Instant Pot Italian meatballs are a quick and easy to make for dinner or meal prep. Serve with zucchini noodles to keep it low carb!
By now you’ve probably heard that the Instant Pot is the easiest way to make pretty much anything ever and meatballs are no exception!
If you read my Grass Roots Year in Review post, you know I’m obsessed with the Grass Roots ground chorizo, but their ground Italian sausage is just as delicious and flavorful. I try to keep a few packages in the freezer for quick weekday meals. Last week I used it to make a delicious, easy and healthy pasta night dish.
These Instant Pot Italian meatballs are keto and paleo friendly, low-carb, gluten and dairy free. It also provides several servings of veggies from the spinach and the zoodles.
The Grass Roots Italian sausage comes with enough seasoning in it that you don’t need to add more to the meatball mixture. You can also make this with half the pork and half beef if you want a milder pork flavor. For this recipe, you can skip browning the meatballs if you are short on time. Amazingly, they don’t stick to the pot but you do miss out on the flavor browning gives.
The sauce for this dish is easy to make, but does require an extra step. You can use your favorite pre-made marinara sauce if you prefer.
I’ve kept this recipe low-carb and paleo by serving it with zoodles (aka zucchini noodles) instead of pasta. I’ve been making zoodles for years, long before the recent surge in popularity. I used to use a julienne peeler which produces a thin, but short zoodle. A few years ago I invested in a counter top spiralizer which I now use almost exclusively. Mine came with 3 blades to make different shapes of zoodles. This method is fast and makes zoodles that have uniform thickness. If you’ve never made zoodles don’t worry about which equipment you use. A julienne peeler or a knife will work fine. Many stores even carry pre-cut zoodles, although these are usually a bit pricey for me.
Have you made meatballs in your Instant Pot yet? If not, give this recipe a try and let me know what you think. You’ll love how easy it is to make these moist and delicious meatballs!
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Easy Instant Pot Italian meatballs with zucchini noodles
Description
This easy Instant Pot recipe is keto and paleo friendly, low-carb, gluten and dairy free.
Ingredients
Meatballs
1 package of Grass Roots Pork Italian Sausage
1 cup of fresh spinach, chopped
½ a white onion, shredded
1 cup of almond flour + more as needed
1 egg
1 tablespoon red pepper chili flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon oil
Sauce
1 20oz can of chopped or crushed tomatoes
½ onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper
2-4 medium sized zucchini, julienne or spiralize
Instructions
- Heat your Instant Pot on the sauté setting. Combine all meatball ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix well using your hands. Form into about 12 2 inch sizes meatballs. Add more almond flour if meatballs won’t stay together.
- Place meatballs in a single layer (about 6 at a time) in the Instant Pot and brown, turning several times. As meatballs brown, remove and set aside on a plate. Continue with remaining meatballs.
- Heat olive oil in Instant Pot then add onion and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent. Turn off sauté mode then add tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Add meatballs back into pot.
- Seal the Instant Pot according to the manufacturers instructions and set to manual and low pressure. Set timer to 10 minutes. When time is up, turn the valve to vent and allow the steam to dissipate completely. Serve with zoodles.
Also get my recipe for a delicious breakfast hash using Grass Roots Mesquite Lime Sausage!
This post is part of a partnership with Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative, but all opinions are my own.
As Rachel ray would say “yumm-O!!”