Low Carb Mozzarella Meatballs

Welcome to the March 20, 2016 edition of Sunday Scratchups: Your weekly recipe from scratch around grocery sales or generally affordable ingredients. I’ve been promising to share this week’s Low Carb Mozzarella Meatballs recipe for a while now, so here it finally is in all its low carb, meaty, cheesy glory. These are also gluten free, for those of you looking to make meatballs without breadcrumbs!

On the affordability note: This is also a great recipe idea for when pub burgers go on sale at your local grocery store. I’m still using up a batch of almond flour I bought on Amazon with subscribe & save, where it’s sometimes more affordable than at local grocery stores — but you can also sometimes save by buying yours out of bulk bins at local stores, if cross-contamination isn’t an issue.

What more of an excuse do you need to make these, really?

Low Carb Mozzarella Meatballs

Ingredients

4 mozzarella string cheese sticks, quartered
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
1 clove garlic
2 green onions
1.5-2 lbs ground beef (I used 85/15)
1/4 cup almond flour
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1-2 eggs

Directions

Cut mozzarella sticks into quarters and freeze pieces for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, add Parmesan, garlic, and green onions to a little food chopper or food processor and blend until finely ground. In a separate large bowl, combine ground beef, Parmesan cheese mixture, almond flour, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and egg. (Note: If your meatballs aren’t sticking together well, just add another egg — depending on the size of your eggs, the amount of ground beef, or who knows what, my meatballs sometimes use one & sometimes take two.)

Line two rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Flatten ground beef mixture into 16 disks, spaced evenly across both cookie sheets. Place one piece of mozzarella in the middle of each and roll into a ball, covering the cheese completely on all sides. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through, flipping your cookie sheets around halfway through.

The cheese will start oozing out towards the end

But that’s a feature, not a bug… Seriously, so good. I’ve been messing around with low carb/gluten free meatballs for a while now, and think I’ve finally got it right. These are moist, flavorful, hold their shape well, and are great with or without sauce. Plus you have the added bonus of… CHEESE. In. The. Middle. Who could ask for anything more, really? Everyone, I mean, everyone in this house devoured these and now the hungry mob is honing in on the photos as I’m typing and asking for more, more, MORE!

So in conclusion: Make these meatballs. Your family will love you for it. 🙂

Low Carb Mozzarella Meatballs, printable recipe

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Low Carb Mozzarella Meatballs

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These are moist, flavorful, hold their shape well, and are great with or without sauce. Plus you have the added bonus of… CHEESE. In. The. Middle

Course dinner

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 4

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

• 4 mozzarella string cheese sticks (quartered)
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 green onions
• 1.5-2 lbs ground beef (I used 85/15)
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1-2 eggs

Instructions

• Cut mozzarella sticks into quarters and freeze pieces for about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, add Parmesan, garlic, and green onions to a little food chopper or food processor and blend until finely ground.
• In a separate large bowl, combine ground beef, Parmesan cheese mixture, almond flour, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and egg. (Note: If your meatballs aren't sticking together well, just add another egg -- depending on the size of your eggs, the amount of ground beef, or who knows what, my meatballs sometimes use one & sometimes take two.)
• Line two rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
• Flatten ground beef mixture into 16 disks, spaced evenly across both cookie sheets.
• Place one piece of mozzarella in the middle of each and roll into a ball, covering the cheese completely on all sides.
• Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through, flipping your cookie sheets around halfway through.

Notes

These are also gluten free, for those of you looking to make meatballs without breadcrumbs.

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