Our Favourite Slimming-Friendly Meatball Recipes to Make for Dinner
A family-friendly favourite, putting a meatball recipe on your midweek menu is guaranteed to please everyone around the table. Making your own meatballs couldn’t be easier, and we have recipes that use turkey, chicken, pork and beef mince, so you can switch things up from week to week.
When you think of meatballs, spaghetti might be the first thing that comes to mind, but you can do so much more with a pack of mince and our easy, slimming-friendly meatball recipes. Grab a pen and get ready to scribble these delicious dishes into your weekly meal plan.
Cheesy Mac ‘n’ Meatballs
We’ve nestled herby pork meatballs amongst creamy macaroni cheese to serve you this Cheesy Mac ‘n’ Meatballs recipe. Don’t be alarmed when you spot lots of cauliflower in the ingredients list – it’s the key to this dish’s indulgent creaminess, without adding lots of calories.
Ideal if you’re trying to get healthy veggies into fussy eaters, the cauli is blitzed into a smooth, cheesy sauce. We’ve even hidden courgette in the meatballs themselves, to add extra goodness.
When it all comes together, you’ll be sitting down to a hearty bowlful of filling pasta and juicy pork meatballs, with an irresistibly cheesy topping. It might sound too good to be true, but it really is just 397 calories per serving!
Spanish-Style Meatballs
If you’re a big fan of tapas, chances are you’ve tried the rich, tomatoey meatballs that you can often order at restaurants. To save money and calories, why not host your own homemade tapas night, and put these Spanish-Style Meatballs on the menu?
Mini pork meatballs are the star of the show, simmered in a savoury, slightly spicy sauce made from simple tinned tomatoes, a dash of hot sauce and a handful of fragrant herbs.
Easy to make and versatile, you can serve a small portion as a starter, share a bowlful as part of your main meal, or enjoy a bigger serving with a side of rice, pasta or mashed potatoes…it’s up to you!
Chilli Meatball Orzo
You know those nights when you simply can’t decide between your favourite meals? Our Chilli Meatball Orzo is the solution. Bringing together the flavours of chilli con carne, meatballs and pasta, it’s no wonder this is one of our favourite winter warmers.
The meatballs in this one are made from lean beef mince, with onion, garlic and a hint of chilli powder added in. We’ve kept the spices mild so that this recipe is nice and family friendly, although you can use a hotter chilli powder if you prefer!
The tiny orzo pasta cooks in the tomatoey sauce until it has a consistency similar to a risotto, with the meatballs simmering away on top. A tasty mix of Mexican-style and Italian-inspired flavours, the only tricky question is whether to serve it with Corn on the Cob or Cheesy Garlic Bread.
Hoisin Turkey Meatballs
We love finding creative ways to use super-lean turkey mince. High in protein and low in calories, it’s one of the best ingredients to use when you want to make slimming-friendly meals. These Hoisin Turkey Meatballs are exactly what we’re talking about, bringing takeaway flavours to the table, for just 270 calories.
Forget about using a sugary shop-bought sachet for the sauce; making your own hoisin-style sauce is easier than you might expect (and it’s tastier too!). A tangy blend of salty and sweet, it tastes delicious whether you choose to serve your meatballs over noodles or rice.
Meatball Lasagne
Calling everyone who loves Italian-style food! This Meatball Lasagne just makes so much sense. A proper winter warmer, we’ve tucked reduced-fat beef mince meatballs underneath sheets of pasta and an oh-so-cheesy topping.
We love to pack the tomato sauce full of veggie goodness, with carrot, courgette and peppers in the mix. You can leave the sauce nice and chunky if you want, or blend half of the mixture until it’s thick and glossy.
Our cheat’s cheese sauce isn’t just easy to make, it’s low in calories too. Made from cream cheese, yoghurt, Dijon mustard and Cheddar, it adds bags of flavour!
Meatball Stroganoff
A midweek dream, this Meatball Stroganoff is on the table in just 45 minutes. Anyone who’s a fan of our classic Beef Stroganoff will already know the creamy, rich sauce is not to be missed.
Instead of strips of beef, we’ve rolled 5% fat beef mince into tasty meatballs, ready to cook in the savoury Stroganoff-style sauce. It works out at only 245 calories per serving, which is great news if you’re planning on serving it with a hearty side of fluffy rice or Creamy Mashed Potatoes.
Trust us, you’ll be making this effortless dinner time and time again.
Baked Spicy Meatballs
If you love Italian flavours and you love a hint of spice, this Baked Spicy Meatballs recipe will be right up your street. Something a bit different from ordinary meatballs and spaghetti, this easy-peasy bake involves not one but two finely-chopped fresh red chillies.
As well as a dinnertime staple, this one’s also really versatile for batch-cookable lunches. Try with mixed salad, pasta, potatoes or top a fluffy jacket potato with a saucy spoonful.
Vegan Spaghetti and Meatballs
Looking for meatballs without the meat? You came to the right place! The ‘meatballs’ in our Vegan Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe are made from beans, mushrooms, oats and a few simple seasonings, and they’re so good that you won’t even notice the lack of meat!
The tomato sauce is made with garlic, basil and oregano, giving it a boost of herby, Italian-inspired flavour that’s perfect with the swirly, twirly spaghetti.
Whether you’re following a plant-based diet or just trying to eat a little less meat, you can rely on this recipe to be a hit with the whole family.
Sweet and Spicy Meatballs
When Pinch of Nom: Comfort Food first came out in December 2021, these Sweet and Spicy Meatballs took our Facebook group by storm – and they’ve stayed super popular ever since!
The easy-to-make pork meatballs come with a sauce that’s every bit as sweet and spicy as the name suggests! Like almost all of our recipes, it’s simple to tweak to suit your tastes – you can use chicken or beef mince instead of pork, and feel free to ramp up the chilli if you can handle more heat.
Don’t forget, you’ll need to flick to pages 50-51 of Pinch of Nom: Comfort Food to find the full recipe for this one!
Hunter’s Chicken Meatballs
Inspired by our favourite pub grub order, these Hunter’s Chicken Meatballs are fit for a family feast. The succulent chicken and bacon meatballs are nestled in a smoky, BBQ-infused tomato sauce, then topped with bubbling melted cheese.
At exactly 300 calories per portion, they’re a lighter choice than eating at your local pub, but we promise you won’t be disappointed with the flavour.
You can serve them with any of your favourite side dishes, and they pair especially well with Creamy Mashed Potatoes, especially on a chilly evening when you need proper comfort food.
Margherita Meatball Traybake
Why choose between pizza and meatballs when you can have the best of both worlds? Our Margherita Meatball Traybake is a cheesy, dreamy dish of oven-roasted turkey meatballs and vegetables, with potatoes thrown in to make it nice and filling.
A mixture of passata, balsamic, garlic and oregano creates a pizza base-style sauce, which tastes even better when it’s covered in melted mozzarella cheese.
Your oven does all the hard work with this one, so you can rustle up an easy salad recipe to serve on the side, while it bubbles away.
Will you be adding these meatball recipes to your meal plan?
We’d love to see what you’re cooking up this week in our Facebook group. Don’t forget anyone can join our Facebook group (if you haven’t already!). It’s a lovely community of friendly people looking for recipe ideas, tips or slimming motivation – and it’s the perfect place to share your photos with us!
You can also look for inspo in our Gallery – head over and have a nosy at what everyone else has been sharing lately. You’ll need to sign up to a free website account to upload and share your own photos (we’ve got a step-by-step guide on how to do that just here).
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