Grain Free Italian Meatballs

Grain Free Italian Meatballs

My grandmother is 100% Italian and comes from an Italian speaking family. Needless to say, but we had a lot of pasta and amazing flavorful Italian dishes growing up.

I guess that must be where I get my love for good food and cooking 🙂

Eliminating grains was one of the best things I did for my health, but I totally missed my Italian pasta dishes.

But when I discovered the Spirelli, it was a game-changer. I now make zucchini and squash “spaghetti” dishes a few times a week because they are quick, inexpensive, extremely nutritious, and best of all, they taste like the Italian dishes I grew up eating and loving. I also love baking a spaghetti squash and using the flesh for my spaghetti, too.

These Italian meatballs hit our kitchen table at least once a week. I usually make a big batch of meatballs ahead of time, freeze them, and then pop a few out whenever I need a quick meal.

I love serving these meatballs with my homemade garden pasta sauce recipe, but on nights I’m in a big hurry and just need to throw something together, I use a store bought organic pasta sauce.

Little tip:

The key to a totally moist and super delicious meatball without using grains or eggs is VEGGIES! So load these babies up with whatever veggies you like. If you have kids, this is an awesome way to sneak veggies into the meal. Just be sure to chop them up extra fine and they’ll never even know they are in there.

And don’t forget to check out my Paleo Chicken Alfredo if you are an Italian food lover like me. It’s one of my very favorite dinner recipes!

Grain Free Italian Meatballs Recipe

 

Author:

Kelly from Primally Inspired

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Ingredients

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1 pound of ground pork
• 1 cup of onion, finely diced (about 1 medium onion)
• 1 cup of mushrooms, finely diced (you can substitute any vegetable(s) here!)
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• pinch or two of red pepper flakes
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 2 heaping tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
• 2 heaping tablespoons fresh oregano, finely chopped
• ¼ cup romano or parmesan cheese* (leave out for dairy free or Whole30)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl until well mixed.
3. Shape into desired size meatballs.
4. Bake on a rimmed baking sheet for 25 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.
5. Enjoy!

Notes

If freezing: place meatballs on a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze for 1 hour or until hardened (this prevents them from sticking together). After they are completely frozen, place them in a freezer safe container. This allows you to get as many as you need out of the freezer without them all sticking together!


Serving suggestions:

Serve with homemade pasta sauce or an organic store bought version like THIS one.
Serve with lightly sauteed zucchini or squash noodles or with a baked spaghetti squash.

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Also view our Top 10 Whole30 Dinner Recipes here!