A simple meatball recipe that both tastes delicious and takes less than 30 minutes to make is something that must be a staple in your household. Whether you’re just too tired to spend much time on dinner, or want something quick and easy that will please all – you’ve just stumbled upon your next big hit.
If you’re not a fan of olives, I’d still say to give these a try. I never used to like them either, but slowly started incorporating them into my diet (since they’re such a great source of fats), and grew to really love the little round fruit. You’ll notice a pretty significant amount of runoff fat when you cook the meatballs, but there’s no worry! Simply drizzle the extra fats over some spinach, served under the meatballs, and have a delicious warm salad to accompany your meal.
Be careful not to add too much extra salt as the olives bring a delicious punch of saltiness and flavor. In fact, the olive really stands out in this dish – giving extra flavor, saltiness, and texture. Since you don’t always get an olive with each bite, it’s the perfect way to add different flavors as you’re eating this.
Yields 4 servings of Italian Stuffed Meatballs
The Preparation
- 24 ounces ground beef (80/20)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 large egg
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons flaxseed meal
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup green olive, sliced
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
- 4 cups spinach
The Execution
1. In a large mixing bowl, add your ground beef, oregano, Italian seasoning, garlic and onion powder. Mix together well using your hands.
2. Add your eggs, tomato paste, flaxseed, and Worcestershire to the meat and mix together again.
3. Finally, slice your olives into small pieces and add this to your meat along with the shredded mozzarella cheese. Mix everything together well.
4. Preheat your oven to 400F and then start to form the meatballs. You should end up with about 20 meatballs in total. Lay these on a foil-covered cookie sheet.
5. Bake the meatballs for 16-20 minutes or until the desired done-ness is reached.
6. Serve up with a simple spinach salad underneath and drizzle with excess fat from the cookie sheet.
This makes a total of 4 servings of Italian Stuffed Meatballs. Each serving comes out to be 599 calories, 46.1g fats, 4g net carbs, and 38.2g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 24 ounce ground beef (80/20) | 1728 | 136.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 116.8 |
| 1 teaspoon dried oregano | 4 | 0.1 | 1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning | 1 | 0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| — salt and pepper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 teaspoon fresh garlic | 8 | 0 | 1.9 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 0.4 |
| 1/2 teaspoon onion powder | 4 | 0 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| 2 large egg | 157 | 10.5 | 0.8 | 0 | 0.8 | 13.8 |
| 3 tablespoon tomato paste | 40 | 0.2 | 9.3 | 2 | 7.3 | 2.1 |
| 3 tablespoon flaxseed meal | 104 | 8.2 | 5.7 | 5.3 | 0.4 | 3.5 |
| 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce | 4 | 0 | 1.1 | 0 | 1.1 | 0 |
| 1/2 cup green olive | 164 | 17.4 | 4.4 | 3.7 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
| 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese | 168 | 12.5 | 1.2 | 0 | 1.2 | 12.4 |
| 4 cup spinach | 28 | 0.3 | 4.5 | 2.9 | 1.6 | 3.6 |
| Totals | 2412 | 185.3 | 31 | 15 | 16 | 154.1 |
| Per Serving (/4) | 603 | 46.3 | 7.8 | 3.8 | 4 | 38.5 |
Italian Stuffed Meatballs
Ingredients
- 24 ounce ground beef (80/20)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon italian seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoon fresh garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 large egg
- 3 tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 tablespoon flaxseed meal
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- ½ cup green olive sliced
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese
- 4 cup spinach
Instructions
- Combine the ground beef, oregano, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, garlic, and onion powder in a mixing bowl. Mix together well.
- Add the eggs, tomato paste, flaxseed, and Worcestershire sauce to the meat and mix well to combine.
- Finally, dice the olives and add them to the meat along with shredded mozzarella cheese. Season and mix everything together well.
- Preheat oven to 400F. Meanwhile, form the meat mixture into balls by hand (about the size of a golf ball). Place them on a foil-lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 16–20 minutes or until the desired doneness is reached.
- Serve with a simple spinach salad underneath, drizzling the excess fat from the cookie sheet on top.
I made these the other night for dinner. Yum! They were great, thanks!
Glad to hear it Lauren! Thanks for posting your feedback 🙂
I just made this tonight, and my husband kept eating it off the pan -_- Substituted fish sauce for the worcestershire sauce because that’s what I had on hand, looking forward to dinner for tomorrow (:
Haha, how’d they end up going? Hope you guys enjoyed!
Just made these tonight. I used parmesan cheese and they turned out so delicious it’s not even funny. Thanks for the recipe!
Try these on the grill, high indirect heat. You won’t be able to use the fat but that’s why we have olive oil in the kitchen.
That sounds delicious!
Try these on the grill, high indirect heat. You won’t be able to use the fat but that’s why we have olive oil in the kitchen.
Could I possibly substitute chia seed for the flax?
Sure! I think it would work. If they turn out too wet try adding a little coconut or almond flour.
I’m fairly sure it’s already included in the macros. Just be sure to track raw ground beef so the fat is included.
Made these, pretty much flattened out and also stuck to the foil. Probably need more binder of some sort and recommend instructing to spray foil with nonstick spray.
There is quite a lot of fat in them so they shouldn’t stick too much, but you can always use parchment paper if you have issues with sticking. You can add some almond flour or additional flaxseed meal if you’d like for it to have more binder but I didn’t find that necessary myself.