Make homemade keto meatballs in less than 30 minutes with your air fryer! These low carb meatballs are great for a weeknight dinner. Freeze the extra meatballs and reheat them in your air fryer for a super easy snack or dinner!
Air Fryer Keto Meatballs
I absolutely love how easy the air fryer makes cooking healthy recipes! Plus living in Florida I try to limit the amount of times I use my oven because it's basically Summer year round.
With your air fryer you can cook these meatballs in less than 15 minutes! And no need to pre-heat the air fryer either!
If you have leftover keto meatballs you can also cook some keto meatballs in a cast iron skillet or make bacon wrapped meatballs in the air fryer!
These air fryer meatballs are great for a keto diet! Made with minimal ingredients, they're naturally high in fat, moderate in protein and low in carbs!
Why you'll love this recipe
- Great source of protein! 21g of protein for just 5 meatballs!
- Great recipe for meal prep. This recipe makes 45 meatballs (9 servings). Pack them for lunches, freeze them, or make them for a party appetizer.
- Low in Carbs! Just 3 total carbs per serving (2 net carbs)
Ingredients for keto air fryer meatballs
In this keto meatball recipe I do not use ground pork or pork rinds. Instead I used ground beef (I prefer ground chuck but you can use lean ground beef) and instead of bread crumbs or bread I use almond flour and heavy cream.
- ground beef - I use 80/20 ground chuck because I prefer a fattier meatball. You can also do half ground pork and half ground beef, or even ground turkey!
- eggs - large eggs and no need to be at room temperature
- onion - grated or minced. Just make sure they're super small. We only use a small amount to add flavor since onions are moderately high in carbs
- fresh garlic - I love to add garlic to almost everything. You can substitute garlic powder if needed.
- fresh basil and fresh parsley - pop of flavor and color
- parmesan cheese - low moisture cheese to help bind and add flavor
- seasonings - coarse salt and ground black pepper, but feel free to add Italian seasoning and other seasonings as you like
- almond flour - used in this meatball recipe instead of bread or breadcrumbs to keep the carb content low
- heavy cream - helps with moisture and adds extra fat
- water - to add if you're ground beef mixture needs a little more liquid to form into balls
How to make keto meatballs in an air fryer
In a large bowl add the ground beef, eggs, onion, garlic, basil, parsley and parmesan cheese.
Mix until well combined.
Then add the salt and pepper.
Next add the almond flour and heavy cream. Mix until the meat mixture is easily able to form a loaf.
If the mixture is too dry add the water 1 tablespoon at a time.
Next form the meat into 2 inch balls. Transfer the balls into the air fryer basket.
Only place the balls in a single layer and ~ 1 inch apart.
Cook for 10-12 minutes at 390F or until the meatballs have an internal temperature of 165F.
Recipe notes
- This recipe makes 45 meatballs. You can cut the recipe in half or you can make the entire batch but freeze leftover meatballs raw.
- How to freeze meatballs: Place raw meatballs on a parchment lined baking sheet and place them in the freezer until they are frozen. Then transfer the frozen meatballs to a glass container or large sealable baggie.
- You can cook the meatballs from frozen or thawed. If cooking from frozen add an additional 5 minutes to the cooking time. Make sure that none are stuck together and you cook them in a single layer.
How to serve
Serve the meatballs with a homemade keto spaghetti sauce or a store bought one like Rao's Marinara. Or you can make your own!
Serve over zoodles (zucchini noodles) or palmini noodles!
How to reheat
Reheat meatballs in the air fryer at 390 for 2-3 minutes. Or you can add the meatballs to some spaghetti sauce and heat them in a cast iron skillet like I do in this cast iron meatball recipe.
More Keto Air Fryer Recipes to try
Whether you follow a keto diet or just love your air fryer, you'll love these easy low carb recipes.
Easy Air Fryer Keto Meatballs Recipe
Easy Air Fryer Keto Meatballs Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground beef I use 80/20
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup minced onion
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoon fresh basil finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley finely chopped
- â…“ cup shredded Parmesan cheese or grated
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1-2 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In a large bowl add the ground beef, eggs, onion, garlic, basil, parsley and parmesan cheese. Mix until well combined.
- Then add the salt and pepper. Next add the almond flour and heavy cream. Mix until the meat mixture is easily able to form a loaf. If the mixture is too dry add the water 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Next form the meat into 2 inch balls. Transfer the balls into the air fryer basket.
- Only place the balls in a single layer and ~ 1 inch apart.
- Cook for 10-12 minutes at 390F or until the meatballs have an internal temperature of 165F.
Notes
Nutrition
Paul
Forgive me, but nowhere does it say what temperature to set the air fryer to....
Lara
390F 🙂
Old pro
It's listed in the recipe, step 5, 390.
Shirley Finegan
We tried this and substituted with cheedar cheese and ricotta cheese that I had on hand... My husband loved it... He said it was his new favorite.