Caprese Meatballs are the perfect easy, healthy meal! Low carb, filled with flavor, and done in 30 minutes – they’re great for dinner or meal prepping! Serve them over a salad, with rice, or with pasta!
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Is there anything better than a caprese salad?! Creamy mozzarella, sweet tomatoes, basil.. drizzled with rich olive oil and a little salt/pepper. I’m drooling just thinking about it!!
I wanted to make a meal that would have all the flavors of caprese salad, in a healthier, high protein form.
If you love all things tomato, basil, and mozzarella – we have this Caprese Pasta Salad, Chicken Caprese Zucchini Noodles, and Chicken Caprese Quinoa Meal Prep Bowls which are all delicious.. but we love meatballs and thought that they would be just as yummy with those ingredients too!
These caprese meatballs give you all the flavor of caprese salad, but are lower in fat, and higher in protein! Serve them over a spinach salad, with roasted veggies, or with a grain/side like this easy farro salad.
They’re super easy to make (only 6 ingredients) and SO yummy. You’re going to love them!
Ingredients for Caprese Meatballs:
To make Caprese Meatballs you’ll need:
- ground turkey
- fresh mozzarella balls
- cherry tomatoes
- olive oil
- fresh basil
- salt, pepper
- almond flour
There are some substitutions below for these meatballs – check them out if you need to make a switch for any of these ingredients.
How to make Caprese Meatballs:
Making caprese meatballs are super easy.
- Add all your ingredients in a bowl.
- Stir the batter to combine (we use our mixer)
- Roll the meatballs in 1.5 tablespoon balls and bake on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake until golden brown + you’re good to go!
Admittedly, these meatballs aren’t the prettiest. I mean… meatballs, in general, aren’t exactly pretty, but… they do taste amazing!
When you drizzle them with a little balsamic – no one will even notice!
Storing/Serving Caprese Meatballs:
Storing: You can store these caprese meatballs in the refrigerator for 4 days in an airtight container.
Freezing: You can freeze these caprese meatballs. Sometimes cheese can get a little funny when frozen/reheated – but I didn’t really have any issues. If you are freezing these meatballs – freeze them after they have been baked.
Reheating: To reheat them, defrost them in the refrigerator for 12ish hours or just pop them in the microwave or toaster oven until they are defrosted.
Serving Caprese Meatballs
These meatballs are great for lunch or dinner. Here are some ideas for how you can serve them:
- Salad (we keep it pretty simple.. spinach + olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt/pepper is perfect!)
- Alongside veggies: Lemon Parmesan Roasted Asparagus, Healthy Green Beans Almondine, and Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad will all go well with this
- Alongside carbs: Rosemary Spiralized Potatoes or this Easy Farro Salad or Tater Tot Casserole would go well with the meatballs
- With Fresh Cherry Tomato Sauce
- Rice, or quinoa
You can also serve these meatballs as an appetizer! Serve on toothpicks, topped with marinara or with warm marinara off to the side in a bowl. These would also be great on sliders with mozzarella/tomatoes! They would also be yummy with pesto for dipping!
Substitutions for Caprese Meatballs:
These meatballs are relatively versatile. Feel free to make any of the substitutions below to accommodate your diet.
Meat: You can make these meatballs with ground beef, ground chicken, or ground turkey
Cheese: I used fresh mozzarella balls in this recipe – they have so much more flavor than regular shredded mozzarella. You can use shredded mozzarella, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have to!
Almond Flour: If you’re allergic to nuts, you can sub breadcrumbs for almond flour.
Dairy Free: You can omit the parmesan/mozzarella but these will not be as flavorful!
Fresh Basil: You can sub 2 tablespoons fresh basil for 1 teaspoon dried basil. We recommend fresh herbs if you have them!
Other healthy meatball recipes:
We love healthy meatballs. They’re easy to make, great for meal prep/meals, and are so yummy! Here are a few of our favorite healthy meatball recipes.
Caprese Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1/2 cup mozzarella balls diced in small pieces
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes diced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil finely chopped
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt optional
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Prepare a parchment paper lined baking sheet (not foil!)
- In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix until combined.
- Roll into 1.5 tablespoon balls. If the batter is sticking to your hands, spray them with a little bit of olive oil or pour olive oil into your hands. You can also use a cookie scoop.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until meatballs are golden brown on the outside.
- Serve over a salad or with rice, cauliflower rice or pasta.
Video
Notes
- Meat: You can make these meatballs with ground beef, ground chicken or ground turkey
- Cheese: I used fresh mozzarella balls in this recipe – they have so much more flavor than regular shredded mozzarella. You can use shredded mozzarella, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have to!
- Almond Flour: If you’re allergic to nuts, you can sub breadcrumbs for almond flour.
- Dairy Free: You can omit the parmesan/mozzarella but these will not be as flavorful!
- Fresh Basil: You can sub 2 tablespoons fresh basil for 1 teaspoon dried basil. We recommend fresh herbs if you have them!
Jocelyn says
10/10!! I love recipes that we can freeze, and meatballs is a go to for a quick dinner for us!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thanks, Jocelyn!! Glad you like them 🙂
Laura says
What an amazing lunch and on the go dish! I absolutely loved the flavors and light on the stomach. Very easy to make and will definitely be added to my favorites list. Plus my coworkers want to make when I talked about how amazing and easy they were to make.
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you like them, Laura! They’re one of my favs too – super light and flavorful!
Nikki says
These were awesome! My whole family loved them!! So easy to put together and make. We tried some over spinach like suggested with balsamic vinegar and oil and some in pasta and both options were delicious! We preferred the option on spinach but both were great!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked them, Nikki! That sounds delicious!