Foods Grain-Free Meatballs. Meatballs. Meatballs. Yummmmm….
Meatballs make the perfect appetizer. Or the perfect dinner. Or the perfect snack. You get the idea. I could eat grain-free meatballs any day, any time…well, except maybe not breakfast.
Yes, I enjoy meatballs. There is so much you can do with them too! Curry meatballs, meatballs with marinara and spaghetti squash, Swedish meatballs (a personal favorite), Korean meatballs—the possibilities for these grain-free meatballs are endless. And with all the options, you’ll never get bored!
Looking for gluten-free recipes and resources? This Everything Gluten Free page is a library of everything gluten free we’ve worked on.
One of our favorite family traditions is to go to our church’s Christmas Eve service and then head straight to my mom’s for a late night Christmas Eve party. We call it “Junk Food Night”—but its mostly just a lot of tasty appetizers and desserts…you know, the good stuff! And of course, it was expected that I’d bring meatballs to our little shin-dig.
Unfortunately, my go-to meatball recipe was filled with breadcrumbs which is a no-no if you’re avoiding wheat and other grains. So, I adapted my favorite meatball recipe and created this grain-free version of my beloved meatball recipe. Everyone was happy that I brought meatballs, and I was happy that we didn’t have to compromise our grain-free diet to enjoy them!
It’s impossible to tell that these meatballs don’t contain breadcrumbs– they taste just as good and they hold together beautifully! They’re perfect on their own as an appetizer, tossed in your favorite sauce, or in soup. And this recipe works for those on a low-carb or Keto diet, diabetics, and Trim Healthy Mamas (it’s an S recipe)! You can make them your own by adding your favorite herbs and spices.
I hope you and your family will enjoy this grain-free meatballs recipe as much as our family has.
You’ll see this recipe also calls for Worcestershire sauce. Here’s the deal: sometimes you can find gluten-free Worcestershire, such Lea & Perrins. Here in the US it is gluten-free, but I believe in some countries it is not.
Be sure to use a gluten-free Worcestershire sauce, or you if you can’t find it, you can substitute coconut aminos instead. I’ve used coconut aminos in these grain-free meatballs and they work quite well!
Basic Grain-Free Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound of ground beef or a mixture of pork and beef
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/4 cup milk or almond milk if you're dairy-free
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon gluten-free worcestershire or coconut aminos
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Mix all ingredients until well combined.
- Form into balls and place on a pan.
- Bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until browned through.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
PS: I don’t think your wheat-eating friends will even miss the bread crumbs, but maybe you don’t want to share with them…and that’s ok too! 🙂
What’s your favorite way to eat meatballs?
More Healthy Meaty Recipes:
- Grain-Free Spaghetti Squash with Meatballs
- Super Easy Mexican Shredded Meat
- Slow Cooker Balsamic Glazed Beef Petite Tenders
- 40 Delicious Make-Ahead Keto Freezer Meals
I pinned this as fast as humanly possible – because I have this thing for meat. I love it. A lot. I love meat. Thanks for linking at Trim Healthy Tuesday!
You crack me up! We love these meatballs though. I think my fave way is with swedish meatball sauce. Yum 🙂
I love the idea of doing healthier meals for my family. My biggest challenge is that most, if not all, of the recipes I find use Almond . . . . as a substitute for variouse ingredients.. My husband is allergic to nuts and therefore I don’t use them. I”ve subbed coconut oil in some recipes and that’s been okay. We simply tend to not do additives – eg. for meatballs I do all meat, adding eggs to help bind them together. I’d love to find a non-nut alternative to use in some of the wonderful recipes I come across. any ideas? Thanks. I’m so enjoying your blog and am thinking of trying some of the Kevin’s Closet body washes – love the scents they offer. Blessings on your journey.
THanks so much for stopping by Jane. The almond flour gives the meatballs the consistency I was looking for (I’ve done meatballs without the almond flour too, but they just weren’t quite what I was looking for). Another very healthy flour that I often use is coconut flour. I find it a bit trickier to work with though because it absorbs liquid like crazy. I used coconut flour in my cheesy biscuit recipe, you’ll notice that it uses a lot of eggs. THis isn’t a huge problem since eggs are such a good and comparatively cheap source of protein. But, I just find that sometimes trying to convert and healthify recipes that I have a more difficult time with converting them with coconut flour.
If you try the Kevin’s Closet products, I am sure you’ll enjoy them! It’s nice to find a company who says their products are natural and find that they really truly do use all natural ingredients! There are so many that still seem to have weird chemical additives to their “natural” products.
I wonder if Chicharrones ( pork skins ) would work? Crunched up of course.
Thanks for sharing this. I’ve been on the Paleo Diet for a bit but now I have football parties to plan for and meatballs are a must! I’m not sure what I can do about the Almond Milk but I still use it in my coffee (shhh) so I think it will be ok. 😉 Pinning to my Paleo board now!
I hope they scratch the meatball itch for you. I love having a versatile recipe like this one. You can put all sorts of sauces with them 🙂
Will have to try these! We usually do our meatballs with parmesan cheese as the “flour,” but I bet my husband would love them with almond flour 🙂
I’d never thought of using parmesan… I’ll bet that makes for tasty meatballs too! 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing! I’m putting this one in the files! 🙂
These Meatballs look fabulous! Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and have a great weekend!
Come Back Soon,
Miz Helen
Trisha, These look great.
I wanted to invite you to the Friday Flash Blog Party, the best linky in town! I hope you’ll join us and link up. Who knows. You may just get highlighted!
The party goes on through Monday.
Jennifer @ The Jenny Evolution
http://www.thejennyevolution.com
Thanks so much for the invite! 🙂
Making these today. Any idea how many it makes, (assuming 1″ balls)? I want to double (triple? Quadruple?) the recipe so that I’ve got tonnes!
I’m not sure how many they make. I’m terrible. I typically do at least 3-4 pounds of meat which makes two 11×17 pans full. I’ll be sure to pay attention next time I make them and report back. Sorry I’m no help for today!
These are officially AWESOME!!!
Yay! Glad you enjoyed them 🙂
I found this in a section for Keto freezer meals. So do you cook these meatballs first prior to freezing or do you cook them after freezing?
You can do either. They’re more convenient when cooked and then frozen because you only have to thaw and re-heat, not fully cook.