Keto Meat Stuffed Artichokes

These keto meat stuffed artichokes are a delicious low carb dinner. The meat stuffing has mediterranean flavors of cinnamon and lemon with crunchy pine nuts. Enjoy artichokes in season with this tasty dinner. Just 6.1g net carbs per serving.

You might also l like these keto Mediterranean chicken stuffed peppers.

I remember the first time I had an artichoke. It was when I was maybe 10 years old on New Year’s eve while on a family vacation in Colorado. I don’t remember it all that well but I remember I loved them!

It was fun to break off one of the leaves, dip it in butter and scrape off the meat with your teeth. Also it was very tasty as anything dipped in butter usually is. My mom used to make meat stuffed artichokes like I am going to show you today.

I figured they would be fairly low carb too which is great if you are on a keto diet. She would use a ground beef seasoned with Middle Eastern flavors along with toasted pine nuts. Then she baked them in with lemon slices to add a bit of lemon flavor.

Lastly we eat them by still breaking off the leaves and dipping in butter. It’s a fun as well as delicious meal.

How to eat fresh whole artichokes.

Have you ever tried eating a whole artichoke? It’s lots of fun as I mentioned above but it also takes quite a while to finish so it’s perfect dish for dinner if you are watching what you eat. It makes you eat slow!

The important thing to do when cooking artichokes is making sure you can put the leaves off easily. That’s when you know they are fully cooked.

To eat fresh cooked artichokes, break off a leaf, dip into butter and then scrape the fleshy bottom of the leaf with your teeth. Trust me, it’s delicious! Continue doing this will all the leaves.

Once the leaves are gone, you can also eat the stem. But the best part is the middle which is the artichoke heart. That is sometimes considered a delicacy.

Recipe ingredients I used.

All you need to make this simple recipe is a few large fresh artichokes, fresh lemons, onions, ground beef, pine nuts, salt, black pepper, olive oil and cinnamon.

How to prepare fresh artichokes.

Here are the artichokes I bough pictured below. When my mom made this dish she would keep them whole, dig out the middle and then stuffed it with a mixture of spiced ground beef and pine nuts. I kept the stuffing but cut them in half to make it easier to clean and stuff. 

1. Clean the stem by picking off scraggly leaves and you can also use a vegetable peeler or a knife and take off the out part of the stem.
2. Using a large sharp knife cut the artichokes in half lengthwise.
3. In the picture below you can see where to cut the tops off with the white dotted line. It should be about ⅓ or ¼ way from the top.
4. Next pull out the leaves in the pink area. There is no set amount of leaves to clean out however you need room to stuff with the meat mxiture.
5. Then using spoon scrape out the fuzzy part at the bottom. Below that is the artichoke heart which is the most delicious part!

How to make meat stuffed artichokes.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400°F. Using the instructions above clean and prepare artichokes.

Step 2: Get out a large skillet and heat to medium high heat. Add olive oil to a and turn the heat down to medium heat. Add the chopped onions and saute until they start to turn translucent. Then add the ground beef, salt, black pepper and cinnamon. Mix well.

Step 3: When the meat is just turning brown, add the pine nuts and cook for a 1-2 minutes more. Then take the pan off the heat and let cool for a few minutes.

Step 4: Lay slices of lemon in a microwave and oven safe baking dish. Place the artichokes on top of the lemons. Pour ½ cup of. water in the dish. Cover with plastic wrap or a lid if you have one and microwave for 8-10 minutes.

Depending on the size of your artichokes it might take longer. You should be able to pull a leave off easily and then you know they are done.

Step 5: When the artichokes are done, let the cool a few minutes so you can handle them. Take a spoon and baste them with the lemon juice and water from the baking dish. Then spoon the meat mixture into the center of the artichokes and place in the preheated oven.

Step 6: Bake for 10 minutes and that’s it! Please scroll down for the printable recipe card. Store leftovers in an airtight container.

Serve these with a ramekin of melted butter. You just break off the leaves and dip the bottom fleshy part into the butter and scrape that part of the leaf off with your teeth. Trust me it’s delicious!

And if you want you can add some crushed garlic to the melted butter if you love that combination of flavors.

This recipe is a meal in of itself with your meat and veggie combination. But you can add a nice green salad too if you wish.

Note you can eat the bottoms of all the leaves. The center leaves are more delicate and you can sometimes eat the whole thing. The outer leaves and to fibrous at the top to eat. You can eat the meat mixture with the heart in the middle and you can also eat the stem.

I could eat the meat mixture just by itself as it reminds me of my grandmother’s cooking! Add some riced cauliflower and you have this Middle Eastern cauliflower rice pilaf recipe.

I hope you like these meat stuffed artichokes as much as I do. They make a great low carb dinner or lunch. I have one waiting for me for lunch and I can’t wait to eat it!

The nutrition for 1 stuffed artichoke without the butter is: 297 calories / 21.3g fat / 10.3g carbs / 4.2g fiber / 18.4g protein = 6.1g net carbs

For more information about cooking artichokes check out my friend Julia from Savory Tooth’s post.