Gluten Free Meatballs?

[NicoleAJ]

I've actually seen quite a few of you mention making gluten free meatballs. Would you mind posting a recipe? What type of breadcrumbs do you use, and how do you season them? Thanks so much.

[lpellegr]

It's all a matter of taste, but here's what I use: one pound of hamburger, one egg to glue it all together, salt, parsley, dry gluten-free breadcrumbs (I make loaves of bread, then cut into cubes, dry at 250 in the oven until crunchy, then pulverize in food processor and freeze just in case they're not dry enough to avoid mold) - I'm not sure the amount, but the more you have, the more tender your meatballs can be. Try 1 cup or a couple of handfuls. Then, the best part, lots and lots of minced garlic. Fresh is best, but a lot of work, so a few teaspoons from a jar works as well. Mix well with your hands, and if it seems stiff add some warm water, just a little at a time. The breadcrumbs will soak up the water, which is why I said more of them might give you more tender meatballs. Less water gives you tougher meatballs, but too much makes them mushy inside. When well mixed, roll into balls, no more than 2" in diameter. Fry in olive oil, turning as each side browns, until cooked through and crisp. They are best right out of the pan, but you can also freeze them - make 2 or 3 pounds' worth on a weekend, then bring them out of the freezer on a busy weeknight.

Some alternates: if you have time, you can drop raw meatballs into sauce and simmer all day to cook. Or drop the cooked ones in for a few hours - they get a wonderful texture but lose the crunchy outside. And my Italian father tells me that you don't need breadcrumbs - you can substitute leftover cooked rice or other leftovers. You could also use crushed cereal. I have also used oatmeal (in my pre-diagnosis days) and rehydrated textured soy protein crumbles and my family didn't notice. You could also use turkey or any other ground meat, or add bulk sausage. Meatloaf is basically the same recipe except using onion instead of garlic and making a loaf instead of balls.

[jkmunchkin]

I make my own breadcrumbs. I take gluten free bread, leave it out to get hard, crumbly it up in a food processor. Then I had some salt, garlic and oregano, mix it up and voila! breadcrumbs.

Then for the meatballs I just take chopped meat, salt, pepper, garlic, eggs and add in my bread crumbs.

I usually pour some pasta sauce over them and let them sit in it as they bake in the oven.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I use dried potato flakes or rice (cooked) instead of bread crumbs. I just substitute cup-for cup in regular recipes. Once when I didn't have enough potato flakes, I threw in some corn meal, and it still tasted good.

[skoki-mom]

I've actually seen quite a few of you mention making gluten free meatballs. Would you mind posting a recipe? What type of breadcrumbs do you use, and how do you season them? Thanks so much.

I leave the breadcrumbs out entirely. So far, no problems with them sticking together. I use lean ground beef.

[clbevilacqua]

Funny you put this post in today-I just made meatballs. I don't like "mushy" meat so I use crushed gluten free corn flakes instead of breadcrumbs. I also use fennel seed to season mine, along with parsley, salt, pepper, garlic & onion. If this sounds like something you are interested in PM me and I'll give you the recipe!

[lonewolf]

I usually use crispy rice cereal instead of breadcrumbs. When I make Swedish meatballs I use Ener-G Light tapioca bread crumbled up while it's still soft.

[NicoleAJ]

Wow, these recipes all sound delicious. I'm definitely going to have to try one of these varieties this week. I haven't had a meatball since my diagnosis over two years ago. I can't wait! I've never thought of fennel seed in a meatball, but I'm sure it's delicious.

[hannahsue01]

We don't use any fillers...no bread crumbs, crackers, or cereal. All they do anyways is soak up the grease we shouldn't be consuming anyways.

[prinsessa]

I use gluten free bread crumbs that I bought from Whole foods. I think it is just brown rice ground into a powder. I use about the same amount I used to use of regular bread crumbs. I also use the gluten free bread crumbs to make fried chicken breasts. I just blend some eggs in the blender with a little onion and garlic (and salt). I let the chicken breasts soak in this mixture for about 15 mins (thin chicken breasts are the best). Then I dip the chicken breasts in the bread crumbs and then fry in a pan. We don't eat too many fried foods, so this is a treat for my kids.

I forgot to add that I ususally use ground turkey breast instead of ground beef for my meatballs. I think it actually tastes better than beef.

[angel-jd1]

I also use cooked rice for the filler. It works great.

-Jessica

[jerseyangel]

I use Potato Buds.

[NicoleAJ]

I'd never really heard of using potato buds or cooked rice as filler, but it makes sense that they would work. Is there a specific brand of potato buds that are gluten free--I've never really used these in cooking before (even though I noticed that Betty Hagman's recipes often call for potato buds).

[jerseyangel]

I'd never really heard of using potato buds or cooked rice as filler, but it makes sense that they would work. Is there a specific brand of potato buds that are gluten free--I've never really used these in cooking before (even though I noticed that Betty Hagman's recipes often call for potato buds).

I use the Betty Crocker product called "Potato Buds"

[rlemmon]

Hi. here is a recipie i posted awhile back. There pretty good. I make a double batch and freeze half of them.

homemade meatballs and sauce.

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 cup kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese

1/4 cup dried parsley

1 egg

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper.

dash of italian seasoning.

PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Mix meat, cheese, parsley, egg and spices.

SHAPE into 12 meatballs. BAKE 25 minutes or until cooked through.

Italian speghettie sauce.

1 Jar delgrosso traditional spaghetti sauce

1/4 C. parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp Italian seasoning

mix, cook and eat ( :

[gointribal]

Taco meatballs

1.5 lbs ground beef

1 package old El Paso taco seasoning mix

1 onion chopped

2 eggs

1 tsp garlic

1 block sharp chedder cheese cut into small cubes

Preheat oven to 425

Beat eggs, then mix in all remaining ingredients (except cheese) Mold a tablespoon of meat mixture around a cube of cheese to form a small meat ball. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake until meat is cooked and cheese is melted (about 10-15min).

If you can't eat cheese or eggs, replace it with your favorite egg replacer and use soy cheese.

Hope this helps out, enjoy!

[Fiddle-Faddle]

This sounds fantastic!!!! Yum Yum Yum

[RiceGuy]

This is interesting to me because my mother used oatmeal to make meatballs and meatloaf. On rare occasions she'd use breadcrumbs but the results were not anywhere as tasty.

If oats are too prone to CC (and I have yet to dare try them), I'd think millet or one of the sticky rices could work. Maybe add a bit of cornstarch, arrowroot, or instant tapioca if you need more of something to help hold it together. Of course, any gluten-free bread, toasted and run through a blender should work. Add some of the usual spices and I'd think that'd do fine.

[NicoleAJ]

wow, those taco meatballs sound great.

I have some quinoa for a hot breakfast cereal that I didn't like the consistency of--I wonder if it would work in meatballs? It would be nice to get a little quinoa in my diet in another form.

[NicoleAJ]

I really integrated everyone's ideas when I tried out my first batch of gluten-free meatballs, but I did had some Perky's Nutty Rice cereal that I didn't really like, and I didn't have gluten-free bread on hand, so I decided to smash up the Nutty Rice as the binder, and it turned out really really well. The meatballs were delicious! Thanks for all of your help everyone. I'm sure that they'll come out even better when I use gluten-free breadcrumbs, but this was a great first start.

[ariel2006]

wow, those taco meatballs sound great.

I have some quinoa for a hot breakfast cereal that I didn't like the consistency of--I wonder if it would work in meatballs? It would be nice to get a little quinoa in my diet in another form.

Hi Nicole.

At Open Original Shared Link you could find a couple of good quinoa recipes

[NicoleAJ]

Thanks for the recipe link--I'll have to try this. I bet I would like quinoa better toasted than plain. Also, I didn't rinse it before cooking it either.

[FeedIndy]

I have always used oats in both meatballs and meatloaf, but I know a lot of celiacs have difficulty with that. We are lucky enough that DD seems to handle them well.

[healthyhippo]

I found this site recently which has lots of gluten free recipes. I tried the meatballs the other day & they were really good. No breadcrumbs were required & I had no problem with the meatballs sticking together.

Open Original Shared Link

I think I will try some of the other recipes this week

[kristi]

I made some yummy meatballs for the first time last night using ground turkey meat, 1/2 c fresh onion chopped, 2 eggs, 2 cloves of a garlic, a bunch of Lea and Parrin's worcestershire sauce, a bunch of different Italian seasonings (since turkey tends to be a little on the bland side) I used quite a bit. I had a little trouble getting it to bind together so I added a small handful of 100% buckwheat cereal uncooked. I just learned that buckwheat is a fruit not a grain and has nothing to do with wheat. So far I've had no problems with it and it's so nice to have another option. I get it at the grocery store from Bob's Red Mill. It says tested for no gluten on the package. I made the balls and popped them in the oven to bake. The whole family loved them served up with spagetti squash and tomato sauce. I winged the recipe but I wanted everyone that can handle it to remember buckwheat as another option.