Italian Meatballs

My Grandmother's Italian Meatballs adapted to be Gluten-Free

gluten free italian meatballs www.healthygffamily.com
Italian Meatballs

Savory and Flavorful!

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Growing up in a big Italian family, pasta and meatballs in tomato sauce are always fan favorite.

These meatballs, based on my Grandmother’s recipes are savory and flavorful!

It’s fresh ground beef mixed up with parmigiana cheese, gluten-free bread and lots of Italian seasoning.

gluten free italian meatballs www.healthygffamily.com

You literally mix it all together with your hands.

Then fry them in olive oil.

Recently my husband has been adding rosemary and garlic to the oil while frying and it adds an amazing flavor!

They taste great straight up when first cooked and with tomato sauce anytime!

gluten free italian meatballs www.healthygffamily.com

Serve with pasta or on a meat ball sandwich or on pizza.

They freeze well. De-thaw by placing frozen meatballs directly in simmering tomato sauce before serving.

 

Hope you love them as much as my family does!

Scroll down for recipe and leave a comment if you try.

Recipe

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Italian Meatballs

Savory and flavorful, these Italian meatballs are a fan favorite. Based on my Grandmother's recipe we've adapted these meatballs to be Gluten-free. Freeze well. De-thaw by placing frozen meatballs in tomato sauce while sauce simmers.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Sides, Holidays, Pasta
Cuisine: Gluten-Free
Servings: 25 -30 meatballs
Author: Healthy Gluten-free Family

Ingredients

  • 1 pound fresh ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 gluten-free baguette
  • 3/4 cup grated parmesan
  • 1-2 tablespoons Curley Italian parsley finely chopped (optional)
  • 2 cloves garlic/ halved
  • Fresh rosemary spring optional for frying
  • Olive Oil - for frying

Instructions

  • Place bread in a small bowl. Cover with water and soak for about 5-10 minutes, then drain water and squeeze out excess water out. Then break or cut soaked bread into 1/4 inch or smaller pieces.
  • Mix all ingredients (except garlic cloves) together with you hands until well combined.
  • Roll mixture into 1 1/2 -2 inch balls
  • **See Optional Note before proceeding to cook all meatballs
  • Heat olive oil in a large skillet or saute pan over medium heat. Olive oil should be about 1/4 inch deep so that meat will fry but not be fully immersed.
  • Add garlic and rosemary and cook for 30 seconds.
  • Then place meatballs in saute pan and cook approximately 2 minutes, rotate and cook the next "side" 2 minutes, continue rotating and cooking until all sides browned and cooked. NOTE: meatballs should not touch one another and depending on the size of your skillet, you may need to cook in batches. My skillet requires two batches of cooking.
  • **Optional: Do a test run! We will often roll up just one or two meatballs, cook them up and taste. Feel free at that point to add more spices or cheese or bread to adjust to personal tastes.
  • Let cooked meatballs cool on plate covered with paper towels, cover meatballs with paper towels and layer as you make more. Cooling on a paper towels absorbs excess oil.
  • Store in freezer: Lay a piece of wax paper on a piece of foil. Place meatballs on wax paper. Close up foil into a packet. Place meatball packet in a large ziplock bag. Freeze.
Tried this recipe?Mention @HealthyGFFamily or tag #HealthyGFFamily!

 

7 thoughts on “Italian Meatballs

  1. When making meatballs, can you use, other than bread crumbs, crackers made with almond flour? I am new at this. Every receive gives more knowledge. Thanks. I am still having problems figuring out corn. I opted for the almond and coconut flour, but that is as far as I have ventured

  2. There has got to be a way to make gluten free meatballs. The only other recipe I have seen is one that you roll the balls in ground bits of bacon rinds, and crumbled bacon. I finally got the old oats, which we always used, but no recipe? Any more ideas? Thanks

  3. Hi! I just made the gf meatballs and they were quite tasty. Is it possible to bake the meatballs in the oven?

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