I have found a recipe for the most AMAZING LOW CARB MEATBALLS. Seriously, they are so good.
I’ve never made meatballs before. They always seemed like they would be difficult. I was expecting a complicated recipe and a huge mess, as well as dinner that didn’t get eaten until 8pm because it took forever to cook. I always just used store bought meatballs from the freezer section.
This meatball recipe was anything but complicated. It took 10 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook. Other than hand-mixing the ingredients together and rolling the meatballs into their meatball shape, I didn’t make much of a mess either. To keep from having to hand roll your meatballs, you can use one of these.
2 things made this meal even more impressive. The first was that my kids ate it without complaints. I didn’t even have to cook noodles. They ate them in a bowl.
The second was the fact that I burnt them after I fed the kids. I put them back into the oven and THOUGHT I had turned it off. They just needed to be kept warm so Josh wouldn’t have to eat a cold or reheated dinner.
I had not, in fact, turned the oven off. So they cooked for an extra 20ish minutes and Josh and I had low carb meatballs with slightly burnt cheese on top. He still said they were delicious.
These healthy meatballs have just 7 carbs per 5 meatballs and are packed with protein, so they are great for a low carb dinner option.
In case you were curious about the history of the meatball……
Meatballs that I love are apparently nothing like their historical breathren. We (Americans) like to fuck things up when they are already great on their own. Shocking, I know.
While the origins of the meatball are unknown, most foodie historians say that the first meatballs may have been made in Persia. It is also interesting to note that most cultures have their own “meatballs”, and they are all different, from the meats used to the size to how they serve them.
Italians, the most famous “meatballers”, began making the dish because you could use the cheapest meat available and tomatoes were readily available. As time progressed, meatballs, or polpettes, became more fancy. Italians, however, make small meatballs (sometimes the size of a marble) and serve them as a main dish and NOT on top of a box of spaghetti. (If you don’t cook the whole box, you’re doing it wrong.)
Another interesting fact is that most restaurants in Italy don’t even have polpettes on the menu, as they view them as a meal served in the home.
We (Americans) on the other hand, wouldn’t dream of having our meatballs all by themselves. We like carbs. We have pasta and bread and wine with our meatballs, which are above average in size, apparently.
Ingredients for Low Carb Meatballs
- 1 pound ground beef (I use the 90/10 kind because it’s supposedly the healthiest)
- ¾ cup shredded mozzarella
- ¾ cup Parmesan (the kind in the green container)
- ½ cup – ¾ cup crushed pork rinds (original flavored)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1-2 tsp Italian seasoning
- Low carb marinara sauce (I recommend this one)
- 2 cups mozzarella for topping
Yields 25-30 meatballs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 9×13 baking dish.
- Crush pork rinds in food processor or with a rolling pin.
- Mix all ingredients together except for the marinara and 2 cups of cheese for topping. I used my hands for this part.
- Roll meatballs in hands or use a small cookie scoop and place meatballs in dish.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until meatballs are cooked through.
- Add red sauce and cheese on top then return to oven for an additional 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Serve over “zoodles” or traditional noodles, or just eat them paired with a side salad and some low carb bread.
These low carb meatballs will pair perfectly with my low carb bread. Just lightly toast it and throw some butter and garlic powder on top and you have a delicious, low carb meal that everyone will love.
. Just lightly toast it and throw some butter and garlic powder on top and you have a delicious, low carb meal that everyone will love.
Easy, Amazing Low Carb Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 LB ground beef
- ¾ cup shredded mozzarella
- ¾ cup Parmesan (the kind in the green container)
- ½ cup - ¾ cup crushed pork rinds (original flavored)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1-2 tsp Italian seasoning
- Low carb marinara sauce
- 2 cups mozzarella for topping
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 9×13 baking dish.
2. Crush pork rinds in food processor or with a rolling pin.
3. Mix all ingredients together except for the marinara and 2 cups of cheese for topping. I used my hands for this part.
4. Roll meatballs in hands or use a small cookie scoop and place meatballs in dish.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes until meatballs are cooked through.
6. Add red sauce and cheese on top then return to oven for an additional 10 minutes.
7. Remove from heat. Serve over “zoodles” or traditional noodles, or just eat them paired with a side salad and some low carb bread.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
5Serving Size:
5 meatballsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 553Total Fat: 36gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 217mgSodium: 953mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 1gSugar: 2gProtein: 48g
