Meatball cravings are real, y’all.
So are pizza, sugar, and taco cravings. Thankfully, I can eat all the meatballs I want on keto—so long as I nix the breadcrumbs.
The best binding-ingredients to toss in keto meatballs is either almond flour or crushed pork rinds. I typically do almond flour if the meatballs are made out of pork, sausage or beef. Almond flour is a little lighter for the heavy meats.
I found this recipe on Food Network’s website and tried to go by the directions, but it really didn’t work. Broiling meatballs for just 7 minutes and they’re done? Uh, no. Maybe if they were made out of beef—but I used a mix of ground turkey and Italian sausage. I’m not tempting fate with undercooking ground turkey.
After broiling the meatballs until browned, I put them in my mushroom marsala mixture and let them simmer for about 10-15 minutes. That made them perfectly cooked—and they didn’t fall apart, either! You just have to leave them alone to cook; no stirring needed.
As for this marsala sauce, it’s thin since I can’t use flour—but it still works. It’s like a savory & mushroomy au jus for the meatballs. I’ll take it.
You can serve this on top of real mashed potatoes or like I did and use mashed cauliflower. I prefer the bacon & cheddar frozen version since it tastes better than normal mashed cauliflower and it has more fat in it (and shockingly, less carbs). If you’re not on a lowcarb diet, it might even be good to serve this over egg noodles or linguine. Also, I don’t think this would be very good with zucchini noodles. It just does seem like those two things would go together very well.
Enjoy!
Meatball Marsala
Savory meatballs in a classic marsala & mushroom sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground turkey
- 1 lb. ground Italian sausage (hot or mild)
- 1/3 cup almond flour
- 1 egg
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- salt & pepper
- 1 lb. mixed mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup dry Marsala wine
- 6 TBS. butter
- 2 cups chicken broth
Directions
- In a large bowl, mix together turkey, sausage, almond flour, egg, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Once mixed together well, form into 2″ balls and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Broil for 7 minutes.
- Meanwhile, melt butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook until browned, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in marsala and cook for another 3-4 minutes before adding chicken broth.
- Add broiled meatballs into mushroom pot and let simmer for 10-15 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through. Serve meatballs and sauce over mashed potatoes, mashed cauliflower, or egg noodles.
Step-By-Step Instructions
In a large bowl, mix together turkey, sausage, almond flour, egg, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
Once mixed together well, form into 2″ balls and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Broil for 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook until browned, about 3-4 minutes. I added some almond flour into the mixture to thicken up but it was pointless, so don’t do that!
Stir in marsala and cook for another 3-4 minutes before adding chicken broth. Add broiled meatballs into mushroom pot and let simmer for 10-15 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through. Serve meatballs and sauce over mashed potatoes, mashed cauliflower, or egg noodles.
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