These Italian meatballs are low sodium, soft, tender, and easy to mash into a meatball sandwich. They are a super healthy meatball recipe that is sure to please!
Ground beef isn’t the only ingredient that can make an easy weeknight meal. The trick is to use as few ingredients as possible. Here are a few simple hints that can help you create a low-sodium meatball that is both tasty and healthy.
The new year has been exceptionally difficult for me. As many of you know, I was diagnosed with both Celiac Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis at the beginning of the year and have been having difficulty with food. I’ve had my ups and downs with the new diet and the new lifestyle. For some reason, I can’t seem to lose the weight that I’ve lost with my old diet. This is very frustrating for me and I’ve been wanting to do something about it. I’ve seen Italian meatballs on a lot of recipes and I thought to myself, “Why not make them low sodium?”. Read more about low sodium swedish meatballs and let us know what you think.
Simply delicious Reduced Sodium Italian Meatballs are a fast and simple way to have a great low sodium meal. The dish is simple to prepare, and if you make a double batch, you can freeze the leftovers for a quick supper later.
The many methods to service them will cause you to consider a broad range of options. Simple spaghetti, meatball lasagna, or even gravy over rice are all options. If you have guests around, try them cooked in my Low Sodium Barbecue Sauce for a fast appetizer. Aside from served over spaghetti, the meatball sandwich is perhaps one of the most well-known sandwich meals.
Sodium content in a typical dish | 500+ mg |
Sodium in this recipe per serving | 74 mg |
Serving size (calories) | 174 |
3 meatballs is a typical serving size.
Italian Meatballs with Low Sodium are not only delicious, but they’re also low in sodium, with just 75mg per 3-4 meatballs. It depends on the size, but a 12” meatball should have slightly about 25mg of salt per serving. You should be able to easily fit about 5 meatballs on top of a spaghetti dish. That fills me up well, and I’m still far below my salt limit.
For three meatballs, most recipes contain between 570 and 815 milligrams of salt. The salt content of the mass-produced, bland-tasting frozen meatballs varies between 490 and 580 mg per 3 meatballs, depending on the brand.
In comparison to store-bought frozen meatballs and other homemade versions, this dish offers two additional advantages. When compared to store-bought or normal homemade dishes, it contains almost half the calories and around a quarter of the fat. The substantial fat reduction seems to result in a significant reduction in total calories owing to the reduced fat calories.
MEAT OF CHOICE FOR MEATBALLS
I used lean ground beef to make my reduced sodium, low fat Italian meatballs. Many dishes often call for a combination of beef and Italian sausage. I got rid of the sausage since it was too high in salt and had too much fat in it. To compensate for the lack of sausage flavor, I added additional no-salt “sausage” style spices.
Because these meatballs are baked rather than pan-fried, you may use a greater fat content ground beef if you don’t mind the extra fat. It’s up to you if you want to add fat since it always seems to bring a bit more taste. I then put the meatballs on a baking rack, which enables any excess fat to drain out and the heat to rise underneath them.
Italian Meatballs with Low Sodium Pin Me
ITALIAN MEATBALLS WITH LOW SODIUM
Cooking meatballs is no more complicated than making meatloaf in a pan. It simply takes a little longer to roll them into balls of comparable size. You want them to be near in size so that they all cook at the same time. I’ve done this so many times that I can now create a meatball with both hands at the same time!
Meatballs’ ingredients
Simply combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing basin. Before adding the meat, I usually whisk the eggs in a large mixing basin quickly. They’ll be more consistent and simpler to blend in. I separated them for photo reasons, but it saves me from having to clean another dish.
It’s also a good idea to combine the Matzo meal and spices in a small dish before sprinkling them in. To uniformly spread the mix and avoid having one overly hot meatball, I found that you don’t need to stir the meat as much as you would think.
Then I just get my hands in there and mix everything together as completely as possible without overmixing, which may result in a thick meatball.
Use an ice cream or cookie dough scoop to scoop up the meat mixture for precisely uniform meatballs. Place the rolled balls on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake them. With a little experience, you should be able to create meatballs of consistent size in each hand at the same time as I do.
Ready-to-bake Italian meatballs
Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup additional Matzo meal to the meatball mixture if it seems mushy while you’re combining them. There are a lot of variables that go into how moist the meatball is, and if it’s too “soggy” or wet, it won’t stay together. But don’t worry, it’s very difficult to make a mistake.
HOW TO COOK ITALIAN MEATBALLS IN THE BEST WAY
Traditional Italian meatballs are pan fried, which requires many batches in a skillet due to the additional fat retained by the meat. I cooked the whole recipe, which yielded 36 meatballs, on one big baking sheet.
I like to bake them since I strive to keep my meals as simple as possible. There isn’t much of a difference since they’ll almost always be covered with a wonderful sauce.
Meatballs baked in a pan
In addition, I wrap the baking sheet with foil, which makes cleanup a breeze. I also put the meatballs on a wire cooling rack, which allows the fat to drain out and prevents the meatballs from retaining any excess fat.
MEATBALLS IN THE FREEZER
I often double this recipe so that I can freeze the meatballs and have them ready for any dinner, exactly like store-bought frozen meatballs. It takes two baking sessions, but the effort is definitely worth it. You may easily have several dinners ready to go if you double the ingredients in this recipe, which produced 36 meatballs.
Simply cook the meatballs and then set them aside to cool. I use a big heavy-duty Ziploc bag and just store them in the freezer until I need them. Meatballs may be stored in the freezer for up to two months.
WHAT CAN I MAKE OR SERVE WITH ITALIAN MEATBALLS THAT ARE LOW IN SODIUM?
Pasta is often used with Italian meatballs, and plain spaghetti noodles may be used. The same night I prepared the meatballs with lasagna noodles, I made an Instant Pot Low Sodium Italian Meatball Lasagna, and it was delicious.
Lasagna with Italian meatballs
Meatballs with baked mashed potatoes or rice, both with brown gravy, are another option. Alternatively, serve with a side salad or vegetable mixture and a piece of garlic Low Sodium Artisan bread. Then there’s the undeniably delicious meatball sub.
One of my favorite appetizers is to boil the meatballs in my Low Sodium Barbecue Sauce for approximately an hour, entire or split in half. Pour the mixture into a bowl and serve with toothpicks and tiny plates for a simple party starter.
Appetizer of Italian meatballs with barbecue sauce
Here are a couple more of my fantastic recipes for you to try!
Spaghetti with low-sodium Italian meatballs
Please let me know how you liked this dish in the comments, as usual! I like hearing from you and would want to know how you enjoyed and served these Low Sodium Italian Meatballs. Please leave a remark and a rating, as well as any suggestions or adjustments you may have. For new recipes, you can also follow me on Facebook and Pinterest.
Low Sodium Italian Meatballs
Low-sodium Italian meatballs are also reduced in fat, simple to prepare, and versatile enough to be used in a variety of meals. They may be frozen for fast evening dinners.
Mode of Preparation Stop your screen from turning black.
Time to Prepare: 20 minutes
35 minutes to prepare
55 minutes total
Course Description:
American cuisine
12 servings = 36 meatballs
Calories (kcal): 174
- 2 lbs. ground beef, lean
- a dozen big eggs
- Matzo meal, 3/4 cup
- 1 tbsp parsley (dry)
- 1 tsp basil (dried)
- a quarter teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sage
- 1 tsp fennel seeds If seeds develop, be careful to ground them.
- 1 teaspoon paprika (smoky)
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In a small dish, combine the spices.
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs rapidly, then add the meat, sprinkle with spices, and mix everything together by hand.
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Roll into 1 1/2′′ balls (ping pong ball size) and put them close together on a large baking sheet lined with foil and a cooling rack (if desired). The fat drips down the cooling rack.
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Depending on the size of the meatballs, bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until cooked through.
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The meatballs are ready to serve with your favorite pasta and sauce or another dish right away.
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Allow the meatballs to cool fully before freezing them in a Ziploc freezer bag.
For me, this recipe yielded 36 meatballs. I often double this recipe and store the leftovers for future meals.
Calories: 174 kilocalories 1.9 g carbohydrate 25.3 g protein 6.4 g fat 130 milligrams of cholesterol 74mg sodium 0.2 g fiber 0.2 g sugar
Meatballs are an Italian classic. Young babies are brought to Italian restaurants and are taught how to eat meatballs the way Italians do. When our children were younger, we would take them to a local Italian restaurant and let them pick out their own meatballs. We would let them pick the meatballs, sauce and cheese that they wanted on their meatball. We would never let them pick out the bread, unless they were four or five years old, since they would not eat bread.. Read more about recipe for low sodium turkey meatballs and let us know what you think.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are frozen meatballs high in sodium?
Frozen meatballs are high in sodium.
Are meatballs high in sodium?
Meatballs are high in sodium, but not as much as other foods like french fries.
What is the difference between Italian and Swedish meatballs?
The meatballs in Sweden are often made with a mixture of beef, pork and veal. In Italy, the meatballs are usually made with only beef or pork.
Related Tags
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- low sodium meatballs
- low sodium swedish meatballs
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