Italian Chia Meatballs
Italian Chia meatballs
Makes 2 serves
Ingredients
250 grams ground beef
120 grams tomato paste
2 teaspoons stock powder
2 tablesppoons ground chia seeds – you can buy milled chia seeds or grind the seeds yourself
one diced onion
teaspoon dried oregano
Method
Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
Form into meatballs and cook gently in a
nonstick pan turning a couple of times. Takes around 15-20 minutes to cook through.
Can also be cooked in the oven 350 degrees for 20 minutes
Serve with vegetables or salad
Just wondering whether you could try this with pasta, with maybe a sauce over it?
Of course you could Shauna. The meatballs could go well with pasta and a tomato based pasta sauce.
Would like to know how many calories in the Italian Chia meatballs recipe per serving if poss, anyone know?
Go to Fitday.com for information on calories contained in any recipe of your choosing. They have just about any ingredient you can think of and several different quantities. They even have chia seeds listed along with their calories!
Have 3 wonderful friends that are Italian and each family is from a different region of Italy and ALL use tomato in a lot of their recipes. Some more than others.
Hi, I make meatballs for my family often. I use one pound grassfed ground beef, one pound organic pasture-raised ground pork, one cup bread crumbs, one diced sauteed onion, one little jar tomato paste and severall tablespoons ground fresh herbs: thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary, parsley, in whatever combination I have on hand.
This is delicious browned then simmered in tomato sauce and served as a sort of stew. It can also be baked as a meat loaf and served sliced.
I would like to know if chia seeds can be used as a substitute for the bread crumbs as a binder (soaks up the juices and keeps the well-done meat moist). If so, should they be ground or whole? And how much to use to get the absorptive power of one cup of bread crumbs?
Your recipe sounds great Jess. Chia seeds make a very good binding agent. I feel you could use either ground or whole chia seeds, but I would start off with the ground chia seeds. One tablespoon should be enough to bind the amount of meat you are using, but it may take another half a tablespoon to get the texture you want. Try adding one tablespoon to the mixture, let the mixture stand for 10 to 15 minutes to let the chia do its binding magic, then gradually add more if needed. Too much ground chia seed could result in your mixture being a bit dry. I would love to hear how you get on with this Jess.
Please! No Italian would put tomato paste in meatballs! That makes them bitter! If you have enough liquid you can add your own bread crumbs.
I will try to modify this to see what happens but who ever made this recipe is not from the Mediterranean. Wheres the cheese, eggs, oregano and Sea salt &ground pepper???
Hi Carol. You are quite right, I am Australian, not Italian. I made this recipe in an attempt to get my son to eat some chia seeds. He liked them! I would love to hear how your modified recipe turns out.
Sorry but chill dude. No offense but you are so wrong. There are many and I mean many Italian recipies that all differ and even use tomato paste. If you have ever been to Italy you’d notice it’s combined with many regions and each cook differently.
Lay off the processed Seasoning bases loaded with MSG. Counteracts all health benefits of chia.
I heartily agree with you Mike. I look for brands that are all natural with no MSG or other chemicals added.
2 teaspoons stock powder
What is this?
You may know this better as bouillon powder, broth powder or even as vegetable soup and seasoning base. Its like stock but in a powdered form instead of a liquid Betsy.