Your Low Sodium Meatball Recipe Doesn’t Need to Lack Flavor!
We created a low sodium meatball recipe because you should be able to enjoy your favorite foods, even when on a low salt diet! When you start reducing the sodium intake, it can feel a little overwhelming. There is sodium in everything!
Sauces and condiments can be a huge source of sodium, including marinara. So if you need a tasty marinara recipe to go along with your meatballs, check out our low sodium spaghetti sauce. Don’t have time to make your own? Just take a little extra time in the store, and you can find brands that have 150-300 mg of sodium per serving.
Back to the meatball. When it comes to low salt cooking, we need flavor from other herbs and spices. We use mushrooms for some umami flavor, onions and garlic, along with fresh and dried herbs. Fat is flavor too, so if it works for your nutrition goals, you can choose a meatloaf mix with beef, pork, and veal for added flavor.
While you can get frozen meatballs, many brands can have 500 mg of sodium or more per serving. Between the meatballs and the sauce, that’s probably too much for a single meal. At my local Wegmans, I was able to find a few options for 280-360 mg sodium. Not bad, but we can do better…
This low sodium meatball recipe totals 180 mg of sodium per serving (makes 4 servings). That’s pretty darn good!
Low Sodium Meatballs
Ingredients
- 6 oz cremini mushrooms also known as baby bella
- 1/2 onion medium
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp black pepper divided
- 1/4 tsp dried basil
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp basil fresh, chopped
- 2 tbsp parsley fresh, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 lb ground beef or meatloaf mix
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Dice onion. On one side of a sheet pan, put the onion. On the other half, place the cremini mushrooms. You can leave the mushrooms whole. I prefer to remove the stems. Drizzle with oil, garlic powder, dried basil, and dried oregano. Toss to coat, keeping mushrooms and onion separate.
- Roast until softened and brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool.
- In a food processor, place mushrooms and process until finely chopped. Add onion, fresh parsley, basil, garlic, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Process a few times to combine.
- Transfer mushroom mixture to a bowl. Add ground beef and use hands to gently combine. Form meatballs and place on the same sheet pan used to cook mushrooms and onions (less to clean!).
- Reduce oven to 350 degrees F. Bake meatballs until cooked through, an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 30-40 minutes.
- Use meatballs on pasta, for a meatball sub, or however you like!
Check out our other low sodium blogs!
An award winning recipe developer, Dietitian Kaitlin’s mission is to empower others to reach their health goals by encouraging them to get back into the kitchen. Co-author of Nourished: 10 Ingredients to Happy, Healthy Eating and Cooking with Diabetes.
