Five Ingredient Italian Meatballs
When I need a SUPER QUICK dinner that I know will go over well with the kids and my husband, I whip up a batch of these flavorful meatballs! Not only do they come together quickly, they taste great and are very versatile – drop them into your favorite soup, serve over pasta or spaghetti squash with your favorite pasta sauce, or even make a toasted meatball sub with melted cheese on top for something different. Another thing I love about this recipe is that you can easily freeze the leftovers for an even quicker, easier meal to pull together on your most hectic of days. See below the recipe for freezing directions.
And finally, a quick note on the meats I used. I call for 3 pounds of ground meat and give some options to choose from. Personally, I make these with a combo of 1 pound each Italian sausage, pork, and bison. My kids don’t care much for spicy food but I like to try to introduce it to them so they aren’t totally averse to it. The Italian sausage adds a little heat, and the other ground meats mellow it out so my kids love the meatballs. If you prefer things super spicy, go with more Italian sausage and less of the other meat. Or, if you want to keep these even simpler, just choose your favorite meat and use 3 pounds of that. Okay, enough meat talk; you get the idea…
I hope you love these as much as I do! If you need a refresher on what the criteria are for my Fast with Five Fridays recipes, read this.
- 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 2/3 cup almond meal
- 2/3 cup finely chopped onion
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup water
- 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 pounds ground bison, ground pork, and/or ground Italian sausage
- In a large bowl combine tomato paste, almond meal, onion, eggs, water, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Whisk until well combined. Add 3 pounds desired ground meat. Using a potato masher, mash mixture until well combined.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or foil. Using a 1 ½-inch diameter scoop, drop rounded scoops of the meat mixture in the prepared pan. Use your hands to shape mounds in to balls. You should get about 35 meatballs.
- Bake meatballs for 20 to 25 minutes or until internal temperature of meatballs registers 160°F when tested with an instant-read thermometer. Serve meatballs as desired.
- Tip: To freeze leftover meatballs, place meatballs on a tray or sheet pan lined with a clean piece of parchment paper or foil. Cover meatballs with plastic wrap. Freeze for at least 4 hours or until meatballs are completely frozen. Transfer meatballs to an airtight container. Freeze up to 3 months. This method prevents the meatballs from sticking together when frozen, allowing you to easily pull out as many meatballs as you need at one time.
- Note: I consider salt, pepper, water, and eggs pantry ingredients, which do not count toward the 5 ingredients.
- Nutrition Info (per meatball): 126 cals, 8 g pro, 2 g carb, 10 g fat, 44 mg cholesterol, 3 g sat fat, 0 g fiber, 185 mg sodium
