Keto meatballs baked in a sweet and tangy low carb BBQ sauce! These little BBQ meatballs make the perfect appetizer, but they’re also really good served on a bed of mashed cauliflower!
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I am likely the world’s biggest meatball fan. Meatloaf, too!
Growing up, my mama never made meatballs or meatloaf and I literally never tasted either until I was grown and married.
Y’all. That first bite of a BBQ meatball was life changing.
Now I make meatballs and meatloaf all the time! Have you tried my mozzarella stuffed meatballs yet or my buffalo chicken meatballs? How about my keto meatloaf? Oh man. So good!
Anyway, I’ve made low carb meatballs a variety of ways – from using Parmesan as the binder to almond flour to…wait for it…pork rinds.
Personally, I’m not one to sit around and just eat a bag of pork rinds. However, they work so great as a low carb binder for meatloaf and meatballs!
For this keto meatball recipe, I went next level and used BBQ seasoned pork rinds. You can use plain pork rinds if you prefer, but the BBQ adds a little extra flavor without any extra carbs. Magic.
How to make keto meatballs:
We’re making these keto meatballs in the oven. No need to pan fry them, just roll ’em up and pop ’em on a baking sheet. Easy peasy.
You’ll start with a pound of lean ground beef, some pork rinds, cheddar cheese, egg, cream, and water.
All of that gets mushed together with your hands until it’s nice and combined.
Next, you’ll roll out your meatballs. I just use my hands for this.
I made these as appetizer sized meatballs this time around, but you can also make them larger and serve them up for dinner. You’ll get 15 appetizer sized meatballs here.
Place them on a baking sheet and pop them in a 400 degree oven. These take about 15 minutes to bake.
Once they’re cooked through, whisk together some reduced sugar ketchup and some bottled Italian salad dressing. This will be the sweet and tangy sauce that coats the BBQ meatballs.
Brush the sauce over the meatballs and pop them under the broiler for 1-2 minutes to get the sauce a little caramelized and sticky.
Top ’em off with a sprinkle of parsley and serve!
This low carb meatball recipe is super easy and ready in about 20 minutes.
More low carb appetizers you might like:
Keto deviled eggs: These are full of bacon and cheddar! <3
Slow Cooker Wings: These wings are so juicy and the skin gets nice and crispy under the broiler!
Green Olive Deviled Eggs: I love the punch of flavor green olives give these eggs!
BBQ Keto Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 cup crushed BBQ flavored pork rinds
- 1/2 cup grated cheddar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons reduced sugar ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Italian salad dressing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a large baking sheet with non-stick spray.
- Add the ground beef, pork rinds, egg, cheddar, cream, water, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to a large mixing bowl and mix well to combine.
- Roll the meat mixture into 15 small meatballs and place on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.
- Whisk together the ketchup and salad dressing. Brush over the meatballs.
- Return the meatballs to the oven and turn the broiler to high. Broil for 1-2 minutes or until sauce just begins to caramelize.
- Serve immediately.
Elizabeth says
Is there anything I can add to the meatballs if I don’t use BBQ flavored pork rinds? I only have original flavor. Can’t wait to make this!
Karly Campbell says
You could add a bit of bbq dry rub! Just watch out for sugar if you’re using a storebought mix.
Az Anna says
Made the so manytime – always great! Wondering if i could cook them in the air fryer. It’s too hot in Phoenix to turn on the oven!!
Karly Campbell says
Yes, that should work great! I’d probably cook for around 7 minutes at 400 degrees. You’ll just want to be careful when you add the sauce – it might make a sticky mess in the air fryer.
Susan says
Hi! I just started Keto and am very happy to find your website! Would 15 smaller meatballs = 6 or 7 large meatballs? Would nutrition information remain the same for serving size of 2 large?
Karly Campbell says
Hi Susan! 15 small meatballs would be around 7ish larger ones. The nutrition info would remain the same regardless of the size of the meatballs, so long as the entire dish is divided into 5 servings.
Tommy says
I don’t like pork rinds. Any substitutes?
Karly Campbell says
You could try almond flour, but you may need to adjust the amount. You really don’t taste the pork rinds at all though, if it’s a flavor thing.
Caroline says
When using almond flour what’s the amount ?
Karly Campbell says
I would just use enough to hold the meatballs together. Maybe a 1/4 cup or so?
Kathy says
I have seen low carb BBQ SAUCE recipes also on Pinterest.
April says
Just delicious, and I used the regular pork rinds. I did add some smoked paprika to the sauce to give them a little more flavor since I didn’t use the barbecue pork rinds!
Kelly says
Can you make ahead of time and freeze then reheat in crockpot
Karly Campbell says
Hmm, I’ve never tried, but it will probably work fine! 🙂
Kelly says
Thanks. Trying it and will comment after we have them.
Adrienne Davies says
How were the reheated meatballs? I’m thinking of doing this too
Bernice swan says
Love the recipes!
Karly Campbell says
Thanks, Bernice!
Kathy says
Can I use Turkey meat? If so, is the cook time longer?
Karly Campbell says
I haven’t tried this recipe with turkey, so I can’t say.
Anita says
I haven’t found BarBQ pork rinds without sugar listed in the ingredients. Would you share which ones you use that don’t have sugar?
Karly Campbell says
The ones I used had a trace amount of sugar as well. It wasn’t enough to affect the carb count, so I didn’t worry about it. You can use unflavored pork rinds if you’re concerned about it. 🙂