This quick and easy ground beef meatballs recipe is gluten free, low carb, and perfect for keto diets. The cheddar cheese and chives give the meatballs a rich, hearty flavor, and they have no breadcrumbs. The meatballs can be served with spaghetti sauce or without.
Since I quit sugar and restarted my bariatric eating plan, I haven't been eating as many of our prepared meal plan meals as I used to. They are still healthy for a normal eater like Joe, but they have too many carbs and too many calories for a bariatric patient like me.
We were forced back into cooking. {sigh}
So I have had to dig out a lot of our old low carb recipes, and this is one of those. The meatballs are delicious, and they hold together really nicely without the need for breadcrumbs. I think it might be that the cheese melts and binds them together? I'm not sure, but they work, as you can see in the photo above.
Once you stop using breadcrumbs, you might be surprised at how little difference they make in foods. They're just filler, plain and simple, and they don't matter much. They add carbs to foods that don't need carbs.
What you'll need to make beef and cheddar meatballs
Seriously, this couldn't be easier. All you have to do is gather your ingredients, of which there are only three: ground beef, chives, and grated cheddar cheese:
Mix the ingredients together with your hands (no wooden spoon or spatula is up to this task), and then shape the mixture into small meatballs. I suppose you could use your hands for that as well, but I prefer to use a medium cookie scoop. It makes the balls equally portioned which makes them bake evenly. If they aren't all the same size, you will have some that are overcooked and some that are undercooked, and nobody likes a raw meatball.
The cookie scoop I use is approximately two tablespoons and makes 34 meatballs from this recipe.
How to make low carb beef and cheddar meatballs
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- In a large bowl, combine chives, ground beef, and cheddar cheese. Season as desired with salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands.
- Roll ground meat mixture into 34 mini meatballs and place on a baking sheet with a rim.
- Bake at 350ºF for 20 to 25 minutes or until centers are no longer pink.
Serving Low Carb Meatballs
I like these beef, cheddar, and chive meatballs without sauce just as much as I like to put sauce on them. They are delicious both ways, and I'm pretty sure you will think so too.
If you're strict about your low carb eating, you will want to look for a spaghetti sauce that has little or no added sugar. There is sugar naturally in tomatoes, but most sauces also have added sugars. It is possible to find sauce with minimal sugar or you could make your own. In all honesty, we haven't made spaghetti sauce from scratch in years, but it is a good option because you can use artificial sweetener to ensure a truly sugar-free sauce.
You'll want to check out some of the other low carb recipes I've shared:
- Maryland Crab Cakes with No Filler
- Zucchini Sausage Egg Muffins
- Chicken Crust Pizza
- Cheesy Ham and Cauliflower Casserole
- Jamaican Jerk Chicken Skewers
And also these delicious beef recipes:
- Mongolian Beef in the Instant Pot
- Easy Shredded Beef Tacos in the Instant Pot
- Jamaican Meat Pies AKA Jamaican Beef Patties
- Beef BBQ Biscuit Cups Recipe
- Beef and Green Beans | A Quick and Easy Weeknight Recipe
- Baked Spaghetti Squash Casserole with Ground Beef, Tomatoes, and Cheese
Recipe
Beef, Cheddar, and Chive Meatballs
Equipment
- Scoop set you'll just need the smallest one
Ingredients
- ¼ cups chives minced
- 1 pounds ground beef 93% lean
- 1 cups cheddar cheese shredded
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a large bowl, combine chives, ground beef, and cheddar cheese. Season as desired with salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands.
- Roll ground meat mixture into 34 mini meatballs and add to a baking sheet with a rim.
- Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes or until centers are no longer pink.
Crystal says
Where can I find the nutritional values
Tara Gerner says
I just added them to the bottom of the recipe card which is at the bottom of the page. Please note that those values are for ONE MEATBALL and not one serving of meatballs. So multiply by however many meatballs you intend to eat. The recipe makes 34 meatballs out of one pound of meat, so they are pretty small.