Before I went low carb, nachos were always my favorite “go-to” snack. Perfect with beer (or without), they are great to share (or not) at a casual restaurant with friends, to nosh on while watching a movie on the couch, or just because.
There is no end to what you can add to your nachos (black olives, tomatoes, red onions, scallions, green chilis, guacamole, etc.), but for me, it’s usually about the classics – cheddar cheese, salsa, jalapenos, and lots of sour cream.
So in my quest to turn some of my favorite foods into low carb meatballs, a loaded nachos version was high on the list. Especially since I needed a low carb vehicle to replace the tortilla chips that would normally carry all of that cheesy deliciousness into my face.
I’m thrilled to report that these meatballs worked like a charm, and satisfied all of my loaded nacho requirements!
Notes: I used ground beef since that is a typical nacho topping, but you could easily substitute 80% lean ground turkey in this recipe. To manage the heat, choose a salsa with a spice level that you enjoy – you can omit the jalapenos to tone them down as well. If you like it hot, add a couple of drops of your favorite low carb hot sauce to the meatball mixture.
These are quite nice on their own, but of course SO MUCH BETTER covered in more salsa, cheese, sour cream and jalapenos. I’m giving you the nutrition info both “naked” and with toppings, just in case!
Loaded Nacho Meatballs – Keto
- Yield: 16 meatballs 1x
Description
A tasty low carb & gluten free meatball recipe inspired by my favorite snack – loaded nachos! Keto and Atkins friendly!
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 1lb. ground beef (80/20)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 3 Tbsp prepared salsa (sugar free)
- 1 Tbsp pickled jalapenos, chopped
For the Topping:
- 1/4 cup prepared salsa (sugar free)
- 1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 16 pickled jalapeno slices
- 2 Tbsp sour cream
Instructions
To make the meatballs:
- Combine all of the meatball ingredients in a medium bowl and mix thoroughly, Form into 16 meatballs. Saute in a large nonstick pan until golden brown and cooked through – about 3 – 4 minutes per side. Remove and set aside.
To Serve:
- Arrange the meatballs on an ovenproof dish. Top with about 1 tsp salsa, and 1 tsp shredded cheddar each. Place under the broiler for about one minute or until the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven, top each meatball with a dab of sour cream and a slice of pickled jalapeno.
Notes
Approximate nutrition information:
per meatball naked: 81 calories, 6g fat, .5g net carbs, 7g protein
per meatball with toppings: 93 calories, 7g fat, .8g net carbs, 7g protein
4 meatballs naked: 324 calories, 24g fat, 2g net carbs, 28g protein
4 meatballs with toppings: 372 calories, 28g fat, 3.2g net carbs, 28g protein
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 meatballs
- Calories: 372
- Fat: 28g
- Carbohydrates: 3.2g net
- Protein: 28g
Don’t miss these recent favorites, the General Tso’s Meatball, the Caprese Meatball, the Carolina BBQ Meatball, and the Green Chicken Enchilada Meatball, just to name a few! Be sure to subscribe to IBIH so you can get new low carb meatball recipes delivered to your inbox every Monday!
New to the low carb lifestyle and need some help? Try my free 3 day kickstart plan to get into ketosis fast! Then follow it up with any of my 12 free weekly menu plans – complete with shopping and prep lists!
In other news, for a limited time I’m bundling my Amazon best-selling e-book The Gluten Free Low Carber with my first two issues of the IBIH ezine for only $9.99 – that’s a discount of over 50%!
You’ll get over 75 original recipes that can’t be found here on the blog for less than 15 cents each! And it’s some of my best work yet if I do say so! Need some low carb side dish recipes to complement your ham or turkey? Or some decadent low carb dessert recipes to WOW your guests??? I’VE GOT YOU COVERED!
Get more information on the books here, or simply click the Add to Cart button to download now!
All three for just $9.99!
Gina says
These are so darn yummy! I’ve made them several times for friends and they are always a hit.
terri smith Johnson says
Fabulous!! I made a few changes…I used 1/2 grass fed beef and seasoned processed deer meat. I also baked mine in the oven instead of cooking on stovetop.
I needed to do mine the night before having friends over for appetizers. I took them out of frig and let them sit on counter for 30 min. Then I put them in a shallow baking pan with beef broth in the bottom of dish (less than 1/4 inch), covered with foil and heated for 25 min. I poured off left over broth and in same dish, added salsa, cheese, etc and returned to oven until cheese melted! Added jalapeño and sour cream! Perfection!
Leah says
I’m late to the party but I LOVE these nacho meatballs! I’m curious, have you ever tried freezing them? I’d rather cook a serving fresh each time rather than bake all of them and reheat the leftovers. Do you think freezing the pre-cooked meatball would work?
Gabby says
I make these without jalapeño in the meat mixture and my 15 month old loves them! We do too thanks ❤
Kim says
I hope you still respond to these :). I want to make these for a potluck, but, I want to do them in a crockpot ….. do you think it would work?
Mellissa Sevigny says
I don’t see why not Kim!
Maggie says
So I got to the point in this recipe where I had to cook the meatballs 3-4 min. per side and, chagrined, I realized I couldn’t determine with any certainty how many sides a meatball has. I had a real philosophical moment there, over meatballs, and never did figured it out to my satisfaction. The meatballs came out great, but I’m curious… how many sides?
Mellissa Sevigny says
It depends on how brown you want them Maggie and how chilled your mix is! I’ve found that when my mix is warmer they tend to flatten out with definitely only two sides. A chilled mix produces a prettier more uniform meatball, but unless you have enough oil in the pan to go almost halfway up the sides, I end up rolling them around on the sides to brown them for the photos making it more like almost 6 sides. But you don’t have to do that – usually when I refer to both sides with a cooking time in the recipe it just means two sides. Sorry for the confusion! Great question though! ;)
Maggie says
Ok, philosophical quandry solved! (Incidentally, the perfect cooking time is ALSO roughly equivalent to the amount of time one might stare into space considering how many sides a sphere has.)
Brittani says
Didn’t have all the ingredients (Salsa, almond flour, and I used ground pork due to that being the only thawed meat in my fridge) but when I stumbled apon this while looking through Pinterest I HAD to try it right away. They were PERFECT. An amazing Sunday lunch! I did have to pan fry them a little longer but I think I made them a little bit bigger in size, either way they were cooked all the way through before I put them in the broiler.
Will have to make this again, and soon! Also, hopefully with salsa because it would be great with that as well!
Amy S says
SERIOUSLY delish!!! The were a huge hit at my house with the littles and the bigs. I baked mine for 20 min at 350 and they were perfect. Skipped the pan frying cause meatballs always fall apart on me. Another fun thing I did was to make a cheese sauce by mixing and nuking cheese, heavy cream and salsa. Wow!!
Mellissa Sevigny says
Ooooh, I like your cheese sauce idea! Might steal that myself ha ha! Glad they were a hit, thanks for letting me know! :)
Erec says
I love this recipe. I actually like to use ground chicken instead. It is delicious. Today, I coated the meatballs with ground pork rinds to make them a little crispy. Delicious.
Mellissa Sevigny says
I’m not usually a fan of pork rinds, but I love this idea of coating the meatballs with them! It’s a definite must try – thanks Erec!
Agnieszka Schwarz says
I made these last week and they were SO good!! I used 98% lean beef cuz it was a good price at Sprouts and I figured it would be more healthier than the 80/20. I compensated for the less fat by adding some extra salsa. My boyfriend absolutely loved them!! I will definitely be making these on a regular basis.