Veggie Loaded Meatballs are the ultimate meal prep must. They’re easy to make and everyone loves them.
Today’s recipe is being shared by our virtual assistant, homeschooling mama of 4 boys, essential oil lover, recipe creator, and good friend, Ana!
Easy to make and freezer-friendly!
Meatballs make an appearance at our meal prep sessions frequently. They’re easy to make. Pack so nicely in lunchboxes. They freeze well. And they pair with so many side dishes!
Okay here’s a confession, we hide veggies in our main dishes at our home. Yep, guilty over here! We always serve meals with vegetables on the side, but kids can be picky eaters, and when the phases of not eating veggies hit, we get creative. Veggie Loaded Meatballs is one of my favorites to hide veggies in because it’s easy and you can’t see them!
Sneak in more veggies with these Veggie Loaded Meatballs! The ultimate meal prep recipe. Easy to make & freezer-friendly! @whole30 Share on X
A few quick tips on making the perfect Veggie Loaded Meatballs.
Grab your food processor and add the carrots and big handfuls of spinach. Add the onion and garlic cloves. Process everything together and add it to your ground beef (with pork or turkey or bison) along with the seasonings and mix together. I mix it all together with my hands, it’s easier than trying to mix ground beef with a fork or spoon! It takes a full minute to mix it all together and spread the seasoning and veggies throughout.
Have a 9×13 glass baking dish ready. Scoop out a handful of the mixture (about 2-3 Tbsp, but the size is up to you) and roll it into a firm ball. Place it in the baking dish and continue the process until it’s all rolled into meatballs. Bake in the oven and serve hot or cool and place in the fridge for later in the week.
Veggie Loaded Meatballs are so versatile. Drizzled with a little bbq sauce, served with loaded mashed potatoes and candied carrots, served over a baked sweet potato…..the options are endless!
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Veggie Loaded Meatballs
Sneak in more veggies with these Veggie Loaded Meatballs! The ultimate meal prep recipe. Easy to make, freezer-friendly and Whole30-compliant!
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork, turkey or bison
- 3 medium carrot, peeled and cut into thirds
- 2 heaping handfuls of spinach
- 1 small onion, peeled cut in half
- 2–3 garlic cloves
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp coarse ground pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep 9×13 baking dish with lining with parchment paper.
- Place the carrots, spinach, onion and garlic in food processor and process for 1-2 minutes or until everything is in very small pieces.
- Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
- Scoop out a small handful of mixture (golf-ball sized) and roll into a ball. Place in the prepared baking dish.
- Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.
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Notes
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Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 4-6 meatballs (depends on size)
- Calories: 200
- Fat: 10 g
- Sodium: 200 mg
- Carbohydrate: 4 g
- (Fiber: 1 g
- Sugar: 2 g)
- Protein: 23 g
Dietary
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These meatballs are so easy and delicious!!!! Mine turned out a little greener than the photos above (probably to a heavy handful of spinach) but my Italian Meatball loving husband and son gave them a thumbs up and couldn’t believe how good they were!
Hey Teri,
Glad to hear these were a hit despite their green color!
I wanted to let you know that I’ve made these several times and we just love them!! I found your blog a few months and am LOVING it!! But not only do I love your recipes, your site is beautiful as well 🙂
Hi Cassidy,
Thank you so much for your kind words – we’re so happy you found us and that you’re loving these meatballs as well.
Have you ever added broccoli or bell pepper to these? i have another recipe with broccoli but I like that your recipe also includes spinach and carrot. thank you!
Hi Claudia,
We haven’t but you could certainly add some finely chopped broccoli florets and they’d be great.
I make these for my 10 month old and she can’t get enough of them! I prefer to add a little oatmeal, basil and oregano.
Awesome idea to add oats, basil and oregano for a non-Whole30, kid-friendly protein option.
With this recipe, do you use BOTH the beef and turkey(bison/pork) for a total of 2 lbs of meat?
That’s correct. You use a pound of two different types of ground meat – or you can use 2 pounds of one kind.