For the past several years, I’ve been jotting down recipes that I make up on the fly. I am finally taking my recipes seriously and have been recipe testing and tweaking so I can share!
The first two recipes I’m sharing are my Italian Veggie Meatballs and Easy From-Scratch Pasta Sauce. These recipes are gluten-free if you use GF pasta, dairy-free, modifiable to be egg-free, and grain-free/low-carb if you use vegetable noodles.
For a video version of this recipe, check out my first cooking video below! If you want the printable versions of my recipes, keep scrolling.
Italian Veggie Meatballs Recipe
Italian Veggie Meatballs
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
- Oven preheated to 350 degrees F
Ingredients
- 1 cup finely chopped baby spinach OR shredded zucchini
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (sub with Parmesan cheese if not dairy-free)
- 1 tsp onion powder, optional
- 1 tsp garlic powder, optional
- 1 egg (if egg-free: 1 egg replacer + 1 tbsp avocado oil)
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
Instructions
- Finely chop the baby spinach OR shred the zucchini.
- Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl except the meats: salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, paprika, nutritional yeast OR Parmesan cheese, onion and garlic powders, egg or egg replacer + avocado oil, tomato sauce, and spinach OR zucchini.
- Add the ground beef and ground pork. Mix with your hands or a large fork.
- Form into 1-2" meatballs, depending on your preference. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
- Add to a pot of the Easy From-Scratch Pasta Sauce and serve over your favorite gluten-free pasta or vegetable noodles. Top with nutritional yeast, if dairy-free, or grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.
Notes
Easy From-Scratch Pasta Sauce Recipe
Easy From-Scratch Pasta Sauce
Equipment
- Medium pot
Ingredients
- 4 stalks celery, diced (use 1/2 chopped onion if tolerated)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, diced
- 1 cup shredded zucchini OR 3 handfuls baby spinach
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 cans organic tomato sauce (15 oz. cans)
- 1 can organic diced or crushed tomatoes (15 oz. can)
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley (sub 1/2 tbsp dried parsley)
- 3 tsp coconut sugar
Instructions
- Prepare the veggies: dice celery or onion and mushrooms. Shred zucchini or wash baby spinach.
- Heat extra virgin olive oil over medium heat in the pot. Add celery OR onion and saute for 5 minutes.
- Add the diced mushrooms, sea salt, and black pepper. Saute for 5-10 minutes.
- Pour in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and water, and stir to combine. Add the Italian seasoning, dried basil, parsley, coconut sugar, and zucchini OR spinach. Stir to combine.
- Bring to a low boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for at least 30 minutes. Stir periodically to make sure the sauce doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Add in Italian Veggie Meatballs and combine.
- Serve over your favorite gluten-free pasta or vegetable noodles, topped with nutritional yeast if dairy-free, or grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.
Thoughts from the Chef
I’m hungry just looking at these recipes! The meatballs turn out very moist even though they are oven baked. If you use egg, they are a little firmer than with the egg replacer. But if you have to be egg-free, as I usually do, they are still delicious and don’t break apart even with the egg replacer. The egg replacer I used is from Bob’s Red Mill, but if you do a web search for “egg replacer recipe” you’ll find other concoctions to use.
The pasta sauce went through a few iterations. The second version just wasn’t what I wanted. There was something missing – like it was too tomato-y if that makes sense. The next batch I added more herbs, one more teaspoon of coconut sugar, and the diced tomatoes instead of a third can of tomato sauce. Those extra flavors and the texture from the diced tomatoes really made it something delicious that I could share! So even if you are trying to be low-carb, please don’t leave out the coconut sugar. It really makes a difference and is not that much sugar at all.
I love these meatballs and pasta sauce served over gluten-free penne. While gluten-free pasta is still carb-heavy pasta, I don’t try to be particularly low-carb so having it once or twice a week is no biggie for me. However, if you’re trying to be lower carb or grain-free, then these recipes are great served over cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles!
If you’re dairy-free, nutritional yeast is a delicious substitute for cheese. Yes, I know, there’s NOTHING that can truly replace cheese – I’ve had periods in my life of being dairy-free and it is an adjustment. But even if you’re not dairy-free, nutritional yeast adds an umami-type flavor to the meatballs. It also adds nutrition (hence the name). Look for a brand that does not contain synthetic folic acid.
Please share!
Recipes on my blog and YouTube channel are meant to be shared! I want these healthy recipes to get into the hands of as many people as possible. Whenever you share, please provide a direct link to the recipe or video (rather than copy/pasting the recipe on your own webpage or social media).
If you’re on a platform like Instagram where it’s hard to share links, please share a photo of your creation and tag me @warriorlifewellness . I’d appreciate that so much!
Also if you make these recipes, leave a comment down below with how you liked it. I’d love to hear your thoughts! Stay tuned for more recipes soon. If you want to be notified when a new post goes up, make sure to sign up for my email list using the form below!
Bon appetit!