You'll find layers of yum-delicious south Louisiana flavors tucked inside each one of these juicy Paleo Creole meatballs in tomato sauce. Grain free and oh soooo gluten free, these meatballs are ready to devour in about one hour. Yep and yum-yay...
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Hold the Pasta & Just Give Me the Paleo Creole Meatballs in Tomato Sauce, Please...
I'm a sucker for a good meatball. Yep. I love how cute they are, how round they are, and how easy they are to make. I also love the 'surprise' you get when your fork or knife opens up the delicate inside of a made-just-right meatball, revealing its inner juiciness and stacked flavor composition.
While I love me some meatballs, I don't always love that they're usually served atop pasta. Don't get me wrong, I seriously love Bolognese sauce with zoodles or gluten free pasta from time to time.
But, when I crave meatballs, I generally want them to be the star of my dinner plate show. So, I just leave the gluten free pasta in the pantry, and my zoodle thingamajig in the cabinet.
And, I make my Paleo Creole meatballs in tomato sauce, a recipe I developed almost 3 years ago now. The perfect go-to grain free meatball recipe, packing an impressive authentic south Louisiana punch in each tender and juicy bite.
I'm talking about the Cajun 'trinity,' Louisiana hot sauce, Zatarain's Creole mustard, and a few other surprise ingredients that pull the Paleo Creole meatballs in tomato sauce together into total yum-yay perfection.
These meatballs aren't just a recipe on my blog. Nope. They're a part of Mark and my's regular dining experience that we both get crazy excited over.
We eat these Paleo Creole meatballs in tomato sauce alongside mashed potatoes and veggies for dinner. Then, we kick back for lunch the next day with gluten free meatball sandwiches. Well, I do anyway. Mark can eat gluten, so he sometimes does.
And I'm jealous of his soft, gluten-laden bread. But I get over it quickly because I really can't complain when I have these flavor-exploding meatballs staring me right in the face. Yep and yummmm-yay!!!
Let's Make the Paleo Creole Meatballs in Tomato Sauce, Cher...
I begin the Paleo Creole meatballs by liquefying the Cajun 'trinity,' and the other ingredients in my blender. I do this to inject each morsel of meat with as much flavor as possible. Because the mixture is sooo wet, it takes a minute to two to fully incorporate into the beef.
Then, I put the bowl into the freezer for about 10 minutes for the mixture to harden up a bit. Next, I form the meatballs - I got 10 in this batch - and place them on the top of my roasting pan. I like that the fat from the ground beef drips down to the bottom pan, which I have wrapped in aluminum foil for easy clean-up.
Then, I bake the meatballs for about 30 minutes. This is a little longer than I bake other meatballs, but these meatballs are so juicy that they take a little longer to bake. While the meatballs are baking, I make a quick tomato sauce. Once the meatballs are cooked through, I place them on top of the red gravy in the skillet. That goes back in the oven for another 10 minutes.
Then I usually steal one straight off of the skillet because I just can't wait!! Yep!! The south Louisiana seasoning inside of these meatballs really can't be compared to anything else. The Cajun 'trinity', Creole mustard, ranch dressing, hot sauce, and other herbs and seasonings just don't stop flooding your mouth with yum-delicious flavor and texture.
Paleo Creole meatballs in tomato sauce are one of the best things that I've ever developed in my kitchen, so I'm really happy to finally share this original recipe with you. Enjoy with those whose company you crave the most, and see y'all on the yum side...
Paleo Creole Meatballs
Ingredients
- For the Meatballs
- 1 ½ pounds ground beef
- ½ cup chopped onion
- ½ cup chopped green bell pepper
- ½ cup chopped celery
- ⅓ cup almond flour
- 1 tablespoon Zatarain's Creole mustard
- 3 tablespoons Paleo ranch dressing
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ½ teaspoon Louisiana hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon chopped dried or fresh basil
- 1 teaspoon chopped dried or fresh parsley
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- For the Sauce
- 1 15- ounce can gluten free tomato sauce
- 1 minced garlic clove
- 1 teaspoon chopped dried or fresh basil
- 1 teaspoon chopped dried or fresh parsley
- sprinkling of cayenne salt, and black pepper
Instructions
- Pour all of the meatball ingredients, except for the ground beef, into a blender or food processor. Pulse or process until liquefied.
- Pour over ground beef in a large bowl. Mix with hands until well-incorporated. (Mixture will be thin.)
- Place bowl in freezer for 10 minutes.
- Start the tomato sauce by pouring all ingredients into a 12-inch cast iron skillet. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line the bottom of a two-tiered roasting pan with aluminum foil. Grease the top pan lightly.
- Remove mixture from freezer, and form into 3" meatballs, or 1 ½" meatballs for cocktail meatballs.
- Arrange the meatballs in rows along the top of the roasting pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until juices run clear.
- Remove sauce from heat, and place meatballs in the sauce. Use a spoon to pour a bit of sauce over each meatball.
- Bake the meatballs in sauce for 10 minutes.
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