The Best Gluten-Free Meatballs (Easy with Homemade Sauce!)
These Gluten-Free Meatballs are moist, packed with flavor from the beef and buckwheat, and have the distinct tang of mayonnaise which makes them irresistible!
Servings 45 meatballs
Ingredients
For the Buckwheat Meatballs
- 2 lbs. – beef meat or meat of your choice
- ½ cup – buckwheat (3 - cups water for cooking buckwheat)
- 2 large – eggs
- 1 medium – onion
- 1 tsp. – se salt (or to taste)
- ¼ tsp. – black ground pepper (or to taste)
- 2 tbsp. – mayonnaise
- Olive oil for sautéing the meatballs
For the Sauce
- 3 large – carrot
- 1 red – pepper
- 1 medium – onion
- 4 garlic – cloves
- 3 tbsp. - Olive oil for sautéing (onion, garlic and carrots)
- 2 cups – water
- 1 cup – heavy cream (or half and half)
- 1 tsp. – sea salt (or to taste)
- ⅛ tsp. – black ground pepper (or to taste)
- 1 tbsp. – better than bullion
- 3 tbsp. – tomato paste (or 7 oz. tomato sauce)
Instructions
Preparing the Meat and Veggies
- First, let's get all our ingredients prepared. Start with the vegetables - peel, rinse, and shred the carrot. Then do the same with the garlic but press it instead. Rinse and slice the red pepper, and peel, wash, and finely chop an onion. You'll need some of the onion for the sauce and some for the meatballs.
- For the meat, cut the meat into pieces and soak it in water in a large bowl for about an hour or so changing the water every now and then. This can help to remove any excess blood or impurities.
Preparing the Buckwheat
- Pour four cups of water into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, then add the buckwheat to the boiling water. Let it boil for about fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Once done, remove it from the heat and drain the water using a strainer. Rinse the buckwheat under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Drain the water and transfer the buckwheat to a plate, cover it with a lid, and set it aside.
How to Make Meatball Cream Sauce
- Heat up two tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan and add the onions. Sauté them over medium-high heat until they start to turn golden brown on the edges. This should take about five minutes.
- Add the shredded carrots and pressed garlic and sauté for another five minutes. Then, add the tomato sauce and cook for another five to seven minutes, stirring constantly until the paste is fully incorporated with the vegetables.
- Transfer the sautéed vegetables to a medium saucepan. Add the red pepper water, heavy cream, salt, ground black pepper, and better than bouillon to the saucepan. Give it a good stir to combine everything and set it aside.
How to Make Meatballs
- Preheat your oven to 350 ℉. Rinse the meat pieces and place them into a strainer to drain the water, then grind the meat using a meat grinder (you may use ground meat from the grocery store).
- In a medium bowl, combine the ground meat, buckwheat, eggs, salt, and pepper. Mix it all together until it is well combined. Add mayonnaise and mix it again. Lastly, add the shredded onion and mix until everything is well incorporated.
- Use an ice cream scoop to portion out the meat mixture, then shape each portion into a ball with your hands.
- Coat a large sauté pan with olive oil and heat it up to medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs on both sides.
- Transfer the browned meatballs into a large pot. Heat up the cream sauce until it starts to boil, stirring constantly. Pour the sauce over the meatballs, cover the pot with a lid, and place it in the preheated oven.
- Bake for one hour at 350 ℉. Once done, remove them from the oven and serve hot over mashed potatoes, rice, pasta, or buckwheat.
- Enjoy your homemade gluten-free meatballs!