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April 2, 2014

Kung Pao Meatballs – Low Carb and Gluten-Free

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Juicy low carb meatballs with all the great flavors of your favorite take out dish, Kung Pao. Plus it’s just fun to say Kung Pao! A delicious guest post by Mellissa of I Breathe, I’m Hungry.

Low Carb Kung Pao Meatballs

For a second guest post while I am away, I enlisted the help of the beautiful and talented Mellissa Sevigny of I Breathe, I’m Hungry. Chances are you already know her blog well, but if you don’t…you should. She’s got fantastic recipes and I think I will dub her the Queen of Meatballs because she comes up with the most fantastic low carb meatball recipes. And she’s a sweetheart to boot. I am looking forward to meeting her at Blog Her Food in May! 

When Carolyn emailed me about guest posting for her over here on All Day I Dream About Food, I was equal parts nervous and excited.  Carolyn is the real deal, (you know this already or you wouldn’t be here)  and I wanted to make sure that I could live up to her high standards!

What terrified me the most is that she would ask me to post a dessert recipe.  Nobody, and I mean nobody, can hold a candle to Carolyn when it comes to creating crazy good low carb desserts!  In fact, if we were on Iron Chef America and it was a low carb dessert challenge, I would happily be the soux chef to Carolyn’s superior dessert genius.  And she would definitely win the whole shebang!

Low Carb Gluten-Free Kung Pao Meatballs

Now I’m not saying that I can’t bust out a decent cake when called for, but I tend to lean more toward the savory side of low carb over at I Breathe I’m Hungry.

That’s why Carolyn and I make a great team – I’m like the peanut butter to her jelly.  The bacon to her chocolate.  The cheese to her low carb cracker.  The….well, you get the idea.

So when I sent her the email asking her what she had in mind, I was nervous to be sure.  Imagine my relief her response suggested that I come up with a meatball recipe for you guys!  Carolyn obviously took pity on me and gave me an easy assignment, because when it comes to making meatballs – I got this.

I don’t want to toot my own horn or anything (sure I do), but I know my way around a meatball!  I love meatballs so much that I dedicated an entire day per week to them with my Meatball Monday series!   I have over 30 meatball recipes posted so far, with plenty more on the way!

Now that I had my assignment, and a long list of meatball concepts to choose from, I agonized over which direction to go in!   I finally decided to go Asian, because who doesn’t love Chinese takeout? I’ve already done the General Tso’s Meatball, the Pork Shumai Meatball, and the Chicken and Broccoli Meatball, so what to make over next?

After much deliberation, I decided to tackle the Kung Pao Meatball!  Kung Pao is a spicy stir fry dish of Chinese origin, that is traditionally made with chicken, and contains peanuts or cashews.

Low Carb Kung Pao Meatball Recipe

I chose to make these meatballs with pork, because ground chicken can sometimes be dry in meatball format.   I also used peanuts in my version, but you can easily substitute cashews if you have an allergy or a preference.

Finally, I would categorize these as mildly spicy as the recipe is written – if you want to turn up the heat you can increase the dried pepper flakes, or even use fresh hot chilis to really blow your socks off.

The final verdict?  Easy to make, yet loaded with exciting flavors and texture, this is one of my best meatball creations to date – definitely my top favorite in the Asian category at least.  I hope you’ll try them and let me know what you think!

A huge thanks to Carolyn for inviting me to guest post (and not asking me to make a dessert!) – it’s been an honor hanging out with you guys over here at All Day I Dream About Food!  Feel free to join us over at I Breathe I’m Hungry anytime – where hopefully I’ll convince Carolyn to return the favor and guest post with an epic dessert recipe soon!

Low Carb Gluten-Free Kung Pao Meatballs

Want a truly different kind of of meatball? Check out this Wild Boar Meatball Taco Bowl with Quinoa. Use almond flour for the breadcrumbs and skip the quinoa, black beans, and corn!

Print
Kung Pao Meatballs – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
30 mins
 
Juicy low carb meatballs with all the great flavors of your favorite take out dish, Kung Pao. Plus it's just fun to say Kung Pao!
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 356 kcal
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
  • 1 lb ground pork, chicken or turkey
  • 1/4 cup almond flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger powder
  • 1 Tbsp gluten free soy sauce or tamari
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 2 Tbsp chopped scallions
  • 2 Tbsp finely chopped peanuts or cashews
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp light olive or coconut oil for frying
For the sauce:
  • 1 Tbsp light olive or coconut oil
  • 1 Tbsp thinly sliced ginger
  • 1 clove garlic thinly sliced
  • 2 Tbsp gluten free soy sauce or tamari
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 tsp white vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp granulated sugar substitute (Swerve works well)
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
  • 3 Tbsp roughly chopped peanuts or cashews
  • 1 scallion sliced
Instructions
For the Meatballs:
  1. Combine the ground pork, almond flour, egg, garlic powder, ginger, gluten free soy sauce, red pepper flakes, scallions, peanuts, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix thoroughly and form into 16 meatballs. Heat the 2 Tbsp oil in a nonstick pan and fry the meatballs about 3 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Remove the meatballs and set aside.

For the Sauce:
  1. Wipe out the nonstick pan you cooked the meatballs in and heat 1 Tbsp oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for about one minute or until fragrant. Reduce heat and add the water, gluten free soy sauce, vinegar, sweetener, xanthan gum, and red pepper flakes and whisk until xanthan gum is dissolved. Taste and adjust to your preference with salt, sweetener, or more red pepper flakes as desired. Add the peanuts, scallions, and meatballs back to the pan. Toss to coat and cook for about 2 minutes. If the mixture becomes too thick, you can add another tablespoon of water. Serve hot.

Recipe Notes

Approximate nutrition info per serving: 356 calories, 26g fat, 3.5g net carbs, 27g protein

Nutrition Facts
Kung Pao Meatballs – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Amount Per Serving (2 meatballs)
Calories 356 Calories from Fat 234
% Daily Value*
Fat 26g40%
Carbohydrates 3.5g1%
Protein 27g54%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Gluten Free, Low Carb, Main Dishes Tagged With: Asian, chicken, pork

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Nutritional Disclaimer

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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Comments

  1. Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking says

    April 2, 2014 at 9:09 am

    Holy scrumptiousness. I want a big batch of these for dinner! What a fabulous low-carb recipe. Thanks, Carolyn!

    Reply
  2. Gretchen RS says

    April 2, 2014 at 9:28 am

    This looks like a great dish to serve to my family along with a veggie stir-fry. I am trying to avoid soy. Would substituting coconut aminos for the soy sauce work?

    Reply
    • mellissa @ ibreatheimhungry says

      April 2, 2014 at 4:48 pm

      Absolutely Gretchen! Hope your family enjoys them!!!

      Reply
  3. Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) says

    April 2, 2014 at 10:20 am

    These are everything meatballs should be. They look insanely flavorful!

    Reply
  4. charlotte says

    April 2, 2014 at 10:46 am

    these look like a remake of the best meatballs in the world!

    Reply
  5. [email protected] Food Mom on a Budget says

    April 3, 2014 at 5:06 am

    My two favorite low carb bloggers! Thanks for the yummy recipe!
    http://www.wholefoodmomonabudget.com

    Reply
    • mellissa @ ibreatheimhungry says

      April 8, 2014 at 5:10 pm

      Thanks so much Eva! I’m sure this won’t be the last time Carolyn and I collaborate!

      Reply
  6. Robin says

    April 3, 2014 at 7:22 am

    I love Kung Pao and I’ve made some of your meatball recipes and was wanting just such a recipe. This will be dinner tonight!

    Reply
    • mellissa @ ibreatheimhungry says

      April 8, 2014 at 5:09 pm

      Hope you liked it Robin!

      Reply
  7. Candice says

    April 4, 2014 at 7:41 am

    These meatballs look great and flavorful!

    Reply
    • mellissa @ ibreatheimhungry says

      April 8, 2014 at 5:09 pm

      Thanks Candice – it’s not easy to make meatballs look pretty!

      Reply
  8. Donna says

    April 4, 2014 at 11:43 am

    These look so good! Can you suggest a sub for the eggs and almond flour? Very difficult to be allergic to these two ingredients.
    Thank you, Donna

    Reply
    • mellissa @ ibreatheimhungry says

      April 8, 2014 at 5:08 pm

      Sorry I didn’t get to this sooner Donna! You can simply omit the egg and almond flour – the meatballs will be a little more dense, but still very flavorful!

      Reply
  9. Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says

    April 8, 2014 at 11:59 am

    Oh I have never heard of kung pao meatballs before but I love the two things independently so I bet I would together as well!

    Reply
    • mellissa @ ibreatheimhungry says

      April 8, 2014 at 5:08 pm

      They really do Erin – hope you like them!

      Reply
  10. Tamitha says

    April 11, 2014 at 9:56 am

    These were outstanding. Thank you very much for the recipe!!

    Reply
  11. Lisa says

    May 2, 2014 at 6:28 pm

    Made these, but sadly, I made a mistake. Should have made a double batch! These were so good, I had to stop and save some for my husband as well. Usually I change recipes to suit my taste buds, but in this case, I won’t change a thing.

    Reply
  12. Baron says

    May 15, 2014 at 5:33 am

    My neighbor gave me a bunch of Turkey Burger patties, he said they weren’t very good. I knew it was because he tried just cooking them plain like a beef burger. So I got four of the 1/4lb patties, defrosted them, mixed in the ingredients and whipped-up the meatballs which were excellent! The Turkey Kung Pao mixture was kind of ‘wet’ so they couldn’t be formed into meatballs but I discovered a heaping 1/8th cup measure was about right for each ‘meatball’ to drop onto the oiled pan. Made some Mock Fried Rice (made with cauliflower) to go with it. 10 out of 10 would cook and eat again.

    Reply
    • Carolyn says

      May 15, 2014 at 9:40 pm

      Great idea on the burgers!

      Reply
  13. AKATALCUL1 says

    June 27, 2014 at 1:17 pm

    I made these last weekend with a home-ground blend of 80/20 chuck and spam! Ha! My kids (3 teenagers) were completely blown away.

    Reply
  14. Chantelle says

    June 5, 2015 at 10:41 pm

    These are SO tasty! I threw in too many chilli flakes and they were super spicy so I added some coconut cream which was delicious. Thanks!

    Reply
  15. Mubeena Miller says

    May 28, 2016 at 4:52 pm

    these were super yummy. Family asks for them often.

    Reply
  16. Jill says

    July 28, 2017 at 3:06 pm

    I did not like the taste of the sauce at all I don’t like the sweeteners yucky taste & aftertaste I dipped my finger in like 10 times I guess I thought I would have a different result. HOWEVER on the other hand it was too hot in the house air is out so I made it into ? Cheese burgers. I doubled everything for the meat I used half venison & half pork (that is what I had in the house ground it myself ?) YUM the burgers were awesome so thank you for sharing!! Everyone has different taste buds

    Reply
  17. Rose says

    November 27, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    All I can say is Kung POW! I loved it. I don’t usually make Chinese at home because I can’t get the flavors right. You absolutely did. It’s a keeper!

    Reply

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Carolyn PortraitLooking for the best low carb recipes? You've come to the right place! I'm Carolyn, a major carnivore and an unrepentant sweet tooth. Here you will find all you need to enjoy the low carb keto lifestyle to the fullest! Read more

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