(Keto) Meatballs
Cheesy Keto Meatballs are low-carb and Keto friendly. An easy dinner that the whole family loves! Traditional meatballs have breadcrumbs in them but these are gluten-free!
KETO MEATBALL RECIPE
Half my household is eating Keto and the other half are not. I’m in this weird place where I don’t want to make two dinners so I’m trying to come up with dinners that satisfy both crowds.
GLUTEN-FREE MEATBALLS
I don’t have anyone that has to eat gluten-free in my house but I just spent the weekend with the brother in Arizona and he is gluten-free. It made me so much more aware of what we were eating. We went to Raising Canes and he had to get the chicken fingers without breading.
Traditional meatballs usually have breadcrumbs in them which give them a more tender texture. These gluten-free meatballs don’t have breadcrumbs in them but have cheese inside to make them soft!
The ingredients in these meatballs are simple: ground beef, sausage, Parmesan, spices, and mozzarella.
INGREDIENTS IN KETO MEATBALLS
- Ground Beef and bulk Italian pork Sausage – I like to use a combo of beef and ground pork sausage in my meatballs. This is gives them the best flavor. You could use ground chicken or ground turkey but they’re not the best meat for Keto.
- Eggs – Since we aren’t using bread crumbs in the mixture, eggs give the meatballs a tender texture.
- Parmesan – Grated Parmesan gives the meatballs a cheesy taste.
- Spices – A blend of onion powder, Italian seasonings, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes give these great flavor.
- Mozzarella Cheese – You can’t go wrong with cheesy meatballs especially for a low-carb meatball recipe.
- Marinara – You can use any low-carb tomato sauce but I like to use Rao’s marinara or Rao’s pizza sauce for this recipe. You could also use crushed tomatoes.
The meatballs are baked almost completely then topped with marinara.
Top with cheese and bake until bubbly!
Top with basil or Italian parsley!
MEATBALL CASSEROLE
There are two methods to meatballs. You can either bake them or brown them on the stove which is much more tedious. Baking the meatballs in a casserole pan or a baking sheet is so easy! I even use a cupcake scoop to make sure the meatballs are all the same size.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
WHAT TO EAT THESE OVER
- Zucchini noodles
- Spaghetti squash
- Steamed broccoli
OTHER KETO RECIPES:
- Keto Egg Roll In a Bowl
- Keto Biscuits
- Warm Bacon Cheese Dip
- Stuffed Mushrooms
- Cloud Bread
- Bacon Asparagus Frittata Recipe
- Keto Broccoli Salad
- Cinnamon Keto Pork Rinds
- Lasagna in a Bowl
- Egg Drop Soup
OTHER ITALIAN RECIPES:
- Italian Sausage and Peppers
- Mini Italian Meatloaves
- Antipasto Salad
- Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
- Crockpot Italian Chicken
- Chicken Parmesan Meatball Sliders
Keto Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef, (80/20 mix is good)
- 1 lb ground bulk Italian pork sausage
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons fresh minced garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons coarse Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasonings
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 cup marinara or pizza sauce, (I like Rao's brand)
- (optional) fresh basil or parsley for topping
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine the beef, pork, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, Parmesan, eggs, spices, garlic, and salt and pepper.
- Using a scoop, make 20 meatballs and place in the casserole dish.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until meatballs are no longer pink in the middle. Remove pan from the oven and drain the grease.
- Spoon the marinara sauce on top of each meatball and sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese on top. Bake for 5-10 minutes or untll the cheese is nice and melted. Garnish with basil and parsley if desired and serve.
What do you recommend as a side dish?
Steamed broccoli, ceasar salad or asparagus. If doing keto you can serve over zucchini noodles or spaghetti sauce
Would I be able to freeze these after I drain the grease?
Yes of course!
Delicious! I’ll reduce the salt a little next time. I prefer to brown mine in a skillet first for texture and to seal in flavor. Then I baked, covered, for 20 minutes at 350°.
Moist, flavorful, and guilt-free! Also, the Rao’s marinara was surprisingly scrumptious !!Â
So happy to hear this!
This recipe is super simple and very flexible.  The family really enjoyed this.  I have already printed the recipe and added it to the meal-binder 🙂  Thanks so much for sharing. Â
Thank you!
New cook here . I think I would have totally loved it and given it a five star had I not used 2tsp of salt versus kosher . I didn’t know the difference until now . Will definitely try it again and use half smh .Â
Sorry. YEs, that’s a big difference.
Hi. These are the best meatballs ever! Thank you for the recipe. I made 20 meatballs but I don’t know how many are supposed to be in a serving. I see it’s 1 gram per serving but how many meatballs is that? Looking forward to your reply. 😊
Sorry. It’s supposed to saw 1 meatball. 1 meatball per serving and it makes 20!
Thank you!
My husband and I really enjoyed this recipe. The only issue we had was getting them to cook through all the way in the oven. Can these be made in a slow cooker instead?
You can cook them longer if needed.
Currently, the recipe lists a serving at 1g. Is that correct?
Sorry. Not sure why it says that.
How many carbs are in these meatballs? Any nutritional facts?
I added it to the recipe card!
This looks delicious!! Only problem I have is finding sausage that is sugar free. It’s so weird to me to see that meat has added sugar. Is there a brand that you use that has no sugar added?? Thank you for all the great recipes!!!
That is strange. Why would they do that?
I wish I could tell you. As a preservative I guess? I don’t know. Its hard to find sausages w/o sugar, lunchmeats w/o sugar added etc. Its weird.
I don’t like what’s in Italian pork sausage either so I make my own! I take ground pork and mix it with the same spices that you would find in Italian sausage. It tastes even better this way rather than using store bought Italian sausage. Here’s the recipe: https://www.food.com/recipe/seasoning-for-ground-pork-italian-style-sausage-178446
My grandmother used to make meatballs with a combo of pork and beef. It really does give them great flavor.
I doubled this recipe for a small family get-together – recipe made waaaay more than 40 meatballs. They were so easy & so delicious. Everyone loved them. Thanks for this great keto recipe!!
You’re welcome!