Cheesy Stuffed Mini Meatballs

This recipe is from Patrick Maese at patrickmaese.com, where you’ll find lots of delicious low-carb recipe ideas. Here is the full Cheesy-Stuffed Mini Meatballs recipe with additional notes.

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs 100% grass-fed ground beef
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 string cheese mozzarella sticks
• 1 24 oz jar of no-sugar-added marinara sauce such as Rao’s
• 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
• optional Italian parsley for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 500°F and grease an oven-safe (to 500°) casserole dish.
2. In a large prep bowl, add ground beef, almond flour, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, basil, oregano, parmesan cheese, and eggs. Mix with hands until completely incorporated.
3. Cut each mozzarella stick into 10 small cubes. Pinch a bite size amount of ground beef (about 1.5″ in diameter) and roll it into a ball. Press on a flat surface to form a patty. Place a cube of the cut mozzarella stick and wrap the beef around it, ensuring there are no gaps or crevices. Continue until all of the meatballs have been formed (you should have about 42) and place into your casserole dish.
4. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove casserole dish and set your oven to broil.
5. Pour jar of marinara sauce over meatballs and sprinkle the top with shredded mozzarella. Place dish under the broiler until cheese has melted and browned (about 5 minutes).
6. Remove dish from oven and garnish with chopped Italian parsley.

Approximate Nutritional Information for 1 Meatball:

Calories: 105, Fat: 7g, Carbs: 2g, Fiber: .5g, Protein: 7g