Does anyone else feel like their appetite has completely changed lately? With the weather getting chillier, I have been craving totally different foods. Maybe it’s just the foodie that I am, but comfort food appeals to me so much more of these chilly evenings. This weekend I was able to spend time in the kitchen, perfecting a few new recipes for the blog. This one I am sharing today is my personal favorite!!
There are very few dishes I look forward to more than meatballs simmering in a delicious homemade Italian tomato sauce. Something about them, maybe the comfort brings me back to my childhood. I will always remember my grandmother calling and inviting me over for her fabulous meatballs and so I decided to get her recipe over the last week and clean it up a bit! I tried to make my cleaned up version as easy as possible because I don’t know about you, but I always making something easy, especially these weeks that I am working later than usual. Sometimes the simplest things are the most satisfying!
I am not opposed to lean red meat but I will usually limit my intake per week. I figured in order to make these even healthier, I would use ground turkey. I also used almond meal to make them a little cleaner and low-carb instead of the traditional breadcrumbs used in most meatball recipes. You would never know there are no breadcrumbs when you use almond meal, so be sure to give it a try! If you would like to use gluten-free breadcrumbs, that works as well (I love the brand, Aleia’s).
My grandmother used to pan-fry her meatballs in a skillet. I can still remember her standing over the stove frying each one to perfection, but I actually baked them in this recipe and they turned out amazing – much healthier!
Try the recipe here! 🙂
Low-Carb, Gluten-Free Italian Turkey Meatballs
2016-04-08 03:25:27
Delicious Low-Carb, Turkey Meatballs very lean but full of flavor!
Ingredients
- 2 C Marinara sauce (I like Rao's Homemade, it is the best tasting store bought and very low carb, only 3g net carb for a 1/2 cup)- I usually will make my own but didn't have time this weekend
- 1 lb. (mine was actually 20 oz.) ground turkey, lean
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 Tbs yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 2/3 C almond meal (if you are not trying to eat low carb, you can use gluten-free bread crumbs)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Fresh ground pepper
- 3 mozzarella cheese sticks cut in 1/4 inch cubes
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and lightly spray your 13 x 9 baking dish with oil. Pour the sauce into the baking dish.
- In a mixing bowl, add the ground turkey, garlic, onions, egg yolks, basil, almond meal, salt and pepper. Mix with hands. Do not over-mix because that will make the meatballs tough.
- Ok, to make the meatballs, use a measuring spoon, tablespoon. Fill it with the meatball mixture, level. Put a cheese cube into the spooned mixture. Turn over and pop out, tapping it onto the mixing bowl. Set aside, take another level meatball mixture full (level) and do the same. Do not put a cheese cube in it. Put one on top of the other and roll to combine. Put in baking dish on top of sauce. Continue until all the meatballs are made. Pop into oven for 22 minutes. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Remember try to keep the meatballs level tablespoon size or else you will have to cook them longer. These meatballs are really amazing, very low carb and gluten-free! Serve over spaghetti, on a roll, or anything else you can think of! 🙂
Alyssa Grieco http://alyssagrieco.com/
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This is one half of a meatball and the cheese I add in! 🙂
Enjoy!!
