Baked Italian Cauliflower Meatballs

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Baked Italian Cauliflower Meatballs, made with lean ground beef, cauliflower rice, parmesan cheese, herbs, and seasonings. Healthy and delicious recipe your family will love!

Baked Italian Cauliflower Meatballs are delicious in spaghetti and as party appetizers. They're another one of my experiments, but this time an experiment gone totally right.

Making dinner healthier has been a priority; bread crumbs in meatballs doesn't necessarily add up to healthier, especially when you're watching carb counts.

However, cauliflower makes an excellent substitute for bread crumbs in Italian style meatballs, as well as in my low carb meatloaf recipe.

Cauliflower makes a moist meatball, but not so moist that you even realize there's cauliflower in there. It's like having your vegetables and eating them too. Hidden veggies are fun, aren't they?

Serve them up with a homemade pasta sauce and spaghetti, and you're all set for a delicious dinner with your family.

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti with Baked Italian Cauliflower Meatballs

Tips for How to Make Baked Italian Cauliflower Meatballs:

Gather your ingredients… You'll need lean ground beef, eggs, onion, steamed cauliflower, parmesan cheese, oregano, basil, fresh parsley, sea salt, and ground black pepper.

  • Mince the already steamed cauliflower into cauliflower rice (you can also use a food processor or blender to do this).
  • Add the cauliflower rice and parmesan cheese to the meat mixture.
  • Next, mix in all of your herbs and seasonings, including the oregano, basil, fresh minced parsley, sea salt, and ground black pepper.
  • At this point, you can keep stirring with a large fork; or get your hands into the mixture and mix it all together really well.
  • Take small amounts of the meat mixture and roll into meatballs, about 1 to 2 inches in diameter. You can also use a scoop for this.
  • Place all the meatballs on your cookie sheet.
  • Bake at 350° for about 35 minutes or until they're entirely cooked through and up to temperature.
  • Serve with spaghetti, as an appetizer, etc.
Spaghetti with Baked Italian Cauliflower Meatballs

Meatballs really aren't that complicated to make. They require a bit of patience as you take the time to roll each of them up, but they're totally worth it.

The ingredients are simple. The process is simple. And you end up with delicious meatballs packed full of flavor.

Baked Italian Cauliflower Meatballs on a Cookie Sheet

Pair Italian Style Meatballs with:

More Cauliflower Recipes You May Enjoy:

Cauliflower Chicken Fried Rice

Low Carb Chicken Casserole

Chicken Fried Rice Spring Rolls

Baked Italian Cauliflower Meatballs on Spaghetti Squash

Kitchen Tools You May Need to Make Baked Italian Cauliflower Meatballs:

Mixing Bowl – You'll need a mixing bowl to mix up your meatballs.

Cutting Board and Vegetable Cleaver – Perfect for prepping all your ingredients.

Meatball Scoop – If you don't want to roll them with your hands, this scoop may be just the thing.

Cookie Sheet/Baking Pan or Meatball Baking Pan– You'll definitely want to use a pan that has sides, to catch any juices.

Spaghetti with Healthy and Delicious Baked Italian Cauliflower Meatballs

Want to see how to make the recipe? Watch our video!

Print the Recipe for Baked Italian Cauliflower Meatballs

Baked Italian Cauliflower Meatballs Raw Before Baking

Baked Italian Cauliflower Meatballs

Baked Italian Cauliflower Meatballs, made with lean ground beef, cauliflower rice, parmesan cheese, herbs, and seasonings. Healthy and delicious recipe your family will love!
4.50 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Appetizers
Cuisine: Italian
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 24
Calories: 99kcal
Author: Mel Lockcuff

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds lean ground beef
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 small onion
  • 1 cup cauliflower rice
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon basil
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Pre-heat the oven to 350° and spray your cookie sheet/baking pan with cooking spray.
  • In a mixing bowl, mix together the lean ground beef and eggs.
  • Mince or chop the onion, and stir it into your beef mixture.
  • Mince the already steamed cauliflower into cauliflower rice (you can also use a food processor or blender to do this).
  • Add the cauliflower rice and parmesan cheese to the meat mixture.
  • Next mix in all of your herbs and seasonings, including the oregano, basil, fresh minced parsley, sea salt, and ground black pepper. 
  • At this point, you can keep stirring with a large fork; or get your hands into the mixture and mix it all together really well.
  • Take small amounts of the meat mixture and roll into meatballs, about 1 to 2 inches in diameter. You can also use a scoop for this. 
  • Place all the meatballs on your cookie sheet. 
  • Bake at 350° for about 35 minutes or until they're entirely cooked through and up to temperature.
  • Serve with spaghetti, as an appetizer, etc.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 99kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 50mg | Sodium: 147mg
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2 thoughts on “Baked Italian Cauliflower Meatballs”

  1. Mel,
    I can’t have dairy, but I love this concept. Could you clarify the purpose of the parmesan? Is it a binder, or flavor, etc? If it’s a binder, maybe I need to add another egg? If it’s flavor, maybe some nutritional yeast? Your thoughts would be appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Michelle

    Reply
    • Michelle, it’s more for flavor. You can find a vegan, dairy-free soy parmesan cheese at most big supermarkets and grocery stores. It will substitute for real parmesan cheese 1:1. You might check it out. Some people also use nutritional yeast, bread crumbs, etc. I hope this helps.

      Reply

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