Homemade turkey bites with sweet potato and zucchini! Perfect bites for little ones or for on-the-go bentos. Add habanero or jalapeño to spice things up. Adapted from recipe by Paleo Gluten Free Eats.
1mediumsweet potatograted (about 2 ½ cups) Yellow or Japanese is best here, but orange works too!
¼onionminced (¼ cup)
¼habanero pepper or ½ jalapeño, minced
1teaspooncoarse sea saltor ½ teaspoon normal salt
1Tablespoongarlic powderuse ½ for little kids!
½ - 1teaspoondried parsley or other herbs of choice
1poundground turkey or chicken
3Tablespoonsarrowroot powderoptional
Optional add ins: love adding 1 teaspoon paprikaminced green onion, or Trader Joe's Umami seasoning
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Shred or grate your vegetables using a food processor or box grater. You should have about 1.5 cups of zucchini, and about 2 cups of sweet potato. Mince the onion and add all vegetables to a large bowl with the sea salt, garlic powder, and turkey. Optional: mince the spicy pepper and add to bowl.
Sprinkle with the arrowroot powder and then mix well. I used a stand mixer, but you can use your hands or a fork!
Using a small ice cream scooper or a Tablespoon, divide into small balls. Roll between hands then slightly flatten each ball. This shape cooks more evenly and reduces the risk of drying out the turkey. (Makes approximately 30-40 bites!) Place on parchment-lined or silpat-lined baking sheet and add to preheated oven. Cook for about 18-20 minutes or until fully cooked.
Serve! I like them on their own or with a little chipotle mayo.
Makes about 40 bites; adult serving is about 6 bites.
Notes
Turkey should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165ºF.
Recommended dipping sauce: Primal Kitchens Chipotle Mayo, Sugar-Free (or low sugar) Ketchup, Primal Palate BBQ Sauce My favorite potato to use in this recipe is the yellow-fleshed Hannah sweet potato, but regular orange ones, as shown in these pictures, will work fine! (Japanese sweet potatoes also work, but they're expensive so I usually save them for roasted whole Japanese sweet potatoes.) And you can use up to 3 cups sweet potatoes in this recipe!