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These Gluten Free Meatballs are the perfect family dinner idea – super tender, easy to make and great for batch cooking. They’re lightly flavoured with herbs and garlic and made using a gluten free panade to lock the moisture in. Perfect for Meatballs and Spaghetti!
Gluten Free Meatballs is probably one of the most-eaten meals in our house – and nothing beats this easy, gluten free Italian meatballs recipe.
They are made using beef mince and a panade, and lightly flavoured with garlic and herbs, and perfect for tossing in any sauce with gluten free pasta.
Serve up a big pan of meatballs and spaghetti using my Marinara Sauce, add them to a Pasta Bake or even serve them with a big ol’ plate of Gluten Free Garlic Bread.
However you eat them, these beef meatballs are sure to become a regular on your gluten free meal plan and they’re also great for batch cooking and freezing too.
What is a panade?
Instead of making my meatballs with gluten free bread crumbs like a lot of recipes, I have tested lots of varieties of gluten free meatball recipes and prefer the use of a panade.
A gluten free panade is essentially gluten free bread mixed with milk, eggs and herbs. The bread absorbs the moisture before being added to the meat.
This means the meatballs stay super tender and juicy. Trust me – it’s the best way!
The word panade literally comes from the French term for ‘bread mash‘. Pretty apt as the best way to mix your panade is to get in there and mash it up with your hands!
Ingredients
You only need a few ingredients to make these easy gluten free beef meatballs:
- Beef Mince: The higher fat your beef mince (ground beef), the more flavour the meatballs will have. I usually go for around 10% fat beef mince. But you can use lean ground beef (5% fat or less) if you prefer.
- Gluten Free White Bread: You can use any shop-bought gluten free bread for this. Or use a couple of slices of homemade gluten free bread. I’d recommend not using the crusts – but you can save those to make gluten free breadcrumbs!
- Milk: To make gluten and dairy free meatballs you can use a dairy free milk such as soy milk, almond milk or gluten free oat milk.
- Egg: This helps to hold the moisture in the meatballs and bind them together.
- Garlic Paste: You can use fresh minced garlic or finely chopped garlic too. Or even substitute for 1/2 tsp garlic powder – though I prefer the taste of fresh garlic.
- Oregano: Dried oregano gives a lovely, subtle herby flavour to these meatballs. It flavours them just enough that they’ll go with any sauce!
- Fresh Parsley: Not only does this add a lovely flavour, it also adds lovely flecks of green to the meatballs which I love.
How to make gluten free meatballs
There’s a printable recipe card below with the method, but here are some step-by-step photos to show you how easy these gluten free meatballs are to make.
First make the panade:
Preheat the oven to 200C / Fan 180C / Gas Mark 6. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
Roughly break up the gluten free bread into a large mixing bowl.
Mix the milk and eggs together lightly then pour over the bread, also adding the fresh parsley, garlic paste and oregano.
Using your hands, scrunch the bread mixture together until the bread full disintegrates. Leave the bread to soak up all the moisture for 5 minutes.
To shape the meatballs:
Add the beef mince to the panade then use your hands again to ‘smush’ the mixture together.
Ensure the panade is completely distributed throughout the beef with no lumps of bread.
Once the mixture is combined, divide into 12 equal-sized portions (or 24, for smaller meatballs). Roll into balls using your hands. Place them evenly on a lined baking tray.
Bake the meatballs for 20 minutes until brown on the outside and cooked through. Add to your favourite sauce and serve with pasta or rice.
To make gluten free meatballs in the air fryer:
Instead of baking these gluten free meatballs in the oven you can also cook them in the air fryer.
Simply spread them in one even layer in the air fryer basket with space between them. Then air fry at 200C (392F) for 12-15 minutes until brown and cooked through.
You may need to give them a little shake to turn them halfway through. I also recommend spraying the air fryer basket with a little oil to stop them sticking.
Variations
I think these gluten free meatballs are perfect as they are but I do have a few flavour variations you can try:
- Italian Meatballs: Substitute the dried oregano for 1-2 tsp mixed Italian herbs for a more herby flavour, perfect for serving with spaghetti and a tomato sauce.
- Spicy Meatballs: You can add some chopped fresh chilli, chilli paste or dried red pepper flakes to the meatballs to serve with a spicy, arrabbiata sauce.
- Smoky Meatballs: Add 1 tsp mild chilli powder and 1 tsp smoked paprika to your meatballs for a smoky flavour.
- Curried Meatballs: Want to use your beef meatballs in a curry? Swap the herbs for 1/2 tsp cumin and 1 tsp curry powder instead for curried meatballs, and use them instead of the turkey meatballs in my slow cooker curry recipe.
Serving Suggestions
Looking for ideas on how to serve these gluten free meatballs? Here are my top suggestions and favourite ways to serve them:
- Meatballs and Spaghetti: Using gluten free spaghetti and my favourite marinara sauce to create the ultimate family dinner. Gluten free garlic bread optional, but encouraged!
- Meatball Sub: Use my gluten free Meatball Sub recipe to create the ultimate treat, best served with a good wodge of serviettes!
- Pasta Bake: You can use these meatballs in my gluten free meatball pasta bake recipe for a really tasty alternative to spaghetti.
- Batch Cooking: Gluten free meatballs are great for meal prep. Simply whip up a giant batch and freeze them for when you need them.
- With Wedges: If you’re tired of pasta, try serving up a saucy portion of gluten free meatballs with my air fryer sweet potato wedges for something different.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some FAQs about this gluten free meatballs recipe – if you can’t find the answer to your question here or in the post above, please comment and I’ll try answer!
Yes, you can! Spray the air fryer basket with a little oil then spread the meatballs in one even layer in the air fryer basket with space between them, then air fry at 200C (392F) for 12-15 minutes until brown and cooked through. You may need to give them a little shake to turn them halfway through, so I definitely recommend spraying the air fryer basket with a little oil to stop them sticking.
Freezing these gluten free meatballs is easy. You can freeze them either before or after cooking – or even once mixed into sauce.
I find the best way to do freeze meatballs is to lay them out on a baking sheet or board and pop that in the freezer. Then once they have frozen, decant into a tub or bag for easier storage. Defrost and reheat (or cook) before eating.
Nowadays a lot of meatballs are gluten free as they use a gluten free bread crumb. It’s always best to double check as some do still contain wheat, but I don’t see that too often. However, homemade meatballs taste so much better, are cheaper, and you can flavour them however you like to suit the dish you’re cooking.
If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. You can also share your creations in my Facebook group! And please do leave a 5* review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me and really helps support my website.
Gluten Free Meatballs
Ingredients
- 500 g beef mince
- 2 slices gluten free white bread
- 50 ml milk
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp garlic paste
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- handful fresh parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C / Fan 180C / Gas Mark 6. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
- First make the panade. Roughly break up the gluten free bread into a large mixing bowl. Mix the milk and eggs together lightly then pour over the bread, also adding the fresh parsley, garlic paste and oregano.
- Using your hands, scrunch the bread mixture together until the bread full disintegrates. Leave the bread to soak up all the moisture for 5 minutes.
- Add the beef mince to the panade then use your hands again to ‘smush’ the mixture together, ensuring the panade is completely distributed throughout the beef with no lumps of bread.
- Once the mixture is combined, divide into 12 equal-sized portions (or 24, for smaller meatballs) and roll into balls using your hands. Place them evenly on a lined baking tray.
- Bake the meatballs for 20 minutes until brown on the outside and cooked through. Add to your favourite sauce and serve with pasta or rice.
Notes
- Air Frying? For instructions on how to air fry these gluten free meatballs, check out the FAQs and blog post above this recipe card.
- Freezing and Storing: This recipe is great for batch cooking and meal prep! Check out the FAQs above this recipe card for storage instructions and how to freeze these gluten free meatballs.
- Serving Suggestions: I’ve got lots of delicious recipe suggestions in the blog post above for how to serve your gluten free meatballs once cooked.
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* rating and tell all your gluten free friends about this Gluten Free Meatballs!
Nutrition
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