Beef, Pork, and Chicken Meatballs
Delicious Recipes for Beef, Pork, and Chicken Meatballs
For thousands of years, meatballs have been a part of cuisines around the world. We’re not exaggerating! The earliest known instances of meatballs appearing in recipes date back to hundreds of years BC, mentioned in records found from ancient Rome and ancient China. It really should come as no surprise, however. Meatballs are pretty easy to make, work well in a wide variety of dishes, and can be made from many different types of meats. You can use them in soups, sandwiches, stews, pasta, or as part of a simple dinner plate of meat and vegetables.
In this article, we’re going to provide some tips on how you can use meatballs as part of your weekly low carb meal plans, as well as a few recipes for some great meatballs made from beef, pork and chicken that you’ll love to try. Before we get to the recipes, let’s first talk about some of the most common and popular ways you can use meatballs to create delicious, healthy, and satisfying meals that the whole family will love.
Common Uses for Meatballs
Starting off with the basics, you can simply use meatballs as the main protein for a meal just as you would a chicken breast, pork chop, or steak. Simply pair them with your favourite seasonal vegetables, and perhaps add some low carb gravy or other sauce to accentuate their flavour, and you’ve got a healthy meal that’s packed with protein and tastes great.
Meatballs are also a perfect way to boost the protein levels for your pasta dishes. Classic spaghetti and meatballs with low carb noodles is always a winner, and even the pickiest kids in the family will usually devour them. You can also use them in other types of pasta dishes to add some protein and extra flair, such as meatball mac and cheese for example.
Another popular use for them is to make a hot meatball sandwich. Pile them on to your favourite low carb sandwich bread, add some cheese and marinara sauce, and dig in! You can also slice up meatballs and use them as a pizza topping, which is a taste experience we just recently discovered and it’s totally a home run in our opinion.
Meatballs are also a great addition to many kinds of soups and stews. Italian Wedding Soup, for example, uses tiny little meatballs alongside a delicious broth, plenty of vegetables, and some orzo pasta to make a hearty and flavourful soup.
Of course, we couldn’t move to the next section of this article without mentioning the most famous use for meatballs, and that is the always delicious Swedish Meatballs. Simmered in a rich, thick gravy sauce, this method to prepare and serve meatballs definitely qualifies as comfort food. There’s a reason that this is the most popular food served in the cafeteria of a certain worldwide Swedish furniture retailer, and it’s because they’re just plain yummy. Here’s a link to a great Swedish meatball recipe from Chungah at DamnDelicious.net that you can use as a starting point with the low carb meatballs we are going to share in the next section.
Now that we’ve covered some of the common uses for meatballs, we’ve gathered together a handful of the best low carb meatball recipes that you can use to create your own delicious meatballs from scratch, and it’s a lot easier than you may expect. Most meatball recipes use only a few key ingredients, and you can easily customize them to suit your own tastes. Here are some recipes that you can use as a base to create your own beef, pork and chicken meatballs.
While it may seem like meatballs would be low carb by default, most meatball recipes we’ve seen call for some kind of bread crumbs to help the meatballs hold together. Unfortunately, this naturally leads to the carb count being higher than it needs to be. However, this recipe for low carb keto meatballs from Amanda at WickedStuffed.com leaves out the bread crumbs in favour of parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, which do an amazing job of keeping the meatballs in one piece, as well as helping to keep them moist and full of great flavour. These meatballs can be made as big or small as you like, and we’re sure you’ll agree that these are some of the best beef meatballs you’ve ever had. Give them a try with your next spaghetti dinner.
When hunting for a selection of great low carb meatball options, we came across this incredible recipe for Asian-inspired low carb pork meatballs from Melissa at IBreatheImHungry.com, and it will blow you away! Taking some inspiration from the filling of traditional shumai Asian dumplings, these pork meatballs blend the flavours of ginger, mushrooms, and scallions to create a tasty little pork meatball that won’t last long on your plate. Plus, the accompanying dipping sauce makes them even more scrumptious. You’ll definitely be adding this recipe to your list of favourites.
Low Carb Chicken Meatball Recipe
While not as common as beef and pork meatballs, chicken meatballs are gaining popularity as an alternative protein that can be substituted in for virtually any kind of meatball that your recipes may call for. This particular low carb chicken meatball recipe from Megha and Matt at KetoConnect.net is extremely versatile, and uses a simple combination of ground chicken, parmesan, egg, garlic, and a few other spices and seasonings to create well-balanced meatballs that you can use for a wide variety of meals. They work well in soups, stews, pasta, sandwiches, and pretty much any other recipe that you feel like using them in. Plus, since they’re low carb and keto, you’ll find that they are a great fit for a broad range of dietary needs.
Conclusion
As you can clearly see, the possibilities for using meatballs as part of your low carb diet plan are nearly endless, and since you can make them from many different kinds of meats, they won’t get boring or repetitive any time soon. One of the best things about meatballs is how customizable they are. You can make them big or small, and easily swap alternative types of cheese or seasonings to suit your preference or to better accentuate the dish you are creating. We hope that you’ve enjoyed learning about these different recipes for low carb meatballs, and that you’re now inspired to try something new with your next meal plan.
