Low Carb Pasta: Spaghetti & Meatballs Recipe

Next up for review, thanks to Netrition.com is Great Low Carb Pasta and Organic Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce. You can see the ingredients & nutrition facts for each at those links by selecting an option from the drop down menu.

I decided to start with a traditional “spaghetti & meatballs” meal. And let me just say: you KNOW I don’t typically cook. 😛 Netrition sent me the pasta & sauce to try for you (to give you a candid review), and they also sponsored this post.

So I had an incentive to make a mess in the kitchen. 😉

Oh – and I also made a NON pasta version of this same dish, using veggies instead of pasta, which I knew some of you would appreciate.;)

Lets start with the meatballs, because you have to make those first…

Low Carb Spinach Parmesan Meatballs

I love to play “hide the spinach” lol, plus I wanted to add some green nutrients to this meal, so I chose to add chopped spinach to the meatballs for this pasta dish.

These meatballs alone are amazing, with or without pasta!

You can make yours larger, but I made 25 smaller meatballs at 59 calories each and just .2 (less than 1/4) net carbs each.

Ingredients:

• 1 Pound Ground Chuck
• 2 Cups (162g) Chopped Spinach
• 1 Large Egg
• 1/2 Cup Finely Shredded Parmesan Cheese
• 1 TSP, Mccormick Peppercorn Medley Grinder
• 1/2 TBSP Onion Powder
• 1/2 TBSP Garlic Powder

 

I used frozen spinach, so I cooked that first and drained it well – then let it cool off. I whisked the egg and added that plus all the other ingredients into a bowl with the ground chuck:

I mixed it real well “by hand” just like meatloaf or sausage balls:

Next I rolled them into balls.

I wanted them all to be the same size, for the sake of a proper recipe calculation and macros-per-meatball, so I used a 1/8th measuring cup:

I placed them on a baking sheet lined with foil (for easy cleanup) and baked them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Keep in mind that my meatballs were small, so if you make yours larger you’ll want to cook them longer.

The house smelled AMAZING while these were cooking!

They came out perfect. 🙂

What I would do differently next time…

The meatballs were GREAT just like they were, but in the future I would definitely add more garlic & onion powder. Or perhaps minced garlic & onion. And they would be great with half sausage / half ground beef too.

Here’s what they look like when you cut them in half, chock full of spinach! 🙂

 

Low Carb Organic Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce

I was already a huge fan of the Organico Bello Organic Marinara, so it’s no surprise that I also LOVED the Organic Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce.

YUM, it’s literally PERFECT – straight out of the jar!

To make the sauce for my “Low Carb Spaghetti & Meatballs” I sauteed mushrooms in a TBSP of real butter first, then poured in 1 cup of the sauce and simmered them together – making three 1/3 cup servings of “spaghetti sauce.”

In the future I would also saute minced garlic & onion for an even better sauce!

 

Low Carb Pasta (Rotini)

The Great Low Carb Pasta is super quick & easy. You just boil the noodles for 10 minutes – that’s it!

My advice: after you drain them, salt & butter them immediately, then serve whatever you please over them. The salt & butter would really bring out the flavor!

Speaking of, they didn’t have any weird taste or aftertaste, or even an odd smell. I don’t know what I expected, lol. It’s pretty much just like typical pasta.

 

Non Pasta Alternative

If you cannot, or do not want to use low carb pasta… you can simply serve your “pasta dishes” over steamed veggies instead. For this dish I sauteed Broccoli Slaw in real butter (which you can get in the produce section at Wal-Mart or Kroger usually).

 

Final Thoughts…

So there you have it. 🙂

I cleaned my plate, except I only ate half my serving of pasta. I’m not used to eating pasta at all, so that was kinda weird. 🙂 Plus the pasta was VERY filling!

I definitely prefer the sauce & meatballs over the sauteed broccoli slaw, just because that’s how I’ve grown accustomed to eating my “pasta dishes” since going keto.

I love the idea though, and love that there ARE pasta alternatives for diabetics and people that eat low carb!

My FAVORITE so far has been the Low Carb Fettucine noodles:

 

I made up a whole batch of the Spinach Parmesan Meatballs, and ten of those I rolled in the Organic Tomato & Basil Sauce before baking them. Those turned out great too! 🙂 I’m planning to eat those more like an “appetizer” with a spicy dip.

Stay tuned for that!

Next I’m going to make a Thai Shrimp Pasta, and either Chicken Alfredo or Parmesan Chicken – and a cold pasta salad dish as well. I think I’ll enjoy those even more!! I’ve never been a big “spaghetti & meatballs” person, but I loved the low carb fettuccine dish (above) – which had roasted broccoli & garlic and smoked sausage.

I ate all of that – like four servings worth. 🙂 lol…

Order the Low Carb Rotini, Penne or Fettucine

Order the Organic Low Carb Pasta Sauce or Marinara

What about you…

What would YOU make?

Ideas please! 🙂

Best,
Lynn Terry,
aka @LowCarbTraveler

p.s. I almost forgot the macros! haha – I had 5 meatballs, half a serving of the pasta, and 1 serving of the sauce (including the sauteed mushrooms):

 

 

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