When you need to eat gluten free, the slow cooker can be your best friend. Because of the nature of cooking gluten free, we often need to spend just that little bit of extra time…either in gathering the right ingredients or in the actual food preparation.
Today, we have a new recipe for Italian meatballs that are gluten free. There are many ways that you can make these gluten free meatballs as convenient as picking up a package of frozen ready made meatballs. The one thing that I know for sure…the taste will amaze and delight you!!
Kaelie’s Italian Slow Cooked Gluten Free Meatballs
by Kaelie Ann Huculak Belanger
This recipe makes approximately 42 2 inch gluten free meatballs.
1 lb of ground pork
1 lb of lean ground beef
3 large eggs
1 tsp of sea salt
1 tsp of Italian seasoning
pinch of dried basil
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1/2 cup of gluten free bread crumbs homemade or packaged from the store
2 1/2 tbsp of grated parmesan cheese
1/8 to 1/4 tsp of ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F and line two 9 x 13 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium size mixing bowl, combine ground pork, ground beef, eggs, seasonings and bread crumbs with a large spoon or by hand till well combined. (*Tip…if you are cooking non gluten free foods in your kitchen, do NOT use a wooden spoon…the gluten can get into the cracks and crevices…you need a totally dedicated wooden spoon to assure no cross contamination in your gluten free food).
Roll the meat mixture into 1 1/2 to 2 inch balls and place on lined baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Add either homemade tomato sauce or a jar of gluten free spaghetti sauce to slow cooker.(Here, if you are using the purchased sauce, you can ramp it up by adding fresh mushrooms, onions or peppers to it.)
Place the cooked gluten free meatballs on paper towels and soak up any extra grease. Add to your sauce and simmer on low for 4-5 hours till done and all the flavors have time to meld!!! Serve with your favorite rice or corn pasta for a meal all of your kids will love and come back for second helpings!!!
These meatballs will freeze well. Wait until completely cooled and then put in a ziploc bag. I like to double a batch and then put one meal of meatballs into the freezer, for those days when life gets away from you and you need something quick. Freeze the meatballs without the sauce and then you can just add the sauce when you are ready to cook it.
One other thing…if you want to eliminate a step, you can use ground turkey which is extremely lean. You can cook the raw turkey gluten free meatballs directly in the tomato sauce in the slow cooker. Make sure that you give the meatballs ample time to cook, at least for 4 hours, when putting them in raw.
Are you having challenges in cooking gluten free or knowing where to start? Let us know…
Sherie
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