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Tender, juicy meatballs are seasoned with fresh herbs and parmesan cheese, and can be simmered up in your favorite tomato sauce. They are low in carbs, and bursting with robust flavor..
These meatballs are both low carb and gluten free to boot. They are free of refined grains, added sugars and are so dang good, you won’t believe they’re less than 400 calories per serving.
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Why You'll Love This Easy Meatball Recipe
- Although this is technically a keto meatball recipe, it’s not just for keto dieters. The whole family will love these, and no one will even question whether it’s “for your low carb diet”.
- They are just as delicious as traditional Italian meatballs, but have less than 2 grams of net carbs.
- The ingredients used to replace the bread crumbs add moisture and flavor to the meatballs, while still keeping that classic Italian meatball flavor.
Simple ingredients = Healthy Meatballs 🍝
- Lean ground beef - I use 85% lean for this recipe. I wouldn’t go any leaner than that though. I’ve made these with 97% lean, and they were just too dry.
- Italian sausage - use “bulk” Italian sausage, rather than the kind that comes in casings. But if that’s all you can find, you can cut the ends of the sausages and squeeze out the meat to add to the meatball recipe.
- Eggs - I generally use large eggs in my recipes
- Mushrooms - the real secret to success for low carb meatballs! They are so juicy and tender, without adding unnecessary carbs or calories. You won’t really notice a “mushroomy” flavor either, with all the herbs, cheese, and other ingredients.
- Almond flour - for low carb meatballs, it is superior to breadcrumbs in texture and taste. Almond flour helps meatballs keep their shape the way breadcrumbs do, without adding carbs. It helps with browning the meatballs, too.
- Parmesan cheese - even though fresh grated parmesan is excellent to top so many things, I prefer the grated parmesan that comes in a jar for this recipe.
- Fresh herbs, and dry herbs - It’s worth the effort to do some choppin’ for this recipe! Fresh basil and parsley make the whole kitchen smell amazing, and makes the meatballs taste amazing. Why include dry herbs? The flavor’s not the same without them both.
- Garlic - always use real, minced garlic (not garlic powder) for meatballs. As important as garlic is to my meatballs, I forgot to include it in the ingredients pic! But I found a cute little cartoon garlic to stand in 🙂
What is the Best Ground Meat for Low Carb Meatballs?
While I like to think a combo of ground beef and Italian sausage is pretty dang close to perfection, there are a few different ways to play around with this recipe depending on what you've got kicking around.
You can use ground turkey or ground pork to replace up to half of the ground beef without compromising on the flavor.
Ground chicken breast is a wonderful meat for making meatballs. I have a ground chicken meatball recipe right here.
Why do I include Italian sausage? I learned from a man who owned an Italian restaurant that you should always include a little pork in your meatballs for the best flavor and an extra touch of sweetness, so that’s what I do. The flavor is perfect!
Tools that Make this Easy Recipe Even Easier
There are 2 tools that really make it easy to make the best meatballs, a food processor, and a cookie scoop. I recently bought the food processor attachment for my Vitamix blender, and I LOVE it! And this set of cookie scoops contains the sizes I use most often in so many of my recipes.
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Buy Now → Delicious Meatballs, Step by Step
Making meatballs from scratch is so easy! Let me show you the basic steps here, but remember to scroll down to the recipe card for the full recipe and nutritional information (check out that carb count!).
Step 1. Take the chill off meat and eggs by letting them sit out of the fridge for about 15 minutes. Speed tip: put the eggs in a bowl of warm water.
Step 2. Finely chop the fresh parsley and basil. I like doing this with a knife (rather than a food processor) so there won’t be any large leaves in my meatballs.
Step 3. In a food processor, mince the mushrooms. You can throw the herbs in there if you want, but don’t say I didn’t warn you 🙂
Step 4. Combine all ingredients except oil in a large bowl and mix with your hands. I used gloves in the photo (in case that grosses you out).
Step 5. Form the meatball mixture into balls either by hand or with a 2 inch cookie scoop.
Step 6. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
Step 7. Add some meatballs, but don’t crowd the pan for better browning. You will need to cook them in batches, and remove to a separate dish while you cook the rest.
Step 8. Cover with a lid - the steam helps these low carb meatballs firm up and keep their round shape. Without a lid, they tend to flatten out like a patty.
👉 Step 9. For best results, use a meat thermometer to test when they’re done. It should reach an internal temperature of at least 160℉.
How to Meal Prep a Big Batch of Meatballs
Once you find a good deal on ground beef (no easy task these days), this recipe is so easy to double. It will make about 90 meatballs.
All steps are the same, you’ll just need a very large mixing bowl, and a second baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Form the meatball mixture into balls and lay out on the sheet pan. Put them close together, they’re not cookies 🙂
- Put the baking sheets in the freezer to flash freeze, meaning let them freeze solid. Once the frozen meatballs are solid, in about 2 hours, put them into freezer bags or other airtight containers.
- They will not stick together once they’re frozen like this, and you can pull out just the amount you need when you need them.
How to cook frozen meatballs:
You can brown them in their frozen state over medium heat. Remember to use a lid for nice round meatballs.
They can also be baked in the oven at 350℉, although it will take longer and they might flatten out a little in the dry air of the oven.
What to Serve with Low Carb Meatballs
- Zucchini noodles
- Spaghetti squash plus a little of your favorite pasta - this is what we do in our family
- Butternut squash noodles (made with a spiralizer)
- Low carb, half calorie rice - meatballs, rice, and a fried egg - it’s so good!
- Low carb mashed potatoes, and some nice beef gravy.
Best Low Carb Italian Meatballs (Gluten Free)
Tender, juicy meatballs are seasoned with fresh herbs and parmesan cheese, and can be simmered up in your favorite tomato sauce. They are low in carbs, and bursting with robust flavor.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 60 meatballs, or 10 servings of 6 meatballs each
- Category: dinner
- Method: stove top
- Diet: Low Calorie
Ingredients
- 2 pounds lean ground beef (85% lean)
- ½ pound bulk ground Italian sausage
- 4 large eggs
- 1 package mushrooms, 8 ounces
- ¼ cup almond flour
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup finely chopped Italian parsley
- 2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil leaves
- 1 Tablespoon garlic, finely minced or grated - (roughly 1 large clove garlic)
- 2 tablespoons oil, like olive oil or avocado oil
Instructions
- Take eggs and meats out of the refrigerator and let them come close to room temperature. I call this “taking the chill off”. When you cook cold eggs in cold ground beef, the eggs will congeal and make the finished meatballs more tough. When they are allowed to “Take the chill off” the finished meatballs will be tender and juicy.
- Finely chop the parsley and basil.
- Finely mince the mushrooms. This is most easily done in a food processor, but it can be done by hand or with an immersion stick blender.
- In a large bowl, combine the mushrooms, herbs, and all other remaining ingredients (except the oil). Mix with your hands to thoroughly blend it all together.
- Form into balls using your hands or a 2 inch cookie scoop. Lay them out in a single layer on a baking sheet or other surface until you’re ready to cook them.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add meatballs and fill the skillet, but don’t crowd the pan so they will brown evenly. Let them cook for 2-3 minutes before turning them over so they won’t break apart.
- Important: cover the skillet with a lid. The steam helps low carb meatballs keep their rounded shape as they cook. Without the lid they tend to spread out and be more like patties.
- After they are golden brown all over, I prefer to add the meatballs (and the brown bits in the pan) to spaghetti or marinara sauce to simmer until they are cooked all the way through. If you have different plans, just continue to cook, turning frequently until a thermometer inserted in the centers of the cooked meatballs reads 160℉. This will take roughly 20-25 minutes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6 meatballs
- Calories: 337
- Sugar: 0.7 g
- Sodium: 765.3 mg
- Fat: 23.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 2.3 g
- Fiber: 0.6 g
- Protein: 24.8 g
- Cholesterol: 155.1 mg
Frequently Asked Questions
The best replacement for breadcrumbs in low carb meatballs is a combination of ground up mushrooms and almond flour. The mushrooms add moisture and bulk with very few calories. The almond flour helps the meatballs keep their shape (like breadcrumbs do) without adding extra carbs, and helps the meatballs to brown when cooking them
Roasted spaghetti squash is a great choice. Spiralized zucchini noodles are popular, but other vegetables that are spiralized are also delicious with low carb meatballs. Butternut squash and sweet potatoes go well with meatballs and a great pasta sauce.
Garlic bread made from fat head pizza dough, a green salad like my chopped salad with crispy chickpeas and cucumbers, or a family salad bar where everyone can make their own salad - all are perfect side dishes for low carb meatballs.
Whether they are plain or in sauce, leftover meatballs can be stored in an airtight container with a lid, or in a freezer bag for up to 3-4 days in the refrigerator. They can also be frozen for up to 4 months.
Okay, I'm not Italian, but...
Even though I'm not from Italy, I've been making Italian food since high school, when we had a foreign exchange student from Italy who lived with our family and taught me some basics of good Italian cooking. My recipes are my own interpretation to please my very American family 😊 🇺🇸
