Remember this song?
“On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese. I lost my poor meatball when some body sneezed.”
When I was handed a list of food sensitivities longer than my arm, lose my poor meatball, I did. I was sensitive to eggs, dairy, wheat, gluten, peanuts, etc… I didn’t think I was ever going to be able to eat a delicious meatball again.
Until I discovered you actually can make an egg-free, dairy-free, grain-free meatball without sacrificing tenderness and flavor!
If you’ve been on almost any kind of diet you’ve probably had to give up many of your favorite comfort foods.
For me, I’ve really missed my mom’s moist meatballs. With gravy. On lefse. Long sigh…
The egg-free GAPS meatball recipes that I’ve tried have turned out bland and dry. So dry, in fact, they’ve crumbled before I could even serve them onto plates.
Not exactly reminiscent of my mom’s savory moist meatballs and a far cry from the word “comfort”.
Although I still miss my mom’s lefse, I think I’ve finally found a GAPS friendly meatball worthy of the word, comfort.
This meatball recipe is the result of marrying my mom’s savory meatball recipe with a GAPS friendly version. The result is a moist and tender meatball without the eggs, bread crumbs, or any “illegal” ingredients.
- 2 lbs. ground beef, preferably grass fed
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- chia seed egg replacer in the equivalent of 4 eggs
- (or 4 eggs if you can tolerate them)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 teaspoons mustard powder
- 1 tablespoon parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- In a bowl, mix all ingredients until well combined.
- When using the chia seed egg substitute, sometimes my mixture comes out too dry. If that happens, simply add a teaspoon of water at a time until you've reached the right consistency.
- Shape into 1 inch balls.
- Place the meatballs in a large skillet, with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. Cover and cook meatballs, turning them frequently, until cooked through. About 20-30 minutes, for me.
I’m not sure what characteristics most people consider crucial to classify a meatball as distinguishable, but for me it’s moisture.
A dry meatball, to me, is absolutely unpalatable and unacceptable.
I like to make this mushroom sauce with my meatballs, to help the meatballs lock in moisture.
It’s really just like gravy!
This mushroom sauce recipe comes from Cooking with Coconut Flour by Bruce Fife.
Love this sauce!
- 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot flour
- (I leave this out every time and it's still fantastic)
- 1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
- (you can also use coconut oil)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- Saute mushrooms and onions in 1 tablespoon of coconut oil until vegetables are tender.
- Combine cornstarch with coconut milk and stir into vegetable mixture.
- Add butter, salt, and pepper. Simmer, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes.
- When serving, pour the mushroom sauce over your meatballs.
And there you have it! A GAPS friendly, yet savory, meatball that is so tender you can even serve it at dinner parties. Your traditional food guests will never know the difference!
So…
“Hold on to your meatballs. And don’t ever sneeze.”
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