Low-Carb Lesson #11: Italian Meatball Stew, Caesar Salad, & Garlic Sticks

Written by Di Bauer September 29, 2001 Updated by Andrew DiMino March 20, 2023

Low Carb Cooking 101

When there’s a fall nip in the air, my mind turns to soup. It’s satisfying in an entirely different way than traditionally baked or broiled meats, and it has the added advantage of being well-suited to double batches that can be refrigerated or frozen to eat at another meal. Any time I can make two (or more!) meals at one time I’m a happy camper.

For Italian Meatball Stew you need to make meatballs. You probably already figured that out, right? I like to make the meatballs ahead of time and put them in the freezer. The meatballs can be used not only in Italian Meatball Stew but in spaghetti sauce, rolled up into Romaine lettuce leaves with some tomatoes, cheese, and Italian salad dressing or a little heated spaghetti sauce for a meatball sandwich, or just heated and munched as a snack, so don’t hesitate to make a double batch. They’re always handy to have on hand.

Italian Meatball Stew freezes well. Sometimes I freeze all the leftovers together for a family meal, but often I freeze them in individual portions for quick lunches. Now that my husband and kids are back in school, I don’t even have to share. That’s nice for a change.
And now on to tonight’s dinner.

Here’s This Evening’s Low-Carb Recipes

Traditional Low-Carb Italian Meatballs

Low-Carb Gluten-Free Italian Meatball Stew

Low-Carb Simple Caesar Salad

Crunchy Sesame Garlic Sticks

Crunchy Sesame Garlic Sticks Recipe

Here’s the Gameplan

Make the Italian Meatballs ahead of time and either place them in the refrigerator of the freezer. Remember that the meatballs should be at room temperature when they are added to the soup, so be sure to thaw them ahead of time if you freeze them.

The night of the meal, take the meatballs out of the refrigerator and put them on the counter to warm up. Preheat the oven to 375° F.

Begin preparing the Italian Meatball Stew, following the recipe directions, until the beef broth and sauteed vegetables are beginning their 20-minute simmering time.

At that time, set the table. Place both the Caesar dressing and a bowl of shredded Parmesan cheese on the table so that people can dress their salads and garnish their stew themselves.

Make the salads, and prepare the Crunchy Garlic Sticks dough. After you have kneaded the dough, cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator while you add the final ingredients to the stew.

While the stew finishes cooking, roll out the Crunchy Sesame Garlic Sticks and put the in the oven to bake. Watch them closely so that they don’t get too brown.

Remove the stew from the burner and serve it into large soup bowls. Take the Crunchy Sesame Garlic Sticks out of the oven and put them in a breadbasket.

Sit down to a well-deserved, relaxing meal.

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Visit our Low-Carb Cooking 101 Recipe Lessons series.