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Gluten free and low carb chicken meatballs - low calorie, too! Recipe at beneficial-bento.com

I am on a low carb kick lately. I am constantly on the lookout for super low carb, high protein, veggie-ful meals, and I have been testing lots of yummy recipe ideas - which will definitely show up on the blog in the near future!

Which reminded me - a few years ago ( has it really been that long?) I posted a recipe I perfected for gluten free chicken meatballs, which just happens to also be very low in carbs - yay! They are still a staple in our family for dinners and lunches, so I updated the post, added some new info, and re-posted it - and here it is:

Gluten Free Chicken Meatballs - Updated

I have been making these gluten free chicken meatballs for the longest time, but I just realized that I've never posted the recipe. This is one of the most versatile recipes I have for bento, and make-ahead meals in general.

This is a very diet-friendly recipe as well! The binder in the meatballs doesn't come from breadcrumbs, like most meatball recipes - you might be surprised to find that they are held together with ground mushrooms! Mushrooms add almost no extra calories, but they do add a lot of moistness to the meat - which can be quite dry on its own since it has very little fat to begin with.

Here's the original photo that I took for this post way back in the day - before I had a DSLR, ha ha ha 😀

This bento has 1 cup of mini chicken meatballs, some homemade chocolate pudding, and a very simple pasta salad.

There's a small cup of low cal barbecue sauce for dipping the meatballs, which taste great hot or cold. I often keep the meatballs in the freezer and put them in a bento frozen. Then I can eat them cold at lunchtime, or reheat them in the microwave.

What's in the Recipe?

Ground chicken breast - you can use ground turkey breast, but chicken has a milder flavor. And get breast meat, not dark meat, which tends to be fatty
Mushrooms - the secret ingredient that acts as a binder, adds moistness, and great flavor!
Eggs, also a good binder which adds extra protein, too.
Seasonings - you can either make yours curry flavored to serve with rice, or Italian flavored to serve with spaghetti or zucchini noodles

Recipe for Gluten Free Chicken Meatballs

Print Recipe

My gluten free chicken meatballs don't contain breadcrumbs, or any starches for that matter! They are low carb, low calorie, moist, and so easy to make!

Ingredients

Scale

1 and ½ pounds ground chicken or turkey breast
8 oz. mushrooms, or about 3 cups
1 tsp . salt
½ tsp . pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ tsp . curry powder, or 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, if desired
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons cooking oil of your choice ( I like avocado oil)

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Instructions

In a food processor or mini chopper, finely chop the full 8 oz. of mushrooms.
In a large bowl, place the ground chicken. Then add all other remaining ingredients. Wet hands ( because ground chicken is very sticky) and mix well by hand.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Using a small cookie scoop, form meatballs. You could also use your wet hands to form the meatballs, but I highly recommend the cookie scoop - the mixture is very sticky, since there is so little fat in it.
Cook and turn until browned on all sides, and no longer pink in the center. Turn them carefully - they are pretty sticky and fragile until they start to cook and turn more solid.

Notes

You can also double this recipe and bake them in bulk on a large cookie sheet, that has been coated with the 2 tablespoons oil. Bake at 375 - 400 degrees until browned and no longer pink in center.

You can store them in the freezer until needed for future meals.

Author: Kristie @beneficialbento

How to Make the Meatballs

In a food processor or mini chopper, finely chop the full 8 oz. of mushrooms.

In a large bowl, place the ground chicken. Then add all other remaining ingredients. Wet hands ( because ground chicken is very sticky) and mix well by hand, or with a spoon.

Heat 2 tsp. of Olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Using a small cookie scoop, form meatballs and cook in pan until browned and no pink remains in the center. You could use your wet hands to form the meatballs, but I highly recommend the cookie scoop - the mixture is very sticky, since there is so little fat in it.

You could also bake them in the oven on a cookie sheet. I make a lot at one time ( double the recipe) and freeze the extras.

I think I'll pull some out of the freezer tonight along with some of my homemade spaghetti sauce, cook some zucchini noodles, and have a super fast and easy dinner! To make it even easier, I'll put my Salad Bar on the table, and we'll have a great dinner with very little fuss.