Meatballs with Veggies (low carb too)

For a healthy and delicious weeknight meal try these high protein meatballs with veggies that are both low carb and gluten free! With a mixture of ground meats and hidden vegetables you can create these delicious and juicy meatballs without bread crumbs. Eat with pasta or just as a snack. Five meatballs have just 1.5 grams net carbs and 19.5 grams protein.

Also try these low carb veggie stuffed mushrooms recipe.

Recently I posted a veggie pasta sauce that I had used 7 different vegetables and it was really tasty to me. I also made these gluten free meatballs with veggies to go with it and loved how they came out.

These healthy meatballs are very flavorful and have the added benefit of hidden veggies. They are also a great protein food and I didn’t use bread crumbs or any kind of gluten free flour.

I ate some with spaghetti squash and the veggie pasta sauce one night and ate a few leftover meatballs as a main dish without sauce for lunch the next day. Best of all for 5 meatballs the protein content is 19.5 grams with only 1.5 grams net carbs. That’s perfect for a low carb meal for me or a high protein snack.

Recipe ingredients and substitutions.

The simple ingredients I used were ground pork, ground beef, fresh garlic, onion, sweet bell peppers, carrots, zucchini, eggs, parmesan cheese, salt, black pepper and Italian seasoning.

• Ground Beef & Ground Pork – I used both of these kinds of ground meat because I like the flavor combination. You could use ground turkey or even ground chicken but consider that these have very little fat and no bread crumbs so they are a bit crumbly to begin with. But you can make it happen.
• Vegetables – I used onions, carrots, peppers and zucchini in this because I also use these in my meatloaf and like the mix. You can substitute with other vegetables if you wish. Mushrooms, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower and other squashes would also work. I would not eliminate the onion though because it adds a lot of flavor along with the fresh garlic.
• Parmesan Cheese – This is something I’ve been using in my low carb cooking a lot. It both adds flavor and binding since we are not using bread crumbs. You could substitute with finely shredded mozzarella or other mild flavored cheese or grated romano. If you are dairy free you can try some nutritional yeast.
• Other Options – If you want a bit of spice you can add a bit of hot pepper flakes. If you don’t care about carbs or gluten you can also add some breadcrumbs. Just add ¼ – ½ breadcrumbs. If you are using the parmesan cheese use just ¼ cup.

And while I use Italian seasoning you could also use fresh herbs for a little bit of added nutrition and flavor. Just mince some fresh parsley, basil, oregano or thyme. But remember 1 teaspoon of dried herbs equals 1 tablespoon of minced fresh herbs.

The same goes with the fresh garlic which I think is a must but you can also substitute with garlic powder. One clove of garlic equals ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder.

How to make meatballs with veggies (low carb, gluten free).

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F. Dice your veggies by hand or just put into a food processor and pulse into a fine dice. You want them as small as possible so that they cook down easily.

Step 2: Get out a large skillet. If you have an oven proof one you will have less pans to clean. Heat up the skillet to medium heat and add the olive oil. When it’s hot add the diced vegetables and saute for a few minutes until the soften. Let cook down before mixing with the meat and egg.

Step 3: Get out a large mixing bowl and add the ground meats, cooled vegetables, crushed garlic, spices and parmesan cheese. Don’t over mix but enough to get everything combined.

Step 4: Wet your hand and roll the meat mixture into uniform sized balls. I like to use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to make a uniform size. Place them on a plate.

Step 5: Use the same oven proof skillet and heat to medium high heat. Add the olive oil and when it’s hot add the meatballs. Cook for 5-7 minutes until they are browned on all sides.

NOTE: They will not be perfectly round because there is no breadcrumbs for them to hold their shape. They still taste delicious but are not as pretty. When you put them in sauce you won’t notice as much.

Step 6: Place the pan in the oven and cook for 10 minutes to cook through. If you don’t have an oven proof skillet, transfer the meatballs to a baking dish or sheet pan and then place in the oven and cook for 10 minutes.

When done you can eat the meatballs as is or put them in a pot of warm pasta sauce and let the flavors mingle for about 5 minutes.

Last week I made a homemade veggie pasta sauce to go with these meatballs and it was delicious in my opinion. After I baked them I added them to the sauce and cooked for a few minutes and them ate them over pasta.

You can also just eat these plain as a main dish or as a high protein snack.

Store leftovers in an airtight container. You can also store some in the freezer for a quick meal on busy weeknights. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

If you want to make these in the oven.

Just spray a rimmed baking sheet or baking dish and place the meat balls in it. Bake in a. 400°F for 15-20 minutes until cooked through. Cooking times may vary do to the size of the meatballs.

More low carb high protein meatball recipes to try.

Here are a few more low carb meatball recipes you might like.

• keto Middle Eastern flavored (like kibbeh) or gyro meatballs
• low carb buffalo chicken meatballs stuffed with blue cheese
• keto bbq meatballs or turkey meatballs in marinara sauce
• keto Thai curry meatballs or Mongolian beef flavored
• low carb meatballs stroganoff
• keto meatball submarine cups

I really enjoyed these meatballs with veggies and hope you do too. Try them with the veggie pasta sauce or even on top of a salad if you like Big Mac salads.

The nutritional information for 1 meatball is 54 calories / 3.9g fat / 0.4g carbs / 0.1g fiber / 3.9g protein = 0.3g net carbs