Watching those calories and carbs!? Need a delicious meal that will make you feel like not running two miles afterwards? Skinny and lean meatballs!? Yes please!
My husband is on a special diet, a lot of greens, no carbs, lean meat, and lots of veggies. So it makes dinner a little difficult when I have only one hour to prepare something that does not include carbs. Recently, I bought Trader Joe’s Extra Lean Ground Beef (96% Meat/ 4% Fat), I don’t know if beef could get any leaner than this. I had no idea what I could make with it because there isn’t much you can do with ground beef that is exciting but for Meatballs! You can do anything with them, put them over pasta, in a sub, but wait, no carbs 😦 So we went the healthy route with this one and had it with a side of spinach and kale salad and some roast potatoes for me.
With or without being on a diet, these meatballs are so tasty that I couldn’t stop eating them! So easy to prepare, not only will you be saving the calories but will be filling up hungry stomachs that will thank you later for the delicious meal!
Guilt Free Skinny Meatballs & Peppers
Meatball Mixture:
1 Lb Ground Lean Meat, Beef, Turkey, or Chicken
½ Cup Panko Bread Crumbs
1 ½ Tsp Dried Oregano
1 ½ Tsp Dried Basil
1 ½ Tsp Dried Thyme
½ Tsp Red Chili Pepper Flakes
1 Tsp Kosher Salt
½ Tsp Black Pepper
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
1 Tsp Onion Powder
1 Large Egg
¼ Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
¼ Cup AP Flour
2 Tbsp Canola Oil
2 Tsp Canola Oil
1 Small Onion, sliced
1 Yellow Bell Pepper, sliced
1 Red Bell Pepper, sliced
Pinch of Kosher Salt
¼ Tsp Garlic Powder
2 Cups Marinara Sauce
1. In a bowl, combine the first 12 ingredients with your hands until everything is incorporated.
2. Shape the mixture into 1½ inch balls, about 15-17 meatballs.
3. Roll the balls in ¼ cup flour and dust any excess off.
4. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs; cook for 5 minutes, browning on all sides.
5. Remove meatballs from the skillet and set aside.
6. Add 2 tsp of oil to the same pan, and sauté the onions, peppers, salt and garlic powder for 5 minutes.
7. Add the meatballs back into the skillet along with 2 cups of marinara sauce.
8. Combine, cover and simmer for 4-5 minutes.
9. Garnish with some chopped basil or grated parmesan cheese.
10. Serve.
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