Saucy Meatball Casserole

Is it a casserole, or is it zoodles and meatballs? Either way, it’s delicious, as we use both pork and beaf in the meatballs to juicy it up quite a bit. This dish is naturally low carb and very easy to eat completely in one sitting, so be careful.

🔗Enameled Cast Iron Buffet Casserole used in the video (love it!):
https://amzn.to/2BU37SZ

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✅Saucy Meatball Casserole
Serves ~6
Carbs/Serving: 6.9g
Net Carbs/Serving: 5.7g
Nutrition: 850 Calories/59.7g Protein/64g Fat/1.2g Fiber

📋Ingredients
1 Scallion, finely chopped
3 Garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. Olive oil, divided
1 ½ lbs. Ground beef, raw
1 ½ lbs. Ground sausage, casings removed
1 C Parmesan cheese, grated
3 Large eggs
1 tsp. Himalayan salt
½ tsp. Ground black pepper
2 C Zucchini “noodles” (aka. “Zoodles”) cut into 1-2” pieces
1 ½ C Low carb tomato or marinara sauce (You can use Rao’s, very light, or use my recipe: https://dot2trot.com/low-carb-sugar-free-tomato-sauce/)
1 C Shredded mozzarella

🔔NOTE: You can use ground pork instead of sausage or instead use all ground poultry meat if you prefer. However, ground chicken or turkey will not have as much fat. Also, I’ve made this with diced green peppers, spinach and mushrooms instead of the zoodles. It does change the carb count, but you can play with the recipe and use any vegetables you’d like. Have fun!

➡Directions
1. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a hot pan over medium heat. Once oil is hot add in onion and garlic; sauté until onion softens, about 1 minute. Once soft, remove onions and garlic from heat and let cool.
2. Preheat oven to 375; Line 1 -2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl add the ground beef, sausage and onions and garlic mixture. Lightly mix the onion and garlic into the beef and sausage. Next add the cheese, eggs, salt and black pepper. Using your hands, mix until all ingredients are well combined.
4. Start forming the meatballs; Roll pieces of the mixture into balls approximately 2” in diameter. Depending on size, the mix should make 40-45 meatballs. Place each meatball on the rimmed baking sheet, spacing about ¼” apart.
5. Bake in the oven until meatballs are cooked all the way through, about 20-25 minutes.
6. While meatballs are cooking, heat a large oven-proof skillet over medium heat; add in the remaining olive oil. Once oil is hot add in zoodles; stir often and sauté for a few minutes to soften. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Add marinara sauce to skillet and mix with the zoodles.
8. Once meatballs are finished, remove any jelly like fat that leached out, and place in the skillet. Toss meatballs in sauce to coat.
9. Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over casserole. Bake until cheese melts, about 10-15 minutes. Serve immediately.

🔗If you are interested in my slow cooker meatball recipe, here’s the link: https://dot2trot.com/awesome-low-carb-meatballs-cooked-in-crockpot/