With three kinds of veggies and the texture and flavor that your kids expect, these Healthy Meatballs are a perfect family dinner option. And since the baked meatballs taste so good, the kids will be happy to tuck into their plates! (Bonus: They freeze well too.)
Best Meatball Recipe
I know that toddlers can be a demoralizing task, especially when they refuse their veggies day after day. And while I’m all for continuing to expose them to what we want them to eat, there are times when tucking veggies into foods they already love can go a long way towards making us all feel better at mealtime.
Healthy Meatballs Recipe for Kids
When L was a year old, I distinctly remember a meal when she ate 3 full size meatballs. I couldn’t believe that such a little person could have such a big appetite. And while her little sister doesn’t have the natural affinity for meat, they both happily dig into these toddler meatballs—and get an extra serving of vegetables in the process.
How to Make Healthy Baked Meatballs Step-By-Step
- Preheat the oven and gather your ingredients including carrots, parsley, onion, ground beef, breadcrumbs, eggs, milk, Parmesan, and salt.
- Grind up the veggies in a food processor. Add the remaining ingredients and grind to combine into a smooth mixture.
- Portion into 2-tablespoon size meatballs, place on the baking sheet, and bake the meatballs.
- . Serve with warm marinara sauce and pasta (or ketchup and other simple sides!) as desired.
Can I make these into mini meatballs?
Many kids like it when things are more their size, so know that you can make these in 1-inch balls and reduce the cooking time to closer to about 18 minutes. You could even thread them onto a popsicle stick and offer them with a dipping sauce for a fun option!
Can I use ground turkey in this recipe?
If you want to make your toddler turkey meatballs, simply swap in ground turkey for the ground beef in the recipe below. The texture and flavor will be similar, and the meatballs will have a slightly lighter final color. You may need to reduce the cooking time slightly. Aim for an internal temperature of 165 degrees and try not to over cook.
Make-Ahead Meatballs for Kids
You can make a batch of these baked meatballs ahead of time, let cool fully, and freeze in a zip top freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge or simmer in a quart of marinara sauce in a large pot until thawed and warmed through. They’re a great recipe to make a double batch—serve one batch for dinner this week and stash the other into the freezer for a future easy meal!
Baked Meatballs for Baby Led Weaning
Meatballs with hidden vegetables are an excellent food for baby led weaning. You can offer small cubes or mash into marinara or tomato sauce and offer on a preloaded spoon. Your baby will get iron, as well as protein and fiber. And lots of flavor they will love!
Nutrition in Healthy Meatballs
These meatballs have vitamin A and C from the carrots and parsley, as well as fiber. Parsley, which I know we all think of as a garnish, has similar nutrition as other leafy greens, and the flavor pairs much better with the other meatball ingredients. (You can also try baby spinach if you like.) There is protein of course and some calcium from the cheese. The onion adds some extra antioxidants too.
Tips for Making the Best Healthy Meatballs
- Use veggies without intense flavors because you don’t want to frustrate your little eaters with a meatball that doesn’t taste like a meatball!
- Grind the veggies up before you add the rest of the ingredients to make sure they are all uniform in size. This is key. You’re aiming for the veggies to have a similar consistency as the ground meat.
- Resist the urge to add in more veggies. There is over a cup of veggies in this recipe, which is enough to add extra nutrients, yet you honestly can’t tell. (My husband couldn’t tell either, which was honestly the true test!) If you add more, the texture won’t be as good.
- Serve them with a sauce your family likes, whether that’s marinara, meat sauce, or even ketchup.
- Simmer them in marinara sauce for even more tender and flavorful meatballs, just like grandma would have done! (Or at least, my grandma would have, though you of course don’t have to.)
- Even though there are vegetables tucked into this recipe, I still recommend being honest with your kids about what they’re eating. Let them take a bite, be excited about their dinner, and then share the good news!
- To make these gluten-free, simply use GF breadcrumbs (these are really good) or even cornmeal.
I’d love to hear your feedback on this recipe, so please comment below!
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With the texture you expect from a traditional meatball, but added nutrition from three types of veggies, your whole family will love these.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup carrots, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup parsley leaves, lightly packed
- 1 small onion, peeled and halved
- 1/2 cup Italian flavored breadcrumbs
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Coat with nonstick spray. Place the carrots, parsley, and onion into a food processor. Grind well, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the remaining ingredients and grind to combine into a smooth mixture. Portion into 2-tablespoon size meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with warm marinara sauce and pasta (or ketchup and other simple sides!) as desired.
Notes
To store, let cool fully and store in an airtight container in the fridge or up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
TIPS
- Grind the veggies up before you add the rest of the ingredients to make sure they are all uniform in size. This is key. You’re aiming for the veggies to have a similar consistency as the ground meat.
- Resist the urge to add in more veggies. There is over a cup of veggies in this recipe, which is enough to add extra nutrients, yet you honestly can’t tell.
- Serve them with a sauce your family likes, whether that’s marinara, meat sauce, or even ketchup.
- Simmer them in marinara sauce for even more tender and flavorful meatballs.
- Even though there are vegetables tucked into this recipe, I still recommend being honest with your kids about what they’re eating. Let them take a bite, be excited about their dinner, and then share the good news!
- To make these gluten-free, simply use GF breadcrumbs (these are really good) or even cornmeal.
- Serve them diced or mashed to younger toddlers and babies as needed.
- Sub in ground turkey if desired.
We have just had these for supper and they were delicious. I didn’t have an egg so reduced the amount of breadcrumbs and they held together nicely. I added some dried herbs and a touch of cumin. My toddler and husband loved them.
★★★★★
I’m so glad to hear that!
I’m about to try this but would just like to ask out of curiosity, is the milk necessary ? Does it provide flavour or help the mixture in any way? Are milk alternatives a good replacement? Or if allergies are a problem do we just leave it out completely?
You could try leaving it out completely. If it seems a little dry, add 1-2 tbsp water.
These meatballs are FIRE!!! Super stupid good… crazy tasty… freakin good! I didnt have fresh parsley, so I added a bunch of dried instead and. they. were. SO BOMB! My 17 month old girl didnt like them, but dude…. I’ll make these for myself once a week! Heavy rotation! 🔥🔥🔥👍👍👍🤤🤤🤤
★★★★★
Hooray!! (And hopefully your girl will pick up on your enthusiasm and learn to love them too!)
Can I substitute spinach instead of Parsley?
That should work fine!
Can I leave the egg out? My baby has a sensitivity to eggs. What could I use as a substitute ?
I haven’t tried them without egg but you could leave it out and reduce the breadcrumbs by maybe about half, or replace the egg with 1/4 cup mashed roasted sweet potato. I think both of those options should work okay. Please let me know if you try it!
I made this recipe tonight and they turned out great, exactly as written.
I have now made several of your recipes for my picky three year old, and I am so excited at how wonderful they all have been.
Before I had my son, I was obsessed with cooking and fancy, involved recipes – things that haven’t really fit into my lifestyle post-baby. Your recipes have made me excited about cooking again – they are relatively quick, use simple, healthy ingredients, and I have enjoyed them just as much as my son has.
Thank you so much for bringing joy back into my kitchen!
★★★★★
I’m so, so happy to hear that!
Will this work with pork mince? Also do we grind up the ingredients to a paste?
I haven’t tried it with all pork and I worry that they would be very soft since pork tends to have more fat. Maybe try it with half pork and half beef first? And yes, you do basically grind the veggies up—not quite paste like, but fairly close.
These are great, my 21 month old LOVES them and we eat them too. He won’t eat carrots otherwise. So easy, I made a big batch and froze them. Heated them up in the toaster oven when needed. Going to try making them with spinach today, we’ll see if it works!
★★★★★
These are so delicious! Forget kid friendly, I’d eat these all day!
★★★★★
I’m so glad!
Made this for my picky toddler and omg they are soo good. My whole family loves them!
★★★★★
I’m so glad!
You say not to use vegetables with strong flavours, then you add onions! My children and I absolutely hate onions, and can find even the smallest onion in anything. Almost everyone says that you can’t taste them but you can!
So interesting! To me, onions are mild when cooked but something like kale would have a strong green flavor. Proof that we’re all unique!
I made these tonight to have with my Dad’s famous spaghetti sauce. Not only did my 15 month old love them, so did my whole family! Nobody knew about the carrots u til I mentioned it 😉
What are the baking instructions from frozen?
Hooray!!! I’m so glad to hear that they were such a success. You can either simmer frozen meatballs in a pot of sauce on medium-low until warmed through or thaw overnight in the fridge and then warm through in the microwave in 30 second increments.
Great recipe! My toddler and husband both loved them!
★★★★★
Hooray! Thanks so much for letting me know!
Could I use almond meal with italian seasoning instead of breadcrumbs?
I would think that would work/taste fine though I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure! Please let me know if you do try it!