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Homemade meatballs
I love to make these basic, low carb meatballs in a big batch and freeze them. Frozen meatballs are easy to keep and best of all, you’ll have a keto meatball ready any time you want them for your favorite low carb recipe. One great pairing is put these on a bed of zucchini noodles, yum ! These are seasoned just right, tender, and juicy and they’ll stay delicious in the freezer for up to six months. I found that putting them in vacuum sealed bags keeps them from getting freezer burned so quickly too.
Keto meatball recipe
For this low carb meatball recipe you’ll need: ground beef, ground pork, eggs, Parmesan cheese (in the green can), dried basil, dried oregano, salt, garlic granules, dried thyme, and black pepper.
If you are in a hurry click here to go straight to the recipe.
You’d think low carb meatballs would be a no brainer right? After all, they’re mostly meat, right? The thing is that most meatball recipes have breadcrumbs or some other high carb ingredient added to them to keep them light and tender. When you just pack ground meat together you end up with a golf ball.
No one wants to eat a golf ball.
Freezer Meal
Well, these are not golf balls. Granted, a frozen meatball is as hard as a golf ball until you defrost it. This keto meatball recipe yields tender, juicy, and full of flavor homemade meatballs. Plus you can flash freeze them on a baking sheet, put them in freezer containers (I like vacuum sealers for this), and store them in the freezer for up to six months. Anytime you need meatballs for a low carb recipe you’ve got them all ready. Just thaw and heat.
I’ll tell ya a secret, too. I use these all the time for my family not just for my low carb needs. They are really that good. I have a Tex-Mex recipe that calls for these meatballs so go ahead and make a batch because I guarantee you’ll want to try that recipe. I also have an Italian recipe that uses makes these Italian meatballs, ha !
Tips for a Perfect Juicy Meatball
- Use a fattier ground beef. The fat helps them stay moist and tender.
- Use a combination of ground pork or ground sausage, and ground beef. It adds flavor.
- Don’t compress the meatballs when you are forming them. Just gently form them in your palms until they hold together.
- Keep your palms flat when you’re forming them.
- Mix gently with your hands to keep the meat mixture from becoming packed and dense.
- Cook a spoonful of the mixture in a frying pan to taste it for seasoning before you begin to form the meatballs. That way you can adjust the mixture and you’ll know how your end product will taste BEFORE you cook it.
- Don’t overcook them. Use a meat thermometer and take them out when they hit about 150F. Keep in mind, they’ll cook a little more when you warm them up.
- Oil your hands with olive oil. It will keep the meat from sticking and it will help you form the meatballs without packing them.
- Use a cookie scoop or kitchen scale to keep the meatballs uniform in size.
- No need to thaw to use, just toss them in a simmering sauce or heat in the microwave.
When freezing these little tasty cooked meatballs, how do you prevent freezer burn? Great question !! I love using a vacuum sealer. It keeps food fresher longer in both the fridge and the freezer. That means I can make large batches of foods and know that they will be fresh when I want to use them. They also make buying in bulk easier. For example, I’ll buy a big block of parmesan cheese, cut it into a few blocks, and vacuum seal all but one. Since no air can get to them they stay fresh for months.
Here’s the basic low carb meatballs recipe.
Low Carb Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 3/4 pound ground pork
- 4 eggs beaten
- 1 cups grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic granules
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Spray baking sheets with cooking spray or spread a thin layer of olive oil over them.
- Mix all of the ingredients together very well , you'll need to use your hands. Put some olive oil on them to keep them from sticking.
- Roll into balls the size of a golf ball, molding them firmly together without packing them.
- Place the balls on baking sheets.
- Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the center registers 150F on a meat thermometer.
- Remove from oven and use as needed.
Notes
Nutrition
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These meatballs are great with this zucchini pappardelle
Just made these without the egg and they were fantastic! Held together fine without it!
I am about to try this recipe but thought id share that i use crushed up pork rinds instead of bread crumbs , i like the hot ones, low carb replacement…will let yall know how it turns out!!
they tasted great but also experienced a cheese/slimy ooze at the bottom of each meatball. I used the cheap parm in the green container. it seemed like 4 eggs was too much when i was mixing but I don’t know what else would have caused this. they didnt completely hold their shape either. Any tips are appreciated…and again they did taste good even without sauce. Thanks
It sounds like either the beef was too fatty or the mixture hadn’t been mixed well. I am glad you liked them.
These meatballs were amazing. I fried up half of the batch in olive oil for immediate use in meatball sandwiches (gf bread of course!) and baked the other half to freeze for later use. Delicious as written!
So glad you like them!
I only had shredded parmesean cheese from Costco, not grated. Is that why the cheese oozed out of the meatballs? Lol! Maybe grated Parmesan is much drier?
They taste great though!
yes that’s why. You have to use the cheap grated stuff.