Keto Meatballs Recipe | Gluten Free, Healthy, & Low Carb

These keto meatballs are hearty, cheesy, and packed with savory flavor in every bite. And, honestly, you'd never guess that each meatball has just over 1 NET CARB! Plus, all it takes to make these healthy, low carb, gluten free meatballs is about 30 minutes! 

THE BEST KETO MEATBALLS

As an Italian-American, nothing is more comforting to me than a warm, home cooked Italian meal. And keeping the meal low carb makes it even better! 

Lately, these keto meatballs in tomato sauce have been one of my absolute favorite easy keto recipes to make for my family. The meatballs are incredibly flavorful, tender, cheesy, and honestly better than traditional meatballs.

And I love that it only takes about 10 minutes of prep to get these meatballs in the oven, and they can be done in as quick as 30 minutes to have on the table for dinner tonight. The only thing faster is the speed they disappear from the plate!

Plus, not only are these low carb meatballs a breeze to make, but they freeze really well too. So, you can easily double up and freeze the extras for a quick and easy make-ahead keto dinner option.

Also, since these keto friendly meatballs have just over 1 NET CARB, you can make this keto pasta, keto cheese bread, or zucchini noodles to go with them! 

INGREDIENTS 

So, of course, this is a keto meatball recipe made from scratch - entirely from scratch. But, the good news is that this recipe uses super basic ingredients that you can find anywhere.

In fact, there's a good chance you have most of these in your kitchen already.

With that said, here's what you'll need for these beef & chicken meatballs:

• 1 lb. ground beef 
• 1 lb. ground chicken 
• Just under ½ cup grated parmesan cheese 
• 1 onion, chopped 
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 
• 1 egg 
• ⅓ cup of almond milk 
• Just under ½ cup grated mozzarella or a similar type of cheese
• Fresh parsley, chopped 
• Italian seasoning
• Salt, pepper

So, as you may have noticed, there are no breadcrumbs used to make these meatballs - and no gluten either. So, not only are these keto meatballs, but they're gluten free meatballs too!

Anyway, here's what you'll need for the sauce:

• ​​2 ¾ cups no sugar added tomato sauce 
• Just under ⅓ cup grated mozzarella cheese
• Olive oil 
• Parsley for decoration

Now, if you're going to the store, make sure to pick up some ground chicken, tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese. You can use them to make my 0 CARB Chicken Crust Pizza next! It is one of my favorite keto dinner ideas right now and is just such a delicious meal.

Oh, and if you don't want to use ground chicken for this recipe, you can substitute it with ground turkey.

MAKING THESE MEATBALLS KETO

Ok, so if you've never made meatballs before, it may come as a surprise to you that most meatballs aren't actually good for the keto diet. This is because they usually contain breadcrumbs which pack on a ton of sneaky carbs. And the sauce is typically high in carbs and sugar as well. 

So, for these keto meatballs, we'll be skipping the breadcrumbs, and using a combination of parmesan and mozzarella cheese to keep them deliciously juicy and cheesy while being as low carb as possible. I think using the cheeses give these delicious meatballs a way better flavor than using crushed pork rinds.

Now, if you don't have mozzarella, you can substitute it with any cheese that gets nice and stretchy when melted. Provolone, gouda, and gruyere are some good options.

For the keto marinara sauce, make sure to use one that has no added sugar and is low in carbs. I used Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce, but you can use much any sugar free marinara sauce that's available to you - just make sure it has no added sugars. Or you could even make homemade tomato sauce to make these keto Italian meatballs.

HOW TO MAKE KETO MEATBALLS

Again, these keto meatballs only take about 10 minutes to make - the rest of the time is just waiting for them to finish cooking.

So, gather up your ingredients, and let's make keto meatballs!

STEP 1: FORMING THE MEATBALLS

First, preheat your oven to 410 degrees Fahrenheit (210°C).

Then, take out a large mixing bowl and add the ground meat, chopped onion, garlic, parmesan, grated mozzarella, Italian spices, fresh parsley, salt, and pepper.

Next, use your hands to combine everything. Once the ingredients are well-mixed, add the egg and almond milk and mix again with your hands.

Now, take out a baking dish and coat it lightly with olive oil.

Then, form your meatball mixture into about 24 meatballs - around 3 cm in size - and arrange them on the baking dish.

STEP 2: BAKING & FINISHING UP THE MEATBALLS

So, by now the oven should be preheated, and the meatballs can go in there for 20-25 minutes - or until the outside of your meatballs are lightly golden.

Then, you can take out the baking dish, and pour the low carb tomato sauce over the meatballs to cover them - and then sprinkle as much cheese as you want on top.

Now, at this point, you can pop the baking dish back into the oven, and bake for another 5-10 minutes.

Finally, take your cooked meatballs out of the oven, and serve them warm. And don't forget to add a sprinkle of fresh parsley on top for garnish!

STORING KETO MEATBALLS

So, this keto meatball recipe makes about 24 meatballs - perfect for a big family dinner or leftovers for the week! 

And storing these keto Italian meatballs, sauce and all, couldn't be easier. All you have to do is transfer everything into an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3-4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Then, you can warm them up in the oven in a covered baking dish at 300°F (150°C) for 10- 15 minutes. And if you're heating the frozen meatballs, just add an extra 5 minutes.

MAKE-AHEAD FROZEN KETO MEATBALLS

As I mentioned earlier, you can make an extra batch of these keto meatballs and freeze them for future use. They'll stay good for up to 3 months and will taste just as delicious as fresh!

Arrange the uncooked meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and chill in the freezer until hardened. This way, the meatballs won't stick together in the container.

Then, transfer the frozen meatballs into a freezer bag labeled with the current date.

When you're ready to use them, just follow the recipe as is, but add an additional 10 minutes to the initial baking time.

WRAPPING IT ALL UP

These keto meatballs are such an easy and delicious recipe to make for a big family dinner or meal prep for yourself. 

The tender meatballs are so cheesy, savory, filling, satisfying, and just absolutely delicious to eat. And the entire family will love them, and no one will know these are low carb meatballs! Seriously, they'll think this is the best meatball recipe ever (even if they're not keto).

My family and I have been really enjoying these keto meatballs lately, so I hope you do too!

And if you try the recipe, be sure to leave a comment below and let me know how it turned out.

EASY KETO RECIPES

If you're looking for some more easy keto dinner ideas, I have a ton of other recipes on the blog that I think you might like.

Give one of these recipes a try:

• Keto Meatloaf
• Keto Pizza
• Keto Tacos
• Keto Chicken Alfredo
• Air Fryer Chicken Wings
• Keto Stir Fry
• Keto Salmon 
• Oven baked chicken legs

By the way, a really great keto dessert to pair with these low carb meatballs is some keto pecan pie. I used this almond flour pie crust recipe to make it, but you can make any keto pie with it not just pecan!

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