Keto Meatball Sub Cups

These keto meatball sub cups are perfect finger food for your next football party. Each gluten free cup is like a mini meatball sub with a tasty bread cup, marinara sauce, meatballs and cheese. Only 2.4g net carbs per cup.

You might also like these low carb meat calzones.

Recently I made a low carb Halloween appetizer (witchy fingers) using fathead dough which made me remembered how much I like it. It does not taste just like bread but it is bready and tastes good when you add other spices and flavors.

So coupled that fathead dough with some meatballs, sauce and cheese and you have these delicious keto meatball sub cups. They have all the flavor of a meatball sub in one perfect bite (or two). My family loves this combination.

While each cup is 2.4g net carbs I think you can bring that number down even more by making your own meatballs. This makes for great football party food.

What is fathead dough and how do you make it?

I always feel like I have to explain fathead dough to my new readers. If you have been eating low carb for awhile you already probably know about it.

Fathead dough is made with mozzarella, cream cheese, eggs and a little coconut or almond flour. You can make it in just a few minutes and it’s a good low carb substitute for bread.

I’ve used it to make a flatbread, meat calzone and a fruit pizza. So check those out if you like fathead dough.

Recipe ingredients I used.

I used just a few simple ingredients to make this keto appetizer. For the fathead dough to make the sub bowl I used mozzarella cheese, cream cheese, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, egg and coconut flour.

The rest of the dish I used small frozen Italian meatballs, low carb marinara sauce and more mozzarella cheese.

I used frozen meatballs from Aldi and there were about 1g net carbs per meatball. If you want you can make some homemade meatballs and save a few carbs.  Try this recipe. I used ground turkey in that recipe but you can use ground beef.

As for the marinara sauce I like Aldi’s Specialty Selects Marinara as it has 5g net carbs per half cup and it’s easy for me to get. If you have a lower carb one you like use that. Here is some of the low carb condiments I’ve found on Amazon.

How to make keto meatball sub cups.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

IMPORTANT: make sure to spray you mini muffin tin very well so they don’t stick. I forgot with the first batch and I could not get them out at all.

Step 2: To make the fathead dough, add the cream cheese, mozzarella, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Cook for 1 minute in the microwave.

Step 3: Meanwhile in a separate bowl add the coconut flour and egg. Mix well. Take the cheese out of the microwave and mix again to get the melted cheese to mix together.

Next add in the egg mixture and mix again. You might have use your hands to make sure everything is well incorporated. Now you have fathead dough to make the cubs.

Step 4: Take a bit of the dough and form into a cup inside the muffin tin. Work quickly with it because as it cools it is harder to handle. 

Step 5: Please the muffin tin in the preheated oven and bake for about 10 minutes. You want them cooked but not too brown.

Step 6: When they are done baking, place a teaspoon of marinara sauce in the cups, then add a meatball to each one. Next top with more marinara sauce and a little mozzarella cheese. You can also sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on top if you want.

Place them under the broiler to melt the cheese. When the cheese golden brown then they are done. Serve immediately. If you want you can garnish with fresh parsley, basil or a little hot pepper flakes if you like heat.

Store leftovers in an airtight container. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

More keto meatball recipes to try.

Who doesn’t like a good meatball? They are great when you are on a low carb diet but you can use different sauces to change the flavor and you can eat them as an appetizer or main dish. Here are few of my favorite recipes.

• low carb bbq, buffalo chicken, gyro and Middle Eastern flavored meatballs
• keto stroganoff, Mongolian beef or Thai curry meatballs
• turkey meatballs in marinara sauce or stuffed in zucchini boats.

As you can see above these can be the perfect bite. The dough has alot of flavor from the spices and of course who doesn’t love a good meatball. The nutrition for 1 cup is:

120 cals / 9.1g fat / 3.3g carbs / 0.9g fiber / 7.5g protein = 2.4g net carbs

Check out my friend Cindy’s keto sausage pizza bites too! They would be great for a party too.