Almond Flour Meatballs & Sauce
This almond flour meatballs and sauce recipe cooks for three hours and results in a rich tomato sauce full of flavorful lighter meatballs. This recipe is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free.
Do you ever get inspired to eat something after watching an actor eat that food in a movie or TV Show? This happens to us ALL the time. We have been watching the Sopranos and have been wanting Italian food all the time, or more specifically, “spaghetti and gravy”.
This gluten-free meatballs recipe is a satisfying recipe where meatballs are made with almond flour instead of bread crumbs and cooked in a satisfying marinara until the flavors all melt into each other. We love eating this recipe with a lemon arugula salad or lemon asparagus on the side.
Why this recipe works
- The flavor of meatballs after they cook in marinara sauce for 3 hours is rich.
- This recipe was inspired by this Authentic Italian Tomato Sauce recipe and this Authentic Italian Meatballs recipe.
- This recipe is great for those following a gluten-free, dairy-free, Paleo diet.
- This recipe is simple to customize to your tastes or what ingredients you have on hand.
- It comes together easily, even if it takes a while to cook.
Recipe ingredients
- Ground beef– you can use regular fat or lean ground beef in this recipe.
- Eggs– these help bind the meatballs together.
- Almond milk– you can also use whatever type of milk that works for you and your dietary needs, such as regular milk, oat milk, or coconut milk.
- Almond flour– blanched almond flour works best here because it has a refined texture.
- Dried parsley, basil and oregano– these herbs add flavor to both the meatballs and the sauce.
- Garlic powder– this adds flavor to the meatballs.
- Garlic and onion– these both flavor the sauce.
- Strained tomatoes and chopped tomatoes– these both make up the bulk of the marinara sauce.
- Cloves– this adds a a wonderful flavor to the sauce.
- Honey– this adds a natural sweetness to the sauce. Maple syrup can be used as well.
- Salt and pepper– keep these on hand to flavor the sauce to taste.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Step by step instructions
Step 1
Step 1: Mix all the meatball ingredients together. This includes the ground beef, eggs, almond milk, almond flour, salt, dried parsely, garlic powder, and ground pepper. Set the mixture aside.
Step 2
Step 2: Then, simmer the onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes together until fragrant.
Step 3
Step 3: Next, add the crushed tomatoes, strained tomatoes, cloves, dried basil, salt, paprika, oregano, ground black pepper, and honey to the pot.
Step 4
Step 4: Then, roll the meatballs into golf sized balls and put them into the tomato sauce pot.
Step 5
Step 5: Lastly, let everything simmer for 3 hours. The smell in your house will be fabulous, making it difficult to actually wait to get your hands on these satisfying tender meatballs.
Expert tips
- How to store: Store the meatballs and sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- How to serve: Serve on top of spaghetti, zoodles, gluten-free, pasta, or on top of mashed potatoes.
- How to season: Add Parmesan, basil, oregano, salt and pepper on top.
Prep 10 minutesCook 3 hoursTotal 3 hours 10 minutesMakes 5 people
Ingredients
Meatball Ingredients:
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup milk, regular milk, almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk
- ¾ cup almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Tomato Sauce Ingredients:
- a scant 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons diced garlic, (this was 5 of cloves for us)
- 3/4 cup diced yellow onion, (this was 1 smalll onion for us)
- 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper/red pepper flakes
- 4 cups strained tomatoes, (we always use Pomi)
- 3 cups chopped tomatoes, (again, we always use Pomi)
- 6 whole cloves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons honey
Method
- Mix all of the meatball ingredients together in a large bowl ( 1lb lean ground beef lean, 2 eggs, 1⁄4 cup milk, ¾ cup almond flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 Tbs dried parsley, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper). Mix either by hand or with a fork. Set the mixture aside.
- Then, put a scant 1/4 cup of olive oil into a large pot, and sauté 2 Tbs diced garlic, 3/4 cup of diced onion, and 1/8 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes together for 2-3 min over medium-high heat.
- Reduce the heat to medium, and add the 4 cups of strained tomatoes and and 3 cups of crushed tomatoes to the pot and mix. Add the 6 cloves, 1 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1 tsp salt, ¼ tsp paprika, ½ tsp dried oregano, 1/4-1/2 tsp of fresh ground pepper, and 2 Tbs honey to the pot and mix. Lower the heat to a simmer.
- Then, roll golf ball sized meatballs out of the meatball mixture and put them into the sauce in the large pan. Let the sauce simmer for 3 hours.
- This makes approximately 20 meatballs total.
Notes
- How to store: Store the meatballs and sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- How to serve: Serve on top of spaghetti, zoodles, gluten-free, pasta, or on top of mashed potatoes.
- How to season: Add Parmesan, basil, oregano, salt and pepper on top.
