A huge pot of simmering sauce and meatballs filled the house with the most delicious smells on a Sunday; it’s like it was yesterday how vivid that food memory is for me, probably because sauce and meatballs were a family staple growing up. In retrospect, it’s kind of funny how that’s one of my most prominent food memories from my childhood, especially since my pickiness as a little girl kept me from ever eating the meatballs. They looked delicious of course, but to be honest, I refused to touch anything with ground beef, the texture was a huge deterrent for me. My poor parents, I must have really been a joy to cook for when I was younger! Thank goodness the gluten free challenge came later.
Now that I’ve become a tad bit more experimental with food I’ve really grown to enjoy ground beef, which is a huge relief to my husband who LOVES hamburgers, tacos, meatballs, and beyond. And while I wish that I had at least tried the meatballs that my parents spent all Sunday working on, I’ve now found my own meatball recipe, gluten free of course, that makes our Meatball Sundays just as memorably fragrant. Since I have no way of telling if they’re just as tasty as our family’s version, you can be sure that I put my parents to the taste test and I’m happy to report that these have received their stamp of approval, which means a lot in my book.
Seeing as I come from the wonderful Italian family tradition of not writing recipes down, it was tough finding a place to begin to come up with a gluten free meatball recipe. I wanted something authentically Italian and full of flavor, but full of flavors that would fit my picky palette. You probably all know by now how much my family loves Carmine’s. Each and every dish that we’ve gotten there has been divine and we’re so fortunate that they offer a cookbook with all of their recipes. The Christmas shortly after my gluten free diagnosis I spotted this cookbook at my local BJs and thought it would be a great gift for my husband, especially since at that point we thought we’d never be able to actually dine there again. Since then I’ve created gluten free versions of a few of the recipes from the cookbook, mainly their meatballs. Their recipe gave me a great place to start, and with some changes here and there I’ve really made it my own. I’ve created a family recipe that we’ll enjoy for years to come and will hopefully give my little girl a familiar food memory too! Check out my Carmine’s inspired recipe for Gluten Free Meatballs For The Family!
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 lb Lean Ground Beef, I like 85%
- 2 large Eggs
- 1/2 cup Seasoned, Gluten Free Bread Crumbs, I like Schar and then I make my own Seasoned Gluten Free Bread Crumbs
- 4 slices Gluten Free Bread, no crusts
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 cup Grated Parmesan/Romano cheese, I sometimes use Colonna brand
- 3 tbsp Parsley
- 2 tbsp Basil
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1 heaping tsp Chopped Garlic
- 10-12 cups Marinara Sauce, I like to use Tutturosso tomato sauce to start and season from there
Ingredients for Tomato Sauce:
- 3 (28) oz cans Tuttorosso Tomato Sauce
- 3 tsp dried basil for tomato sauce
- 3 tsp dried oregano for tomato sauce
- 3 tsp dried parsley for tomato sauce
- 6 tbsp minced garlic for tomato sauce
- 6 tbsp olive oil for tomato sauce
Directions:
- To a small mixing bowl, tear 4 slices of gluten free bread, without their crusts, into small pieces. Then add 1 cup of skim milk to the bread and allow to sit for 5-7 minutes or until all of the milk has nearly absorbed.
- Meanwhile, add two eggs to a large mixing bowl and whisk.
- Using your hands, mix in 1 1/2 lb lean ground beef with your eggs
- Continue mixing with your hands and add 1/2 cup gluten free bread crumbs, 3 tbsp parsley, 2 tbsp basil, 1 tbsp salt, 1 heaping tsp chopped garlic, and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper.
- Once you’ve added your seasonings to your ground beef, add in your softened bread and mix with your hands.
- Finally, mix in 1 cup grated parmesan/romano cheese.
- Cover your bowl with saran wrap and refrigerate for about 45 minutes or until meat mixture has firmed up a bit.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Once chilled, using a tablespoon or ice cream scoop, roll out small meatballs between the palms of your hands to about the size of a golf ball.
- Add the meatballs to a plate and refrigerate for an additional 10 minutes to firm up.
- Once firmed, carefully add your meatballs to a slotted baking sheet or those cookie drying racks on top of deeper baking sheets so they don’t bake in all of their fat. Make sure you spray these with a non-stick spray.
- Bake meatballs for about 30 minutes until they’ve browned. I always check the largest one by cutting down the middle and making sure it’s browned all the way through.
- While your meatballs are cooking, prepare and heat your tomato sauce. Feel free to use your go to recipe, favorite jarred tomato sauce, or my tomato sauce recipe that I added to this post.
- Once your meatballs have finished, using tongs, carefully remove them from the baking sheet and add them to your sauce.
- Carefully cover your meatballs with sauce and heat on low for an additional 20-30 minutes uncovered to allow the flavors of the sauce and meat to intermingle.
- Serve your meatballs on gluten free spaghetti or with some toasted gluten free baguettes and melted provolone cheese!
As the chilly fall days are rolling in, these meatballs are going to make so many appearances in our house. Just the other day I made these for some meatball sandwiches and they were mouthwatering, a little messy, but delicious nonetheless. I just toasted up some gluten free bread while my meatballs were simmering with the sauce, I prefer a baguette but only had these dinner rolls, but they were a great substitute. Then I added a few meatballs and sauce to the roll and melted some mozzarella or provolone cheese on top. It was such a tasty dinner, and hit the spot for a warm and nostalgic meal. And for lunch the next day, we were lucky enough to enjoy nice warm bowls of meatballs too!
Depending on how many you’ll have dining with you, you can adjust this recipe as needed. Without any changes, it usually makes about 30-35 meatballs, depending on how large you make them. For a big family dinner I’ll follow the recipe exactly, but for our family of three I usually half the recipe which makes plenty of meatballs for firsts, seconds, and not to mention leftovers too. We always have enough meatballs for leftover lunch or dinner the next day. I just add them, with the sauce too, to a tightly closed plastic container and rewarm them in a sauce pan or microwave. Be creative too for your leftover meatballs, I’ve even used our extra meatballs for lasagna, and I must say they were a perfect addition!
So just because you’re gluten free, doesn’t mean your weekly Italian family dinner has to be missing meatballs. Throw these together and serve them by themselves, on rolls, or on your favorite gluten free spaghetti and enjoy!
Sincerely,
Lindsay
TIP: I’ve also made these dairy free too just by omitting the cheese, or adding a diary free grated cheese, and they came out just as flavorful and delicious!
- 1 1/2 lb Lean Ground Beef, I like 85%
- 2 large Eggs
- 1/2 cup Seasoned Gluten Free Bread Crumbs, I like Schar and then I make my own Seasoned Gluten Free Bread Crumbs by adding the breadcrumbs to the container first, then adding about one heaping tablespoon of dried basil, oregano, parsley, garlic powder, and garlic salt, capping the container, and shaking them to mix!
- 4 slices Gluten Free Bread, no crusts
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 cup Grated Parmesan/Romano Cheese, I sometimes use Colonna brand
- 3 tbsp Parsley
- 2 tbsp Basil
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
- 1 heaping tsp Chopped Garlic
- 10-12 cups Marinara Sauce, try my Tomato Sauce
- 3 28 oz cans Tuttorosso Tomato Sauce
- 3 tsp dried basil for tomato sauce
- 3 tsp dried oregano for tomato sauce
- 3 tsp dried parsley for tomato sauce
- 6 tbsp minced garlic for tomato sauce
- 6 tbsp olive oil for tomato sauce
- Add 6 tbsp olive oil and 6 tbsp minced garlic to sauce pan. Cook garlic on low-medium heat until slightly browned. Add 3 28 oz cans of tomato sauce (I like Tutturosso). Stir sauce and heat on low-medium. Add 3 tsp of dried basil, oregano, and parsley and stir to combine. Taste sauce and add a bit of garlic salt if you’d like. Heat sauce for about 20-25 minutes. Remove from heat and set sauce aside.
- To a small mixing bowl, tear 4 slices of gluten free bread, without their crusts, into small pieces. Then add 1 cup of skim milk to the bread and allow to sit for 5-7 minutes or until all of the milk has nearly absorbed.
- Meanwhile, add two eggs to a large mixing bowl and whisk.
- Using your hands, mix in 1 1/2 lb lean ground beef with your eggs
- Continue mixing with your hands and add 1/2 cup gluten free bread crumbs, 3 tbsp parsley, 2 tbsp basil, 1 tbsp salt, 1 heaping tsp chopped garlic, and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper.
- Once you've added your seasonings to your ground beef, add in your softened bread and mix with your hands.
- Finally, mix in 1 cup grated parmesan/romano cheese.
- Cover your bowl with saran wrap and refrigerate for about 45 minutes or until meat mixture has firmed up a bit.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Once chilled, using a tablespoon or ice cream scoop, roll out small meatballs between the palms of your hands to about the size of a golf ball.
- Add the meatballs to a plate and refrigerate for an additional 10 minutes to firm up.
- Once firmed, carefully add your meatballs to a slotted baking sheet or those cookie drying racks on top of deeper baking sheets so they don't bake in all of their fat. Make sure you spray these with a non-stick spray.
- Bake meatballs for about 30 minutes until they've browned. I always check the largest one by cutting down the middle and making sure it's browned all the way through.
- While your meatballs are cooking, prepare and heat your tomato sauce. Feel free to use your go to recipe, favorite jarred tomato sauce, or my tomato sauce recipe that I added to this post.
- Once your meatballs have finished, using tongs, carefully remove them from the baking sheet and add them to your sauce.
- Carefully cover your meatballs with sauce and heat on low for an additional 20-30 minutes uncovered to allow the flavors of the sauce and meat to intermingle.
- Serve your meatballs over gluten free spaghetti or with some toasted gluten free baguettes (or whatever gluten free bread you have on hand) and melted provolone cheese!