Baked Meatballs with Sneaky Veggies
These delicious healthy meatballs are packed with sneaky nutrition and kids love them. Makes for a flavorful dinner or freezer meal in 45 minutes or less!
Servings: 30 (1 1/2 inch) meatballs
Calories: 48kcal
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup whole wheat bread crumbs sub: gluten free bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons minced chives
- 1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
- 1/2 cup finely shredded zucchini squeeze out the excess moisture
- 1 large egg beaten
- 3 tablespoons ketchup preferably organic
- 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef sub: ground turkey
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 400°F. Cover a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper or foil for easy clean-up. Optional: Place a cooking rack on top of the sheet pan to let the fat drip below.
- Combine Meat Mixture: In a large bowl, use a fork to stir together the breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan, parsley, chives, carrot, zucchini, beaten egg, and ketchup. Add in the ground beef by pinches (to break it up a bit) and then sprinkle the salt, pepper, and garlic powder evenly over the top of the beef. Use your hands to combine the mixture but do not over mix.
- Roll Meatballs: Using a heaping tablespoon of mixture per meatball, roll into 1 1/2 inch meatballs. Place them on the sheet pan (either directly on it or on top of the rack), leaving a little room between each one.
- Bake in the Oven: Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cooked through. (If your meatballs are on a rack, they may take a few extra minutes.) Cut one open and make sure there is no pink in the middle to assure doneness. Internal temp should be 160°F.
- Serve: Serve with marinara sauce or pesto over pasta or on a meatball sandwich.
Video
Notes
Gluten-Free Version: Use almond meal or gluten-free bread crumbs in place of the whole wheat bread crumbs. (Tip: I make my own bread crumbs by toasted gluten-free bread and then tosses pieces into my high-powered blender or food processor. Blend until they are fairly fine bread crumbs.)
Dairy-Free Version: Use more bread crumbs in place of the Parmesan cheese, plus add 1/4 teaspoon more of salt.
Note: After retesting, this recipe was updated on 3/2/23. Here are the changes I made: Changed 2 lb of beef to 1 1/2 lbs, 1 cup breadcrumbs to 1/2 cup, 2 eggs to 1 egg, 1 1/4 teaspoon salt to 1 teaspoon, 3/4 teaspoon pepper to 1/2 tsp, 1/2 cup grated onion to zucchini, 2 garlic cloves to 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder.
Nutrition
Serving: 1meatball | Calories: 48kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 135mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 0.3g