These air fryer meatballs are full of flavor and versatile enough to serve in many ways. If you don’t have an air fryer, you can easily bake them instead. This recipe is suitable for low-carb, paleo, and Whole30 lifestyles when you choose compliant ingredients.
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What Is An Air Fryer?
An air fryer isn’t actually frying food. It’s a compact countertop convection oven that circulates hot air at high speed to create a crispy, “fried” exterior using very little oil. Because it uses convection heat, an air fryer often cooks faster than a conventional oven while still producing a nicely browned surface. Air fryers come in various sizes; a 5.8-quart model comfortably fits about one pound of meatballs.
Healthy Air Fryer Meatball Recipe
This meatball recipe aims to hit the trifecta: low-carb, paleo, and Whole30 compatible. It’s flavorful and adaptable — use ground beef, turkey, chicken, or pork depending on preference. To keep the recipe compliant, breadcrumbs are replaced with almond flour; other compliant flours like cassava or coconut flour may work if you prefer. Shape the meatballs uniformly, roughly making 10–12 meatballs from this batch so they cook evenly. If you already have a favorite meatball recipe, feel free to substitute it.
Meatball Recipes
Meatball Zoodle Soup
Spaghetti Squash & Meatballs
Meatball Dinner
Meatballs with Zoodles
Herb Mixture
Dry herbs work well here because they’re convenient and shelf-stable. The blend used in this recipe is dried basil, oregano, and rosemary, but dried parsley or thyme are good alternatives. If you have an Italian seasoning blend, substitute one tablespoon of that for the individual herbs.
Freezing The Meatballs
You can freeze these meatballs either raw or cooked. To prevent sticking, arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze until solid, then transfer to a freezer bag. Uncooked meatballs keep 1–2 months and cooked meatballs last 2–3 months. One advantage of the air fryer is that you can cook or reheat meatballs straight from frozen. If baking from frozen, thaw overnight in the refrigerator for best results.
I used a 5.8-quart air fryer for this recipe.
Air Fryer or Baked Herb Meatballs
- Author: Shannon Epstein
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 22 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground meat (beef, turkey, chicken, or pork)
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons almond flour (or other compliant flour)
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
Prepare the meatballs
- In a medium bowl, combine the ground meat, egg, almond flour, dried herbs, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using. Mix until evenly blended.
- Shape the mixture into 10–12 even meatballs.
Air Fryer
- Place meatballs in a single layer in the air fryer basket without overlapping; cook in batches if needed.
- Air fry at 380°F (193°C) for 9–10 minutes, shaking the basket or turning the meatballs halfway through, until browned and cooked through.
Bake
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and arrange meatballs in a single layer.
- Bake uncovered 18–22 minutes, or until no longer pink in the center and cooked through.
Nutrition
- Calories: 195
- Sugar: 0.6 g
- Sodium: 543 mg
- Fat: 10.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 1.9 g
- Fiber: 0.8 g
- Protein: 24.2 g
- Cholesterol: 124.7 mg
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