Spaghetti and Meatballs . . . certainly a family favorite.
I grew up eating this Italian staple and even have fond memories of a 4th-grade friend spilling her whole plate of spaghetti down me at a sleepover!
When we started out gluten-free life, we were not about to give up this dish, talk about comfort food right! Changes had to be made to fit our gluten-free needs.
Hello, substitutions!
Making Your Own
This is our own easy and delicious, gluten-free spaghetti and meatballs, which is made often at our home. It’s the perfect recipe to double and freeze.
Meatballs are an easy travel meal. They’ve joined us on many vacations and car trips as they defrost well and offer dinner in a snap.
This gluten-free spaghetti and meatball dinner is a definite recipe to add to your family meal rotation.
Remember to cook up in a double batch and freeze one. On a busy night, you’ll have a healthy, delicious dinner in a flash.
Preparing Gluten-Free Spaghetti and Meatballs
For this recipe, you want to prepare the meatballs first.
You’ll need:
1 lb ground turkey, small onion, diced, spices: parsley, basil & garlic, gluten-free oats, and an egg
Place everything into a large bowl and mix until well blended. I like to use a potato masher for this which mixes everything up quite nicely. (I think I may have learned that from Rachel Ray!)
Preheat oven to 375°. Prepare the baking dish – use a glass 9×13 or a jellyroll cookie sheet, brush with olive oil.
Roll the meat mixture into balls, golf ball-sized works well.
Once they are in the oven, make the sauce. They need to bake for 20 minutes.
Then, rotate the pan and bake for another 15 minutes.
This way, when the meatballs come out of the oven you can add
them right into the sauce.
Then, just simmer away. The longer you simmer the better the flavor!
Enjoy the meatballs with your favorite gluten-free pasta (spaghetti/noodles), raw zucchini noodles, over quinoa, or on your favorite gluten-free rolls for a delicious meatball sandwich.
Enjoy a dinner with the family where your kids can enter the “clean plate club” as they clear their plates completely when eating this meal! No more worrying about what’s for dinner!
Our Family's Gluten-Free Spaghetti & Meatballs
Jennifer Marcks / Gluten Free MARCKS the SpotIngredients
Meatballs
- 1 lb. ground turkey
- ½ small onion (diced)
- 1 egg
- 1 handful (¼ cup) gluten-free rolled oats
- 1 - 1½ t. dried basil
- 1 ½ t. dried parsley
- 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
- olive oil
Sauce
- 1 small onion (diced)
- 1 14 oz. can of organic crushed tomatoes
- 1-2 t. dried parsley
- 1-2 t. dried basil
- garlic clove (crushed)
- 1 cup water
- olive oil
Instructions
Meatballs
- Place everything into a large bowl and mix until well blended. A potato masher works well for this. (I think I may have learned that from Rachel Ray!)
- Preheat oven to 375°. Prepare the baking dish - use a glass 9x13 or a jellyroll cookie sheet. Brush olive oil on the bottom of the dish.
- Roll the meat mixture into balls, golf ball sized works well. You can make them bigger if you desire, just add about 5 more minutes to the oven time if you do so.
- Bake meatballs for 15 minutes. Rotate pan all the way around and bake another 10-15 minutes.
- Take out of oven, place meatballs into sauce pan. Let simmer 1 – 5 hours. The longer you can let then simmer in the sauce, the more flavorful they become.
- Check and stir meatballs every 20 minutes, adding a little bit of water if needed as the meatballs absorb the sauce as they cook. (Be careful not to dilute the sauce too much!)
- Make the sauce once you put the meatballs into the oven.
Sauce
- Place 1T olive oil into a large soup pot. Chop the onion and sauté for about 5 minutes, just until softened.
- Pour in the can of crushed tomatoes.
- Add the parsley, basil and garlic.
- Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer. Add 1 cup of water, let simmer.
- Once baked, add the meatballs to the sauce, simmer on low for 1 – 5 hours.
- Enjoy with your favorite gluten-free pasta, over quinoa or greens or on your favorite gluten-free roll for a meatball sandwich.
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