Meatballs make a great meal or snack. Most people only think about pairing them with pasta but they are fabulous all on their own too! Make this recipe and eat it for lunch all week as I do or serve with noodles made from vegetables for dinner ;). It is filling and delicious too! This is my version which is packed full of healthy ingredients including veggies. Even though this recipe is a lean version it still cooks up nice and moist. This recipe requires a few easy to find ingredients and should take you less than 20 minutes to cook and prepare too!
Ingredients:
*1 pound lean ground beef (95/5)
*3/4 cup 1% cottage cheese
*1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (I used shredded but you can use grated too)
*3-4 tablepoons chopped or minced garlic (I love garlic but adjust if you like it less)
*1 small chopped onion (about 1/4 cup if measuring-if you don’t like onion then you can substitute bell pepper perfectly too)
*1/2 cup 2% mozzarella
*8 ounce can of tomato sauce (I like Hunts with basil, garlic, & oregano)
*seasonings to taste (I used salt, pepper, Sicilian seasoning, & Italian seasoning-about a teaspoon each of the last 2)
Preheat oven to 350.
Add 1/4 cup of the parmesan along with everything else listed above (except the tomato sauce, mozzarella, & remaining Parmesan) into a bowl.
Mix everything up so it is incorporated. Your hands work the easiest for this!
Line 12 muffin tins with cupcake liners. I like to do this because it helps hold everything together and allows the juice which will release from the onions to marinate the meatballs while it is cooking. I think this is the key to how they stay so moist and flavorful too!
Shape the mixture into 12 equal size meatballs and place in tins. Bake in oven for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven (yes there will be a lot of liquid around them but that’s ok!). Top each with about a teaspoon of tomato sauce. Equally distribute the remaining cheese between all 12 meatballs. Then add a generous sprinkle of more Italian and Sicilian seasonings on top (optional but delicious!). Return to oven for about 3 more minutes to melt cheese.
Remove from cupcake liners with a slotted spoon before serving so they look prettier. Serve with any leftover sauce. These reheat well too 🙂
I like these with some sautéed yellow squash “spaghetti” (use a little olive oil, salt, & pepper).
Makes 4 servings of 3 meatballs each
Per serving:
275 calories
10 grams fat
7.5 carbs
1 gram fiber
35 grams protein
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