Meatballs without breadcrumbs
35 min · 46 g protein · 386 cals / serving
Juicy beef and pork meatballs bound with nothing but egg, browned in lard and glazed in a pan sauce of reduced bone broth. No breadcrumbs, no dairy and no plants, so they work for carnivore and paleo eaters alike, and they taste of browned meat and salt in the best way.
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 lb ground beef (93% lean)
- 7 oz raw ground pork, 8% fat, lean ground pork
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper, leave out for strict carnivore
- 1 tbsp lard, or beef tallow
- 1 cup bone broth, beef
Steps
- Put the beef, pork, eggs, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix with your hand until the mixture turns sticky and holds together, about 1 minute. That sticky stage is what binds the meatballs without breadcrumbs.
- With wet hands, roll into about 24 meatballs the size of a walnut (3 cm / 1 1/4 inches).
- Heat the lard in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs in two batches, shaking the pan so they roll, 6–8 minutes per batch, until browned all over and 160°F in the centre. Move them to a plate.
- Pour the bone broth into the hot pan and scrape up the browned bits. Boil until reduced by about half and slightly syrupy, 3–4 minutes.
- Return the meatballs and their juices and roll them in the glaze for a minute. Serve hot.
Good to know
Will they hold together without breadcrumbs?
Yes, if you mix long enough. Working the meat with the salt and egg until it feels tacky makes the proteins grip; chill the rolled meatballs for 15 minutes if your kitchen is warm.
Can I use only beef?
Yes, 1 3/4 lb of beef works. The pork makes them softer and more like a Swedish köttbulle, so with all beef, choose 85–90% lean. They are richer that way, at about 52 instead of 66.
What do I serve them with?
For carnivore, on their own or with fried eggs. For paleo, mashed potatoes or roasted root vegetables and a green salad.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 186
- Protein
- (49%)
- 22 g
- Fat
- (50%)
- 10 g
- Carbohydrates
- (1%)
- <1 g
- of which sugar
- <1 g
- Fiber
- <1 g
- Sodium
- 441 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1543 kcal goes into the pot and 1162 g of ingredients comes out as about 830 g of food: 186 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.