Low carb grain-free meatballs with tandoori spices. Using chia seed for the binder ensures that they stay juicy and full of flavour. Paleo-friendly!
It may be my job to cook and bake and share recipes, but sometimes dinner inspiration is severely lacking in my house. You know what I mean, I am sure. You can have a fridge full of food and a freezer packed to the gills but you look into it thinking “What the heck am I going to make?”. You run your mind over all the ingredients you have in stock and even when they are plentiful, you can’t seem to imagine what dish could be made out of them. Especially on weeknights, when kids and parents come home tired and slightly grumpy and you just want a dish that’s easy to make and that everyone will like. A tall order when there are several different sets of tastebuds in the house.
This phenomenon may actually explain the success of food blogs are a recipe resource in recent years. It’s remarkably easy to walk to your computer, type a few ingredients into your favourite food blog(s), and find something you can make that will satisfy. Much easier than thumbing through a cookbook or cooking magazine, looking for a recipe that uses the ingredients you have on hand. And many of us are like you: busy and looking to feed our families something healthy, easy and delicious. We aren’t necessarily professionally trained, we just like playing and experimenting with ingredients, and when we hit on something that works, we share. And our recipes are accessible and oftentimes less intimidating that those of trained chefs. I will say that I rarely crack a cookbook these days. The vast majority of my inspiration either comes from my own crazy brain or from other food bloggers.
I was completely inspired to make these meatballs after seeing a post from my friend Marnely of Cooking With Books. Her Tandoori Spiced Pork Meatballs caught my eye on Facebook, and they looked delicious. And I was delighted because I thought I actually had all the ingredients to make a low carb version of them. Except I didn’t. What I thought was ground pork in my freezer turned out to be ground lamb. Okay, change number one. Surely lamb would taste as good pork, right? And of course the bread crumbs had to go, but I knew that ground chia seed would make a great filler and help guarantee that the meatballs retained their moisture. I doubled the recipe for my hungry family, and I didn’t need the egg because the chia seed makes for a great binder. I had no tandoori spice mix in the house, but I had all the individual spices that make up most tandoori mixes, so I just added all of those in separately. And I used coconut aminos in place of the soy sauce. I also divided the mixture in half and did one less spicy, for the kids, and one more spicy, for the adults.
In the end, I changed so much, it was really a whole new recipe. So I thought I would share it with you, but with due credit going to Marnely because she inspired the flavours. In fact, she inspired the whole dish! I was having one of those “what do I make for dinner” moments when I spied her meatballs, and they were quick and easy. And all three kids liked them, which is nothing short of miraculous. Marnely does happen to be a professionally trained chef, and she’s not low carb. But her blog is definitely inspiring and I happen to know that she has a healthy appreciation for bacon. Check it out if you get a chance! Cooking With Books.
Spicy Tandoori Lamb Meatballs
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground lamb or ground pork, beef or a mixture
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/4 cup ground chia seed
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos or soy sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce use Red Boat for paleo
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 to 2 teaspoon cayenne pepper depending on how hot you like it
- 3 tbsp sesame seeds for garnish
- Additional chopped cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except for sesame seeds and mix well.
- Form into 1 & 1/2 inch balls and place on prepared baking sheet. You should get 32 or more meatballs.
- Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until browned and cooked through.
- Remove and sprinkle with sesame seeds and additional chopped cilantro.
Notes
Saturated fatty acids: 12.23g
Total fat: 29.53g
Calories from fat: 265
Cholesterol: 82mg
Carbohydrate: 6.66g
Total dietary fiber: 3.96g
Protein: 21.83g
Sodium: 507mg
Nutrition
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Lin says
I have saved many of your recipes and this one is another keeper! I can’t tolerate the strong taste of lamb, but will make it with beef and pork. Looking forward to making it tomorrow!
Carolyn says
It will be delicious with beef and pork. If I’d had pork, I would have used that. But lamb was fab too! 🙂
Christine at Cook the Story says
The flavors you used sound absolutely fantastic!
Jeanette | Jeanette's Healthy Living says
Love how you came up with your version of these meatballs Carolyn – I do that all the time – staring into the fridge waiting for something to inspire me!
Carla says
I love lamb and Indian cuisine, so these meatballs will be my dinner soon (after I move) 😀
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
what an awesome idea.. lamb has to be one of my favourite meats ever. definitely will be giving this recipe a go this week. love it!
EA-The Spicy RD says
These look like something my whole family would gobble up! I’m not a lamb eater, so I’m thinking turkey would be a delicious substitution. So glad you re-invented and shared Nelly’s recipe 🙂
Judy says
What would you serve with these?
Carolyn says
Zucchini noodles, mashed cauliflower, really anything. We ate ours with big salads.
Judy says
Good ideas! Thank you.
Ruth says
We made these tonight with some tandoori spice mix I didn’t even know I had. We bought Naan bread and tzatziki sauce and had Indian Tacos! Yummm everyone loved their dinner, thankyou!
[email protected] says
I love lamb. I can only imagine how wonderful these must have tasted!
Amy says
Made these last night with all grass fed beef. They were delish. Didn’t make them spicy and my 3.5 and 5.5 year old kiddos loved them. My son asked me to make them again. However, I did make regular naan to go with them which everyone loved as well. Thanks for a great recipe.
Madison says
I’m delighted to know what I’ll be cooking for dinner tomorrow night 😉
Just had one question, Carolyn: I have never cooked with chia seeds (yet). Would it be okay for me to freeze the remaining meatballs?
Carolyn says
Yes, should be fine.
juliendbq says
These look great, Carolyn! I’d like to know though, if I assembled this as a meatloaf, how much time would you recommend I cook it (and assuming the temp would stay 400F)?