Here's a Homemade Italian Meatballs recipe that's hearty, with robust Italian meaty flavor and a hint of fresh Italian spices that is not only easy to make but really brings your gluten and dairy free Italian recipes back to life.
We have yet to find a decent allergen friendly frozen Italian meatball brand available in our area. Who knows why they think you need dairy and gluten in frozen store bought meatballs... so, we decided to make our own Italian Meatballs for all our Italian dish needs.
No more meatballs that fall apart or have a funky flavor. And definitely no meatballs with absolutely no flavor. This easy, allergen-friendly recipe was made just for you with the perfect authentic flavoring and texture in mind.
You don't have to look at those dairy and gluten-ridden meatballs with envy anymore because you'll be ready to have all the safe Italian Meatballs you need on hand and in the freezer ready to go.
Homemade Italian Meatballs Ingredient Notes
Here's some info on the ingredients needed. You'll find all of the quantities for these in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- ground beef
- Italian sausage— always check that your Italian sausage is gluten free. Some brands will list wheat in the ingredients, so be cautious and always check the label.
- gluten free bread crumbs— use a safe brand or make your own
- beef broth— the Pacific brand is our go-to. Dairy free milk can be substituted.
- egg
- Worcestershire sauce— in the US Lea and Perrins is gluten and dairy free and a brand we like to use
- diced sweet onion
- Italian seasoning blend— our favorite is the McCormick brand
- garlic powder
- salt
- ground pepper
- optional- we enjoy topping these baked meatballs with fresh chopped basil and parsley for a boost of fresh herbs
helpful tools to make meatballs
- mixing bowl— to mix your ingredients in
- cookie sheet— here's the cookie sheet we like to cook the meatballs on
- large scoop— to scoop out the mixture and help make the balls easier to form
- baking mats— to make baking them easier and cleanup faster
- saucepan— to make your marinara sauce in to coat your meatballs with
Frequently Asked Questions
You absolutely can make your own breadcrumbs. In fact, we've had to make our own when we were in a pinch with this recipe (and others) and the meatballs turned out just fine.
We recommend using whatever gluten free bread source you have on hand. We've used a gluten free bun, bread, hamburger bun, hot dog bun and even a bagel before. All have been used successfully in these homemade Italian meatballs!
To prepare your own we stick 2 slices of bread in the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit until it is toasty and somewhat hard. Then we transfer it to a food processor and pulse until the bread is small crumbs.
So feel free to use whatever safe bread source you have on hand to make your own breadcrumbs for this meatball recipe.
So, you want our secret to making the best Italian meatballs from scratch that doesn't fall apart? Here are a few of our tips to making gluten free Italian Meatballs.
Make sure to use good breadcrumbs (that are allergen friendly of course), these help act as a binder
Make sure to use an egg- an egg helps bind the breadcrumbs and meat together.
Give your meat a little massage first. Sometimes massaging the meat helps it start sticking together to help form the perfect meatball shape.
You bet you can!
We love to save time for the future by making a double batch of these Italian meatballs, so we can use a batch now and freeze the other for later.
Once your meatballs have cooled, place meatballs in a ziplock bag and lie flat to freeze for later.
If you find that your meatballs just stick together too much, you can line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, space out the meatballs and then freeze. Once frozen individually, you can put into ziplock bag and lay flat in the freezer.
The day before you'd like to use your frozen homemade meatballs, remove the bag of meatballs from the freezer and place in the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
Yes, you can make these in advance. They're the perfect thing to have on hand for busy weeknights and weekends. Store them in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days.
Make sure to reheat them and serve them with your favorite Italian dish when you're ready to enjoy.
If you're looking to use these later than 3-5 days, we recommend freezing them for future use.
We love using Victoria Trading Company marinara sauce and Rao Marinara sauce. Both are gluten and dairy free and our go-to store bought marinara sauce.
You can always use a homemade sauce, but if looking for an easy way to finish these meatballs into a meal, like Spaghetti and Meatballs dinner, these marinara sauces will not disappoint.
Other Italian Inspired Safe Recipes
Here are some more of our favorite homemade Itailan recipes we enjoy on a regular basis.
- spaghetti pie-- This is a great layered twist on traditional spaghetti. Make these meatballs to go on top of the pie or just accompany a nice heaping scoop of this dish.
- sundried tomato alfredo sauce-- enjoy this alfredo sauce with any of your Italian recipes.
- manicotti--learn how to make your own homemade manicotti that is gluten and dairy free and full of Italian flavor!
- stuffed shells-- a family favorite that you may have not realized you can still enjoy. Using gluten free shells and a dairy free cheese mixture.
Get All The Good Recipes
We wanted to make sure you knew about our amazing Cookbook, The Classics. It's packed full of 16 of our most popular breakfast, dinner and dessert recipes.
Want a digital copy? We have a digital version with the same 16 recipes! Grab your copy of our digital cookbook The Classics.
Need more recipes? Our digital cookbook Holiday Recipes is perfect to find a festive gluten and dairy free, tried and true recipe to enjoy all year long.
Ingredients
- ½ lb ground beef
- ½ lb gluten free Italian sausage
- ½ c gluten free bread crumbs dice dry bread into small crumbs
- ¼ c beef broth can substitute with dairy free milk
- 1 egg
- ½ small onion diced
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning blend
- ¼ teaspoon gluten free Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- top with fresh chopped parsley or basil for extra flavor
Marinara Sauce
- 24 oz jar of your favorite brand
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a large bowl combine all the meatball ingredients well.
- Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray. Scoop out 1 inch of the meat mixture and form into a ball with your hands.
- Place meatball on cookie sheet. Place in oven for 12-14 minutes until heated through.
- While meatballs bake heat Marinara sauce in large sauce pan. Add brown sugar and mix in well.
- Once meatballs are heated through remove from the oven. Place directly onto spaghetti dish or coat in Marinara saucepan first then top on spaghetti dish. Top with minced fresh basil or minced parsley once plated.
- For large meatballs use a large cookie scoop to drop on a cookie sheet and round with your hands. Bake large meatballs for 17-18 minutes.
Nutritional Disclaimer
These Nutritional Facts are ESTIMATED. Your actual nutritional info with this recipe may vary depending on the brands you choose. “Eating Gluten and Dairy Free” is not a registered dietician or nutritionist. The provided nutritional info above is based on a generic calculator, if you want more accurate info, use your nutritional calculator of choice where you can choose brands and get more info that way.
Recipe Tips
- This recipe makes plenty for leftovers
- Homemade Meatballs are great to serve when company comes over.
- Using a scoop of some sort helps you get uniformly sized and shaped meatballs.
- If freezing, we like to lay them all out on a sheet pan and freeze first before placing in a Ziptop bag.