We love Italian food at our house and meatballs with tomato sauce is one of our goto meals.  Italian food often gets a bad rap for being a “treat” food, due to too many carbs and calories.  That is often the case when we enjoy a bowl full of white pasta with carbonara sauce, alongside garlic toast.  But, there are healthier and equally delicious alternatives, including the following recipes.

The best way to make any meal healthier is to start with a green salad or some other vegetables.  Then serve the lean meat as the main portion of the dish, here homemade meatballs and tomato sauce.  As a complement feel free to add a small side of pasta, if desired.

Carb cutting Tip: carbs in form of pasta, be it white or whole grain, are still heavily processed, easily digested and taste delicious. These type of food attributes turn off satiety signals in our brain, and we end up eating more calories then needed. 

Top Tips:

  • Choose whole wheat or grain pasta over white, as it has twice the fiber to fill you up.
  • Only make enough pasta for the meal per person. So, there are no leftover to go back to.
  • Dress the pasta with homemade tomato or pesto sauce, increasing nutritional value.  Easily digestible carbs are now served alongside micronutrients like vitamins, minerals and even essential fats.
  • Still hungry or often its the desire to eat more—have anther meatball or another serving of green salad.
  • Slowly eat your meal, allowing ample time for the brain to register the caloric amount consumed.

Beef and Veal Meatballs Recipe

classic meatballs in tomato sauce

The secret to making light and tender meatballs as shared by Chef Daniel Holzman (The Meatball Shop) is:  the “filler” has to be more then the lean meat. 

In the recipe below, the filler come in way of bread and zucchini.  This creates the final product to be an incredibly juicy meatball that is full of flavour.  Addition of fresh herbs further intensifies the taste and adds fragrance that is experienced in a good Italian kitchen.

Cooking Time: 30 minutes, makes 15 large meatballs.

250 g Lean Beef

250 g Lean Veal

2 slices of Bread (day old bread of choice, we use multigrain as that’s all we eat in our house)

1/2 cup Milk

1 egg

1/2 cup Zucchini (grated fine)

1 tbsp fresh Basil (sliced small)

1/2 tsp fresh Rosemary (chopped fine)

1/2 tsp fresh Thyme (chopped fine)

1 tbsp Salt

1/2 tsp black Pepper (ground)

2 tbsp of Parmesan Cheese (grated)

1 clove of garlic (grated fine)

Pre-heat oven to 425.  Line a baking sheet with foil for easy cleanup.

In a bowl, break bread slices into pieces and soak in milk—leave for 2 minutes.  Using fingers or a fork, mix this until bread breaks apart, and mixture is of paste like consistency.

In a large bowl add: beef, veal, grated zucchini, cheese, fresh herbs (basil, rosemary, thyme), salt and pepper.  Break egg in a separate bowl, mix and add to above mixture.  Add in the soaked bread mixture.

Knead this well using hands for about 3-5 minutes until ingredients are well incorporated and mixtures starts to come together.

Oil hands to prevent the meatballs from sticking.  Make large meatballs (1/4 cup size each).  Place on baking sheet. 

Cook until meatballs are done, around 15 minutes and then broil them for 3-5 minutes to get some colour and further develop flavour.

Remove from baking sheet, using a wooden spoon scrape away any leftover brown fat.

Serve these meatballs with the our Quick and Easy Tomato sauce (recipe below) and Enjoy!

Serving suggestions: 

1.  We serve these meatballs alongside whole wheat spaghetti dressed in homemade Pesto or you can use the tomato sauce below. 

2.  Meatball Sandwiches are also and excellent option, with a side of green salad or chopped vegetables.

Quick and Easy Tomato Sauce

Cooking Time: 15-20 minutes, makes 2 cups of sauce

1 28oz can Tomatoes (whole, plump style)

1/2 medium onion (small dice)

2 cloves garlic (grated)

1 cup Zucchini (grated)

1 tbsp fresh Basil

1/2 tsp fresh Rosemary (chopped fine)

1/2 tsp fresh Thyme (chopped fine)

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp Salt and Pepper each (to taste)

Heat oil over medium heat, add in the onion and lightly sauté, 2 minutes. 

Add in grated zucchini and garlic, sauté 2 minutes. 

Mix in can Tomatoes, crushing them with hands as you add them or use a wooden spoon to break them apart in pan. 

Add in sugar, salt and pepper.

Cook mixture for about 10 minutes until the sauce beings to come together.

Blend this mixture using hand blender or, transfer to food processor (blend to desired consistency); add back to the pot to finish cooking.

Add in chopped fresh herbs and butter, mix. 

Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

Cook for 5 more minutes until the sauce thicken to desired consistency.  The more you cook it the thicker it becomes.  To thin out the sauce, you can add warm water as needed.    

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