Southwest Turkey Meatball Subs with Creamy Cilantro Sauce

For this round of the recipe swap we are making sandwiches and I got this recipe for Southwest Turkey Meatball Subs from Jenna at Jenna’s Cooking Journey. I was excited to make these as they are (somewhat) healthy and I love cilantro. I love a good sandwich!

The main change I made is that I can’t really eat spicy food, as anything with the least bit of spice just turns my mouth on fire. I left out the jalapeno, and in the end the sandwich did need a little more spice. I guess I would probably put some jalapeno in the meat mixture but leave it out of the sauce. Or this would be good with jalapeno jack instead of mild provolone.

I made about 9 meatballs, so they were pretty big. I liked that on the sandwich; they were very substantial! I’m not sure that such a big sandwich is healthy, but at least it has healthy ingredients! I served the sandwiches on potato rolls, which is a favorite in our household. One of our cats, who really won’t eat any table food, will seek you out if you have potato rolls. She’s very strange! Overall, I really liked these and next time I would add in a bit more of the spice. Thanks for the recipe, Jenna!

1 jalapeño, seeds removed (I omitted this)

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 green onions

1 pound lean ground turkey

1/4 cup panko

1 egg

1 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon oregano

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt

1 small jalapeño, seeds removed (I omitted this)

1/2 cup of fresh cilantro

2 tomatillos, husks removed, chopped

1 clove garlic

1 green onion

juice of 1/2 lime

1/8 teaspoon cumin

Salt and pepper

2-4 slices provolone

2-4 hoagie rolls

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

Place jalapeño, garlic, cilantro, and green onions into a small food processor and pulse a few times until finely minced. (Or chop by hand.)

In a large bowl combine turkey, chopped herbs, panko, egg, cumin, salt and pepper. Mix well. Shape into meatballs of desired size. I made about 9 meatballs with 1 pound of turkey. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

While the meatballs are baking, make the cilantro sauce: combine the buttermilk, yogurt, jalapeno, cilantro, tomatillos, garlic, green onion lime juice, cumin, salt and pepper in a small food processor. Pulse until combined.

When the meatballs come out of the oven, turn on the broiler. Top hoagie rolls with meatballs and cheese. Broil until the cheese is melted. Top with cilantro sauce.

Recipe from Jenna’s Cooking Journey