These Healthy Meatball Recipes are sure to help you get more veggies into your diet! Delicious, family-friendly and a little something for everyone, these meatballs with added veggies will become a dinner time staple.
Healthy meatballs
Meatballs are, hands down, my favorite go-to protein. When I don’t have a clue what to make for dinner, I usually end up whipping up a healthy meatball recipe.
Why? Because healthy meatball recipes are easy to make, quick to cook and are amazing to enjoy in lots of different ways. Such as….
Serving ideas for meatball recipes
- Over your favorite pasta with veggie-loaded tomato sauce
- as a appetizer
- over a salad
- with mashed potatoes
- over rice
- over riced cauliflower
- with roasted veggies
- in a roll
- in a lunch box
- as is!
I also love that any of these healthy meatball recipes is a great thing to make during your meal prep. You can make them ahead of time and reheat quickly a few days later or pop them into your freezer to make a delicious, nourishing meal come together in minutes.
How to freeze meatballs
I prefer to cook my healthy meatball recipes before freezing. So much quicker to get onto the table and I already know they have been cooked through and are safe to eat.
Before freezing cooked meatballs, allow them to cool completely on the counter. Then transfer them to an air-tight, freezer safe container.
However, sometimes meatballs stick together when frozen touching one another. If you want to be able to take out a few meatballs at a time to defrost, try freezing them on small baking sheet or plate and then transferring them to your storage container of choice once frozen. This will prevent them from freezing to one another and make taking one or two meatballs out at a time much easier.
Want to make sure you always have spinach on hand for these Healthy Meatballs? Check out my tips & tricks for keeping spinach fresh all week!
Tips for making these healthy meatball recipes
- Use a small cookie scoop or a heaping tablespoon to portion out the meat mixture. This will help the meatballs to be close to the same size and cook evenly.
- If the meat is sticking to your hands when rolling, dampen your hands slightly. You don’t want them dripping well, but a little water on your hands will help the meatballs from sticking to you.
- Use whatever ground meat you have on hand. You can easily swap out ground chicken for turkey. Bison for beef. Or even a ground white meat for a ground dark meat! However, if you decided to use ground chicken or turkey in a beef recipe, be aware that you might need to up the seasoning in the recipe. Turkey and chicken tend to be much blander in flavor and need a boosting of seasoning that beef, bison and pork do not.
Ready for some healthy meatball recipes to try on for size? Here are some of my absolute favorites!
Healthy meatball recipes
Tap/click the name below to open the recipe!
Ranch Spinach Turkey Meatballs
These healthy turkey meatballs are easy, veggie-loaded and full of that beloved ranch flavor! Loaded with protein and quick to make, they are the perfect weeknight dinner.
Egg Roll Meatballs
These egg roll meatballs are a wonderfully flavorful, quick veggie-loaded recipe that you are going to love. Naturally gluten free, and super easy to make!
Chicken & Cauliflower Meatballs
These Chicken & Cauliflower Meatballs are bound to become a new staple! So simple and made with only 7 real food ingredients, these delicious little bites are the perfect thing to make for a protein-packed and veggie-loaded addition to any meal! And they are gluten free, dairy-free, Paleo, Whole30, egg-free and nut-free too! So yeah, they are basically magic in edible form!
Beef & Mushroom Meatballs
These beef and mushroom meatballs are easy, quick and sure to become a household favorite! Full of flavor, yet made with just 7 ingredients, they are Whole30, Paleo, gluten free, egg-free, and dairy-free.
Mushroom Lentil Meatballs (vegetarian)
These mushroom lentil meatballs are the perfect start to dinner! Loaded with flavor and plant based protein, they are easy to make and delicious. Perfect on top of your favorite pasta or simply on their own, these plant based meatballs are vegan and easily gluten free.
Spicy Turkey Meatballs with Zucchini
Healthy and spicy! These meatballs are Paleo, had added zucchini and a drizzle of hot sauce for a little spicy kick. Also Whole30, keto, and gluten-free.
Veggie-Loaded Chicken Bites
Make these veggie-loaded chicken bites as meatballs! They aren’t just easy to make, but they are super delicious and a healthy start to dinner! Family-friendly, gluten free, Paleo and Whole30
Healthy Veggie-Loaded Meatballs
My first and favorite veggie-loaded meatball recipe! Super kid-approved and easy to make, this healthy meatball recipe has 4 different kinds of veggies in it, is egg-free, gluten free and is wildly delicious!
I hope these healthy meatball recipes are enough to start with but if not – please leave me a comment below!
Other posts you are going to find useful…
- 10 Ways to Add Vegetables to Breakfast
- 6 Ways To Get Toddlers To Love Veggies
- 12 Wonderful Books for Kids about Vegetables
- 5 Steps for Getting Your Kids Involved in the Kitchen
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Comments
I love meatballs, and this collection of recipes lets me make them for a couple of weeks straight! 🙂
When you put meatballs in the lunchbox do you send them warm in a thermos or chilled?
I’ve done both. I think it totally depends on the child’s preference. My daughter doesn’t seem to mind eating them cold, but I know most kids prefer the warm option.