful trifecta by adding collagen protein into the recipe. Talk about kicking it up a notch!

Why add collagen protein? Collagen is the most abundant and most important protein in the body. In fact, collagen constitutes 30% of the protein in your body and, aside from water, is the most abundant substance in your body.

Collagen is literally the glue that supports, connects, and holds your body together, and it helps give structure to your skin, joints, bones, cartilage, ligaments, tendons, hair, fingernails, intestinal wall, and more. For example, collagen makes up a whopping 70% of the protein in your skin. Not surprisingly, maintaining healthy levels of collagen is vital to support many aspects of overall health, including:

• Smooth, healthy, young-looking skin
• Strong, healthy fingernails and glossy hair
• Healthy, supple joints and strong, stable bones
• Healthy digestion and gut health

So let’s get right to the recipe!

Instant Pot Turkey Meatballs Recipe (with Collagen)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 Tbsp Ageless Multi-Collagen
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp ginger powder
• 1 tsp basil
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Add all of the ingredients except the tomato sauce in a large bowl and combine with your hands.
2. Shape into meatballs—make sure they are all the same size so they cook evenly.
3. Plug in your InstantPot® and add 2 cups of tomato sauce to the bottom of the pot.
4. Add your meatballs to the tomato sauce.
5. Close the InstantPot lid and make sure the valve is closed.
6. Manually set the timer to 25 minutes.
7. Once it is done cooking, turn off the InstantPot, open the valve (you may want to cover the valve with a towel so the steam doesn’t shoot up to your ceiling). Once all of the steam is released, open the lid.
8. Serve your meatballs and enjoy!

Chef Note: You could absolutely cook this turkey meatballs recipe in a crockpot, as this is my preferred method to cook meatballs. Or you could simply cook the meatballs in the oven and then transfer them to the crockpot to soak up some of the tomato sauce flavor.

Chef Note: I generally like to add a few ingredients to my tomato sauce to make it my own. For example, sautéed onions, garlic, and even olives give it a homemade taste with very little extra effort. I like to add a can of either diced tomatoes or stewed tomatoes (lightly crushed) as well.

InstantPot® Turkey Meatballs Nutrition Facts:
4 servings

• Calories: 216
• Total Fat: 8 g
• Total Carbohydrate: 9.3 g
• Fiber: 2.25 g
• Protein: 24.8 g