Easy Keto Spicy Garlic Meatballs (Under 30 Minutes)

If you love spicy meatballs then you will love this easy keto meatball recipe ready in under 30-minutes.

Only 2.8g net carbs per serving and the meatballs are made with ground pork and ground beef. Meatballs can be cooked in the frying pan, oven, air-fryer and even slow-cooker.

The quick spicy garlic keto sauce is perfect for homemade meatballs or frozen meatballs. I’ll even show you how to make homemade frozen keto meatballs too.

These spicy meatballs are for those who love to coat their food with hot sauce. They are tangy with a fresh chili flavor that is out of this world.

Ingredients

I like to use two types of ground meat when making your meatball mixture. I find doing this not only improves flavor but keeps meatballs from being too dry or too greasy.

You can use any type of minced or ground beef. For these spicy meatballs, I will be using lean ground beef and lean ground pork.

All quantities, ingredients, and instructions are in the recipe card below.

• minced/ground pork
• minced/ground beef
• diced onion – or onion powder
• minced garlic – or garlic powder
• egg
• salt and pepper – add salt and season to taste

For the spicy garlic sauce you will need:

• Fresno chilis – fresh red chili peppers or your own favourite mix of spices
• minced garlic – crushed garlic
• butter
• minced fresh ginger – crushed ginger
• white vinegar
• chicken stock or chicken broth
• ground allspice
• coconut aminos (this is a substitution for soy sauce)
• xanthan gum or other thickening agent

How to mix meatball ingredients

Place all the meatball ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly with clean hands, or a silicon spatula. 

Roll a golf ball size of the meat mixture, squeeze it together, then form into a meatball shape. Continue until all the spicy meatballs are prepared.

Cooking times will vary depending on the size and quantity of spicy meatballs you make.

You can cook these keto meatballs two ways.

How to cook meatballs in the frying pan

Fry meatballs gently in olive oil or coconut oil in a large sauté pan, frying pan, or large skillet. Fry on medium-high heat on all sides until the meatballs are browned and cooked into the centre.

How to cook meatballs in the oven

Add the meatballs on an oiled baking tray or baking dish. Bake in the oven at 180C/350F for 15 minutes (turning once so they brown all over) for 15 minutes, or until cooked into the centre.

How to cook meatballs in the slow-cooker

To cook meatballs in your slow-cooker spray the inside with olive oil (or your favourite cooking oil) and place all the balls into the slow-cooker dish. Cook on HIGH for 3 hours or LOW heat for 5 hours. Stir once or twice during the cooking time to ensure all the meatballs are golden brown and cooked.

Hint: make a large batch of meatballs at one time and freeze them into serval portions. Now you can just grab a portion and bake them as needed. Meatballs can be kept in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

How to make spicy garlic sauce

Step 1: Chop the red fresco chilies, fresh ginger, and garlic together in a food processor until finely chopped.

Step 2: Melt butter in a skillet. Add the chopped chilies, ginger, and garlic to the skillet. Combine then saute until it is fragrant then add all the remaining recipe ingredients to the pan except the xantham gum.

Step 4: Let the sauce simmer for 3-5 minutes to allow the delicious flavors to meld. Then whisk in the xanthan gum to thicken the sauce.

When the sweet sauce has thickened, add the warm cooked meatballs to the sauce. Gently stir or toss until all the meatballs are coated. This is definitely a dinner recipe for your recipe box.

Substitutions

Sometimes for various reasons you may need to replace an ingredient used with something else. This could be dietary restrictions or even the availability of the ingredients at that time. Please see the list below of your recommended substitutions.

• Fresno chilis – Fresno chilis look like red jalapeños. Any fresh red pepper can be used, just keep the spice intensity in mind when picking a pepper. You can also use chili flakes (one of my favourite pantry spices).
• Coconut Aminos – coconut aminos can be expensive or hard to find sometimes. When I am out of aminos I tend to use beef stock with a pinch of sweetener as a replacement. If you can tolerate soy, you could use no-sugar soy sauce. You might also like to use Worcestershire sauce, which does contain a few carbs, but you use such a small quantity, it won’t ruin your daily carb limit.
• Xanthan Gum – this is used to thicken the sauce. Any thickening agent will work so feel free to use your favorite. You can also simply reduce the sauce over the stove until it reaches your desired consistency.

This delicious sauce is meant to be spicy. However, if you want to try it but can’t handle the heat you can use red bell peppers for a mild heat.

Variations

Want a little extra flavour for your spicy meatballs, or maybe you want to reduce some of that spice? Check out our recommendations below for some awesome variations.

• Creamy – Add mix in a spoonful of sour cream to make your sauce creamy.
• Extra Spicy – Sprinkle in some crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper, chili flakes, or add a habanero into your sauce to make it even spicier.
• Italian – Missing the marinara but what to keep the heat? Add can crushed tomatoes or chopped tomatoes to the sauce for a spicy Italian marinara sauce. Garnish with fresh sweet basil.
• Meat – instead of lean ground beef or ground pork, you can also use ground turkey, ground chicken, or even ground lamb.

Find three flavors of keto meatballs on my website!

Equipment

I use a food processor to chop and mix my chilies, ginger, and garlic for the sauce. I find this easier since I am minimally touching the chilies I don’t have to worry about the pepper in the chilies stinging my hands or touching my eyes.

Don’t have a food processor? No worries. You can finely chop your chilies, ginger, and garlic with a knife and cutting board and mix your sauce in a medium bowl.

Storage

Keto spicy garlic meatballs are best when stored in the refrigerator in an air-tight container. An airtight Affiliate HTML Code “Meal prep containers (rubbermaid) IMAGE” is important because the strong scents and flavors can leak out of the container and be absorbed by other foods. These meatballs can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.

You can also freeze these meatballs and sauce for up to 90 days in the freezer.

When you are ready to reheat the meatballs just toss it all in a skillet with a spoonful or two of water, cover, and cook on medium heat until the meatballs are defrosted. Be sure to stir occasionally to prevent burning.

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