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Easy, Allergen-Free Sweet and Sour Meatballs | GAPS-Legal

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Looking for a quick, nutrient-dense meal that your kids will actually eat? These sweet and sour meatballs are free of all major allergens and GAPS-legal. Not to mention they are loaded with broth! They are sure to be a family favorite to add to your weekly meal plans.
 
Easy Allergen-Free Sweet and Sour Meatballs | GAPS, Grain-free
 

When I embarked on the GAPS diet years ago there weren’t that many resources available. Which meant I had to come up with most of my own recipes.

Although I came off the GAPS diet a long time ago, it taught me how to be really creative in the kitchen.

That is how I came up with this easy sweet and sour meatball recipe that has been both a family favorite and reader favorite for years!

Allergen-Free Meatballs

Most meatball recipes include egg. Sometimes they also have bread or breadcrumbs and some type of milk.

Those ingredients do make a delicious meatball. But when you are dealing with allergies, it’s hard to substitute.

So I created meatballs that are not only allergen-free, but can also be nightshade free!Easy Allergen-Free Sweet and Sour Meatballs | GAPS, Grain-free

Easy Gluten-Free Sweet and Sour Sauce 

The real secret about these meatballs is not actually the meatball at all. Instead it’s the sauce!

A combination of broth and honey cook down to a rich and gooey sauce that kids love.

Depending on dietary needs I add ketchup, dijon mustard, and/or a bit of pumpkin to bring it all together.

Healthy Dinner in Less Than 30 Minutes

Taste aside, I love that I can make these meatballs in under 30 minutes. Simply brown, add the sauce ingredients, and simmer until thick.

My kids love sweet and sour meatballs served with buttered gluten-free noodles. Any time I ask my five-year-old what she wants for dinner I get the same answer – meatballs and noodles! Sweet and sour meatballs are also great with rice, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, or squash.

If you are in need of an easy, nourishing weeknight dinner that the kids will gobble up, this is it! They’ll get lots of broth without even knowing it. Plus grassfed beef for loads of protein and vitamins. A win all around!

Do you have a go-to easy button dinner? Give these allergen-free sweet and sour meatballs a try.

This post is linked to Fat Tuesday at Real Food Forager.

Easy Allergen-Free Sweet and Sour Meatballs | GAPS, Grain-free

Easy Allergen-Free Sweet and Sour Meatballs

A quick and easy meatball recipe kids will love.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. grassfed ground beef, pastured ground chicken, or ground pork
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp. turmeric
  • 1 Tbsp. avocado oil, tallow, lard, or coconut oil
  • 1-2 cups chicken or beef broth
  • 1/4 cup ketchup optional
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 tsp. salt

Instructions

  1. Combine the meat, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and turmeric. Mix well.

  2. Form into meatballs.

  3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot add 1 Tbsp. fat.

  4. Brown the meatballs on all sides.

  5. Add the broth, ketchup, honey, and salt. Simmer until thick, about 10 minutes, stirring periodically to coat the meatballs.

  6. Add extra broth and continue to simmer for more sauce.

Recipe Notes

For a nightshade-free version, replace the ketchup with 1/4 cup dijon mustard or 1/4 cup pureed pumpkin.

 

10 comments

  1. Sara says:

    I made these for dinner tonight and they were delicious! All of us loved them. Carson scarfed two meatballs down and asked for more. Its the fastest I’ve seen him eat anything in a long time. Total hit!! Thanks for the recipe!

  2. Sara says:

    I made these for dinner tonight and they were delicious! I used 1/2 pound pork sausage and 1/2 pound ground beef. We all loved them. I wish I’d have made a double recipe now so we could have had leftovers for our lunches tomorrow. 🙂

    • Carly says:

      Mary, I’m making these for the umpteenth time, we love them! I now make a triple batch with 2:1 grassfed beef:lamb and freeze half. Tonight after coming home sick from a nice long vacation, I pulled out my cooked, frozen meatballs and put them in a casserole dish stirred with the sauce ingredients, covered and baked it with some roasted kabocha squash on the side. Thanks again for this easy recipe that everyone really eats!

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