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This almond flour meatballs and sauce recipe cooks for three hours and results in a rich tomato sauce full of flavorful healthy 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 me ALL the time. I 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 delicious recipe where meatballs are made with almond flour instead of bread crumbs and cooked in a delicious marinara until the flavors all melt into each other. I love eating this recipe with a lemon arugula salad or lemon asparagus on the side.
Table of Contents
Why this recipe works
- The flavor of meatballs after they cook in marinara sauce for 3 hours is incredible.
- 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 easy 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: 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: Then, simmer the onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes together until fragrant.
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: Then, roll the meatballs into golf sized balls and put them into the tomato sauce pot.
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 delicious 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.
Other meatball recipes you’ll love:
Did you try this recipe? Please leave me a ⭐ review below!
Almond Flour Meatballs and Sauce
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 me)
- 3/4 cup diced yellow onion, (this was 1 smalll onion for me)
- 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper/red pepper flakes
- 4 cups strained tomatoes, (I always use Pomi)
- 3 cups chopped tomatoes, (again, I 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
Instructions
- 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.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.