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Fancy enough for a party menu yet easy enough for a weeknight dinner idea, my savory Air Fryer Meatballs can be made with your choice of ground turkey, beef, or pork.
So far, we’ve covered how to slow cook meatballs, bake meatballs, and fry meatballs. We’ve talked turkey, slathered ’em in cranberry sauce, incorporated them into Italian Wedding soup, IKEA-fied them, and even created a marvelous comfort food mash up: Meatloaf Meatballs.
And today, we’re going to master how to air fry meatballs. Inspired by my fan-favorite Turkey Meatballs, this easy air fryer recipe is a crowd-pleasing snack idea that can easily be dressed up into dinner. Ready to have a ball?
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Ground turkey, beef, or pork: To keep the lean theme going (we are air frying rather than deep-frying, after all), opt for turkey. For more flavor and juiciness, try a 50/50 mix of half beef or pork, or opt for one or the other at about 85 percent lean and 15 percent fat.
- Bread crumbs: Store-bought works great, or substitute fresh breadcrumbs if you have some stale bread that you’d like to use up.
- Worcestershire sauce: Just a splash; this lends a lovely umami boost that really elevates the flavor of these Air Fryer Meatballs.
Step by step instructions
- In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, bread crumbs, onion, parsley, eggs, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, basil, oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
- Using a strong spatula or your hands (I like to wear latex gloves), mix well.
- Shape the mixture into 1-inch balls (you should have around 48 total).
- Preheat air fryer to 350 degrees. Working in batches, arrange meatballs in air fryer basket, brush with oil, and cook until browned with crispy edges, turning over meatballs after 5 minutes, about 8 minutes (an internal thermometer should read 165 degrees for 15 seconds).
- Transfer to serving plate. Repeat with remaining meatballs.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This Air Fryer Meatball recipe makes about 42 meatballs, enough to serve six adults a very generous heavy appetizer-sized portion. Four to six meatballs can make a meal if you pair it with a starch and sauce (see ideas below in “Recipe FAQs).
- Storage: Transfer leftover Air Fryer Meatballs to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: The meatballs can be made up to 3 days in advance. Store covered in the refrigerator until you’re ready to reheat and enjoy.
- Freezer: If you have leftover Air Fryer Meatballs that you’ve cooked and would like to freeze for later, arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet, not touching. Freeze until solid, about 1 hour, then transfer to a freezer-safe container and store up to 1 month. To reheat, place on a baking sheet, cover with foil, and bake in a 300-degree oven for 15 minutes, or until heated through. If you would like to reheat in your favorite sauce, simply place the meatballs in with the sauce and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, or until heated through.
Recipe FAQs
The easiest method is to use a small ice cream scoop. Not only does this give you equal portions, but it also gets you most of the way to the round shape you’re looking for. If you would like an even more precise measurement, scoop and place on your kitchen scale. Your looking for a 1 ½-ounce portion for each meatball.
Add these easy turkey meatballs to your potluck, party, or tailgate menu; simply serve alongside a big stack of toothpicks and some dipping sauces (such as barbecue sauce, mustard, ketchup, cheese sauce, or aioli). To make Air Fryer Meatballs a meal, pile them atop mashed potatoes and turkey gravy, toss with spaghetti and red sauce, or stuff inside a toasted hoagie bun with marinara sauce and cheese.
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Air Fryer Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground turkey or ground beef or ground pork (see note 1)
- 1 cup bread crumbs or panko or rolled oats (see note 2)
- 2/3 cup onion minced
- 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (see note 3)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, bread crumbs, onion, parsley, eggs, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, basil, oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
- Using a strong spatula or your hands (I like to wear latex gloves), mix well. Shape the mixture into 1-inch balls (you should have around 48 total).
- Preheat air fryer to 350 degrees. Working in batches, arrange meatballs in air fryer basket, brush with oil, and cook until browned with crispy edges, turning over meatballs after 5 minutes, about 8 minutes (an internal thermometer should read 165 degrees for 15 seconds).
- Transfer to serving plate. Repeat with remaining meatballs.
Notes
- Ground turkey, beef, or pork: To keep the lean theme going (we are air frying rather than deep-frying, after all), opt for turkey. For more flavor and juiciness, try a 50/50 mix of half beef or pork, or opt for one or the other at about 85 percent lean and 15 percent fat.
- Bread crumbs: Store-bought works great, or substitute fresh breadcrumbs if you have some stale bread that you’d like to use up. Alternatively, trade in 1 cup of rolled oats or flaky panko breadcrumbs.
- Worcestershire sauce: Just a splash; this lends a lovely umami boost that really elevates the flavor of these Air Fryer Meatballs.
- Yield: This Air Fryer Meatball recipe makes about 42 meatballs, enough to serve six adults a very generous heavy appetizer-sized portion. Four to six meatballs can make a meal if you pair it with a starch and sauce (see ideas below in “Recipe FAQs).
- Storage: Transfer leftover Air Fryer Meatballs to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: The meatballs can be made up to 3 days in advance. Store covered in the refrigerator until you’re ready to reheat and enjoy.
- Freezer: Arrange cooked meatballs in a single layer on a baking sheet, not touching. Freeze until solid, about 1 hour, then transfer to a freezer-safe container and store up to 1 month.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Not amazing but worthy of coming back and experimenting with.
Used an Frigidaire induction range that has an air fryer slight smaller than a half sheet for the first time on air fryer. Probably the air fryer’s fault that the finished meatballs had little texture/resistance when bitten into. Instead of browning, they were more of a gray with some brown. From the few recipes I’ve seen, most air fryer recipes use 400F sometimes and usually 450F. Will come back and try both of these temperatures.
I suspect that if I had pan fried them (or broiled?), they would be amazing.
Despite the lack of browning, the meatballs tasted good. Enough to come back and experiment with heating processes.
Thank you for taking the time to write your feedback! I’m sorry the meatballs didn’t brown to your liking, and appreciate you coming back to try them again! I have pan frying and baking directions here if you would like to try them stove-top or in the oven. Thank you again and please write again! – Meggan