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Italian Meatballs in Marinara Recipe by Susie T. Gibbs
Originally published in the October 2013 issue of CarbSmart Magazine, Updated 09/12/2019.
These are great Italian meatballs to package and freeze for many different applications. Make, bake, portion, package and freeze on a tray. After frozen, place in a zip-top bag in the freezer and use as many as needed for individual servings. Way cheaper than store-bought meatballs plus you know what goes into them! Score!
PrintLow-Carb Italian Meatballs in Marinara Recipe
Serve as a side dish or over a bed of your favorite veggies and call it a meal. We love sautéed spinach, zoodles, cabboodles (cabbage noodles), and green beans. Simply give these veggies a brief sauté in garlic and olive oil and serve the meatballs and sauce over them with a spoon or two of Parmesan! Yummy!
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 5 hours
- Total Time: 5 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 Servings 1x
Ingredients
For Meatballs:
- 1 cup onions, chopped fine
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped fine
- 1/3 cup Italian parsley, chopped fine
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped or pressed
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 teaspoons dried basil, leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseed, ground almond flour, or 3 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1/4 cup Bacon’s Heir Pork Panko – pork rind crumbs
- 1/4 cup dry red wine, optional
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 pound ground chuck, 80/20, raw
- 3/4 pound ground pork
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
For Sauce:
- 2 cups Susie’s Easy Oven Roasted Marinara Sauce or if you don’t have time to make your own sauce, try Classico Marinara Pasta Sauce with Plum Tomatoes & Olive Oil, or your favorite low carb marinara sauce (make sure there is no added sugars!)
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Place chunks of onions, seeded red bell pepper, Italian parsley and chopped or pressed garlic in a food processor.
- Pulse until veggies are chopped very fine.
- Pour into a large mixing bowl and add Parmesan cheese, dried herbs and spices, oat fiber, pork rind crumbs, dry red wine, balsamic vinegar, and lightly beaten eggs.
- Stir until mixture is well combined.
- Crumble ground chuck and pork into the mixture. Use the tines of a fork turned upside down so the tines point away from you and fluff meat into mixture until well combined. Use a side-to-side motion. This keeps the mixture from compacting and keeps the meatballs very tender.
- Roll into balls using about 2-3 tablespoons per meatball–about 48-56 small meatballs.
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Place meatballs on a 14×18 baking sheet.
- Drizzle with olive oil and roll the meatballs around to lightly coat with olive oil. (Use your favorite olive oil but it does not have to be extra virgin. We use Bertolli Extra Light Tasting Olive Oil for this because the smoke point is slightly higher–but it is more processed than EVOO).
- Bake 20-25 minutes, turning once.
- Meatballs should become brownish. Remove from oven.
- Pour meatballs and pan juices into a large crockpot.
- Add 2 cups of your favorite marinara sauce and water.
- Turn on low and cook 5-8 hours.
- Try not to stir very often–it will make the meatballs break up. If you have a few more pennies in your budget, add an extra ¼ cup of dry red wine to the sauce. You’ll love it.
Notes
These are great meatballs to package and freeze for many different applications. Make, bake, portion, package and freeze on a tray. After frozen, place in a zip-top bag in the freezer and use as many as needed for individual servings. Way cheaper than store-bought meatballs plus you know what goes into them! Score!
4 Serving Per Recipe – Per Serving: 702 Calories; 50g Fat (64.5% calories from fat); 41g Protein; 22g Carbohydrate; 8g Dietary Fiber; 239mg Cholesterol; 853mg Sodium; 14g Net Carbs.
$2.06/serving ($8.24/recipe)
6 Servings Per Recipe – Per Serving: 468 Calories; 34g Fat (64.5% calories from fat); 27g Protein; 15g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 159mg Cholesterol; 568mg Sodium; 10g Net Carbs.
$1.37/serving ($8.24/recipe)
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8-12 small meatballs, ½ cup sauce
- Calories: 702
- Sodium: 853mg
- Fat: 50g (64.5% calories from fat
- Carbohydrates: 22g (Net Carbs 14g)
- Fiber: 8g
- Protein: 41g
- Cholesterol: 239mg
Purchase Pork Panko – 0 Carb Pork Rind Breadcrumbs at Amazon.com.
Low-Carb Italian Meatballs in Marinara Recipe Notes
Serving Size: 8-12 small meatballs, ½ cup sauce Yield: 4-6 Servings
Preparation Time: 20 Minutes
Cooking Time: 5 Hours
Start to Finish: 5 Hours 25 Minutes
Serve Italian Meatballs as a side dish or over a bed of your favorite veggies and call it a meal. We love sautéed spinach, zoodles, cabboodles (cabbage noodles), and green beans. Simply give these veggies a brief sauté in garlic and olive oil and serve the meatballs and sauce over them with a spoon or two of Parmesan! Yummy!
More great Susie T Gibbs recipes.
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Copyright © 2013 Fluffy Chix Cook. All rights reserved.
Love this recipe. Making it again today but don’t have a lot of time so I will cook them on high for 3 hours and hope that works! Will bake and freeze half of them for later. That is. Great tip.