These Italian Style Venison Meatballs are the most tender, flavorful, succulent meatballs you’ve ever had! Packed with garlic and onion flavor and oozing with cheese, these low carb, keto friendly venison meatballs make for a quick, simple and soul satisfying meal or an amazing holiday appetizer! Just put the in the slow cooker with sauce and you have a delicious low carb appetizer everyone will go crazy for! Grain free and gluten free!
Is it just me or do things get completely crazy around the Holidays? We just had ranch guests leave and after a week of cooking non stop, I’m in need of a comforting meal. We are busy cleaning up and menu planning for upcoming guest visits…and trying to shop for Christmas which is somewhat difficult when your an hour from the nearest store! And, while I am busy enough to call it a sandwich night, I know I need to do something more. I had a couple packages of thawed meat I the fridge that needed to be used and the first thing that came to mind meatballs. The girls love spaghetti so I knew these quick Italian Style Venison Meatballs would be a hit.
Typically I would serve these over spaghetti squash, zucchini or even gluten free pasta but tonight it was just the meatballs and a simple salad…and they were incredible! I knew they were good when I served a plate up to Maddie and after the first bite she said “Mom, don’t put those up yet…I’m going to get more!”.
These Italian style meatballs are made with venison and pork. We have a freezer full of wild game that I like to use whenever I can. It not only saves us money on meat at the grocery store, I love that I know where it came from, how it was processed and that it is free of any hormones, antibiotics or other additives that may be lurking in grocery store meat. Venison also has amazing flavor and despite what many people think, there is really no gamey taste.
Vension is a super lean meat, so for these meatballs, I mix it with our wild pork that has a little more fat content…nothing is worse than a dry meatball! The addition of herbs, seasonings and a few surprise ingredients keep these Italian Style Venison Meatballs tender, flavorful and moist. Cooking the meatballs close together and then in the sauce keeps them from drying out. I have to say they’re the best I have ever made….topped with marinara and cheese…I don’t think it gets any better.
Italian Style Venison Meatballs are gluten free, low carb, keto friendly and amazingly delicious. Serve over spaghetti squash, zucchini noodles, your favorite gluten free pasta or a la carte with a simple salad… I promise they won’t disappoint. Garlicky, cheesy, tender, moist and full of flavor…these meatballs are sure to become part of your meal arsenal! Serve the up at your holiday gathering as an yummy appetizer! Great for meal prepping too!
Looking for other great venison recipes? Check these out!
Cheesy Ricotta Stuffed Zucchini
Slow Simmered Texas Style Venison Chili
Italian Style Venison Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground venison
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil or butter
- 1/2 medium purple onion minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tbsp. Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
- 2 tsp. black pepper
- 2 tsp. granulated onion
- 2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp. dried basil
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 Tbsp. mayonnaise your favorite
- 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 Tbsp. coconut flour
- 2 tsp. GF Worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella or Italian cheese blend divided
- Olive oil
- 1 20 oz jar of your favorite marinara sauce gluten & sugar free
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Lightly grease 9×13 pan, if using a glass or metal. I used stoneware so no oiling necessary!
- In a small skillet over medium heat, add olive oil or butter and onion and saute until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for another minute. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine ground meat, onion/garlic mixture and the rest of the ingredients except 1 cup cheese and the marinara sauce. Mix well making sure to incorporate all the ingredients thoroughly.
- Form meat mixture into 1 1/2 to 2 inch balls, about the size of golf ball. Place meatballs tightly into prepared pan, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, remove meatballs from oven. (Meatballs can be frozen at this point for later use.) Pour sauce evenly over the top and return to oven and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle remaining 1 cup of cheese (or more!) over the top and return to oven for 2-3 minutes or until melted. To get brown yummy cheese, broil on high for 2-3 minutes instead of baking!
- Serve up on top of your zoodles, spaghetti squash or all by themselves with extra cheese! YUM!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are approximate and will vary depending on the ingredients used. Carbs from sugar alcohols have been excluded since they have shown to have no impact on blood sugar.
Love this! Although I cut back considerably on the Tbsp of salt
Glad you enjoyed them!
These meatballs are amazing!! We enjoy eating venison but this was my first time making meatballs. This is the only recipe I’ll use for meatballs! Thank you!