These cottage cheese meatballs are low-carb, made without breadcrumbs, and ready for keto-friendly pasta. Ready in 30 minutes.
Cottage Cheese Meatballs
Turns out, cottage cheese is the secret ingredient to amazing meatballs! Who knew?
These savory meatballs are juicy, smothered in melted cheese, and the perfect addition to keto pasta. If you’re missing Italian meatballs because all of them are made with breadcrumbs, then make these!
You won’t believe how amazing they are. There are only seven simple ingredients, and all of them are easy to customize.
I made them with a base of ground beef, but you can make them with chicken, pork, or even turkey.
Low-Carb Marinara Sauce
You’ll bake the meatballs in a bed of low-carb marinara sauce. Make sure that the sauce you use doesn’t have any added sugar.
My favorite one that has the least amount of natural sugar is from Rao’s Homemade. Simply Ragu comes in second.
You can also choose to make your own. Just simmer some tomato sauce in a sauce pan and add your favorite spices – parsley, basil, garlic, and onion.
It doesn’t need any added sugar, the tomatoes are sweet enough.
Meatballs Without Breadcrumbs
A lot of keto meatball recipes make them with either almond flour, coconut flour, or pork rind crumbs (or a combination of them). In order to keep the carb amount low, I didn’t use any of those ingredients.
It turns out that cottage cheese and parmesan cheese work perfectly together without any kind of breadcrumb replacement. In fact, making meatballs without breadcrumbs make them easier to mix and keeps them tasting juicy without drying out!
The meatballs only take about 10 or 15 minutes to mix together and prepare. After that, they cook for 30 minutes and then they’re ready!
What To Eat With Meatballs
You can certainly eat the meatballs by themselves for dinner, but I think they’re perfect on top of some keto-friendly pasta, or even some zoodles. So, make some sides that you would eat with spaghetti.
I like to add my keto garlic knots – they taste just like garlic bread! If you prefer toast, make some low-carb garlic toast on the side with it.
I love to serve a chopped salad with my pasta dishes. This shrimp avocado and spinach salad is one of my favorites and Low-carb chicken cobb salad is another great choice!
How To Store Meatballs
Make extra meatballs and eat them throughout the week for lunch or dinner. They are easy to reheat in the microwave.
Store your meatballs in an airtight container and eat them within three days. Sauce cottage cheese meatballs are freezer-friendly, too.
Store them without the sauce, in a freezer-safe and airtight food storage bag. Then eat them within six months.
Keto Saucy Cottage Cheese Meatballs Recipe
Here’s the list of ingredients (and step-by-step pictures) that you’ll need to make this easy keto saucy cottage cheese meatballs recipe. The exact measurements and instructions are in the printable recipe card, just a little below.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 6
Net Carbs: 5 net carbs per serving
Ingredients
- Ground Beef
- Onion
- Cottage Cheese
- Italian Seasoning
- Parmesan Cheese
- Olive Oil
- Low-Carb Marinara Sauce
- Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees,
Add the ground beef, cottage cheese, onions, Italian seasoning, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste to a mixing bowl. Knead well to combine, and then form the mixture into evenly sized meatballs.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides.
Place a small layer of marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish.
Add the meatballs to the baking dish.
Spoon the remaining sauce over the meatballs. Sprinkle the meatballs with cheese.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
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Keto Saucy Cottage Cheese Meatballs
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Skillet
- 9x13 baking dish
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds Lean Ground Beef
- 1/2 Onion chopped finely
- 1/2 cup Cottage Cheese
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese grated
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 1/2 cup Low Carb Marinara Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees,
- Add the ground beef, cottage cheese, onions, Italian seasoning, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste to a mixing bowl. Knead well to combine, and then form the mixture into evenly sized meatballs.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.
- Brown the meatballs on all sides.
- Place a small layer of marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
- Add the meatballs to the baking dish.
- Spoon the remaining sauce over the meatballs.
- Sprinkle the meatballs with cheese.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Notes
Keto Meatballs
If you enjoyed these cottage cheese meatballs, I have a lot more keto meatball recipes you should try next. Enjoy them for dinner or serve them at parties.
