These easy gluten-free meatballs are so succulent and savoury with a texture so perfect, you’ll judge all other meatballs by them! Whether you serve them with spaghetti sauce, turn them into Swedish meatballs, tuck them in the best meatball subs, or serve them on toothpicks as an appetizer, you’ll never miss the gluten!
Whether you eat gluten-free or not, though, doesn’t matter because these meatballs are completely crave-worthy. And they’re so ridiculously easy to make that you can double or triple the recipe and stash the extra or leftover meatballs in the freezer for an easy dinner or two in the future.
As a matter of fact, I do not generally eat gluten-free, but these gf meatballs are my favourite meatballs of all time. They’re not just the best gluten-free meatballs, they’re the best meatballs period.
Gluten Free Meatball Recipe
I mentioned that these meatballs are versatile, but I cannot stress that enough. You can use this meatball mixture to make meatballs of just about any size and put them in just about any recipe where meatballs are found.
One batch yields 32 large meatballs (about 2-inches in size) or 92 very small meatballs (about 3/4-inch). That may sound like a ton, but I highly recommend planning on leftovers so you can freeze them for future use.
What do you do with a freezer full of fully cooked meatballs? Here’s a by-no-means exhaustive list of some of the possibilities!
Serve in a meatball pasta bake, on a cheeseburger salad, in a sweet-and-sour meatball stir fry, on a meatball sub sandwich, or heat up with some marinara for a lightning speed spaghetti and meatballs dinner!
You can also toss them with barbecue sauce or sweet chili sauce and heat through in a slow-cooker. Serve those saucy meatballs with toothpicks for a crowd-pleasing party appetizer or over rice, noodles, or mashed potatoes for a hearty home cooked meal.
Add small meatballs to chicken broth with escarole and tiny noodles for a fast Italian wedding soup, or sub them in for the Italian sausage in Lasagna Soup. Toss a few in tortellini vegetable soup to make it even heartier, or cut them up and put them on your favourite pizza.
Gluten-Free Meatball Ingredients
Let’s knock out our simple ingredients and equipment list for this easy gluten free meal star attraction. Be ready for your socks to be knocked off over how much better these are than traditional meatballs.
- Ground Beef (or ground chicken, ground turkey, ground pork, or meatloaf mixture)
- Cooked Quinoa
- Yellow Onion
- Red Bell Pepper
- Fresh Parsley
- Fresh Garlic (or granulated garlic or garlic powder)
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Eggs
- Italian Seasoning
- Kosher Salt or Sea Salt
- Black Pepper
I most often make this gf meatball recipe with ground beef. I don’t recommend choosing super lean ground beef for these because some fat also helps keep them moist and juicy.
The best ground meat for the meatballs is 85% lean and 15% fat. My preference is for beef, but these are also delightful made with ground turkey, ground pork, ground chicken, or a blend of meats like you would use for a meatloaf.
If you’re using very lean ground meat, you may want to add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to the mixture to boost the moisture and flavour. This is a matter of personal preference, though, and can be omitted.
Gluten Free Meatballs Recipe
The real key to success in this recipe is using cooked quinoa in place of breadcrumbs or gluten free breadcrumbs. It keeps the meatballs super juicy and light.
I know it’s easier to skip working with a fresh onion and jump straight to granulated onion or onion powder, but I do recommend using the real deal in this recipe. A grated onion brings a lot of moisture to the finished meatball and helps the texture, too.
The red bell pepper plays a similar role to the onion, but can easily be done away with if you don’t have one or don’t prefer them. I love the little pop of colour they contribute, too.
If you’re feeding picky eaters, you can even blitz the onions and red bell peppers in a food processor until it’s a purée. Stir that into the meatball mixture.
Balsamic vinegar is another thing you don’t want to leave out of this recipe. It brings a ton of flavour and a little more umami to the party.
Italian Meatballs
Italian seasoning brings a traditional taste to these meatballs. If you’re looking for something a little more neutral to use in multiple types of cuisines, you can omit it or switch in the herbs of your choice.
You can definitely swap in all fresh herbs for the dried Italian herbs if you’d like. Keep in mind that you’ll need to triple the amount of fresh herbs you use in place of dry herbs.
Feel free to get creative with your herb combinations in this easy gluten-free meal builder. You can also add a little parmesan cheese to the mixture if the spirit moves you.
GF Meatballs Equipment
- Large cast-iron skillet or stainless steel skillet or air fryer
- Chef knife
- Cutting board
- Mixing bowl
- Sturdy spoon or mix and chop
- Optional but handy:
- dishers/cookie scoops
- Instant read thermometer
You can either use a large cast-iron skillet or an oven-safe stainless steel skillet or everyday pan to cook these meatballs. Alternatively, they’re incredible out of an air fryer if you have one handy.
It’s true no matter which ground meat you choose, that handling the mixture lightly yields meatballs with the best texture. To accomplish this, I find it easiest to use a mix-and-chop or my hands.
Just remember not to squeeze the mixture more than necessary. It’s overworking the ground meat that makes for tough meatballs.
While an instant read thermometer is not strictly necessary, it is very helpful. You’re looking for an internal temperature of 160ºF if you make beef or pork meatballs and 165ºF if you’re making turkey or chicken meatballs.
The instant read thermometer takes the guesswork out of the equation, making juicy meatballs that are cooked through foolproof. This helps keep your meatballs from getting dry from overcooking.
Gluten Free Meatballs
To Make the Meatball Mix:
Add all of the ingredients to a medium mixing bowl and use your hands or a chop and stir to mix thoroughly but gently. Divide the mixture into the desired number of meatballs and form gently.
To Cook the Meatballs in the Oven:
Preheat the oven to 425ºF with a cast-iron or other oven-safe large skillet on the top shelf.
When the oven is preheated, remove the cast iron skillet, drizzle in the oil, and swirl the pan to coat. Arrange the meatballs in the hot skillet with space between them and return the pan to the oven.
You may need to do more than one batch depending on the size of your cast iron or stainless steel skillet.
If making meatballs that are about 2-inches in size, it will take about 20 minutes for the meatballs to cook through. Start checking smaller size meatballs at about 12 minutes. See Notes.
To Cook Meatballs In Air Fryer
Preheat the air fryer to 400ºF for 5 minutes. Arrange the meatballs in a single layer with space between them in the air fryer basket.
You may need to do a second batch or even a third batch depending on the size of your air fryer.
Cook at 400ºF for 8-10 minutes for smaller size meatballs or 15-18 minutes for larger ones. See Notes.
To freeze leftover fully-cooked meatballs, arrange them on a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze until solid, about 3 hours. Transfer the meatballs to a labeled zipper top freezer bag or other airtight container for up to 6 months.
Notes:
Meatballs made from different types of ground meat have different temperatures at which they’re considered done. Beef and pork and mixtures of those should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160ºF while poultry meatballs are considered done at 165ºF.
Gluten Free Meatballs
Rate RecipeEquipment
- Large cast-iron skillet or stainless steel skillet or air fryer
- Chef Knife
- cutting board
- mixing bowl
- Sturdy spoon or mix and chop
- Optional but handy:
- dishers/cookie scoops
- instant read thermometer
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 ½ cups cooked quinoa
- ½ onion peeled and grated or minced
- ½ a red bell pepper grated or finely diced
- 6 cloves garlic peeled and minced, or granulated garlic or garlic powder
- ¼ cup fresh parsley finely chopped, or 1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil like sunflower, grapeseed, rice bran, vegetable, or canola oil.
Instructions
To Make the Meatball Mix:
- Add all of the ingredients to a medium mixing bowl and use your hands or a chop and stir to mix thoroughly but gently. Divide the mixture into the desired number of meatballs and form gently.
To Cook the Meatballs in the Oven:
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF with a large cast-iron skillet on the top shelf.
- When the oven is preheated, remove the cast iron skillet, drizzle in the oil, and swirl the pan to coat. Arrange the meatballs in the hot skillet with space between them and return the pan to the oven.
- You may need to do more than one batch depending on the size of your cast iron or stainless steel skillet.
- If making meatballs that are about 2-inches in size, it will take about 20 minutes for the meatballs to cook through. Start checking smaller meatballs at about 12 minutes. See Notes.
To Cook Meatballs In Air Fryer
- Preheat the air fryer to 400ºF for 5 minutes. When the air fryer is preheated, arrange the meatballs in a single layer with space between them in the air fryer basket.
- Cook at 400ºF for 8-10 minutes for small meatballs or 15-18 minutes for larger ones. See Notes
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
did you make this recipe?
Make sure to tag @foodiewithfam on Instagram and #hashtag it #foodiewithfamily so I can check it out!
Comments + Reviews