Juicy and tender, these easy low carb meatballs with sauce are made in just a few minutes in your Instant Pot! These keto friendly Instant Pot meatballs are the perfect topping for cooked spaghetti squash or zoodles! A Hungry family favorite!
This week is all about low carb Instant Pot recipes, and will end with a collection of my favorite keto friendly Instant Pot recipes on Friday. I’m traveling in the states right now so hopefully I’ll be able to stay on schedule – if not I promise to post the rest next week instead!
It’s no secret that I love meatballs, so when I was brainstorming low carb recipes to make using the Instant Pot, this easy keto meatballs and sauce recipe was at the top of the list! It’s a variation of the basic meatballs from my popular low carb Meatballs alla Parmigiana recipe, and I was really hoping that cooking them in the Instant Pot would be easy and yield good results.
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Having never used an Instant Pot to make meatballs before, I wasn’t sure that they wouldn’t just turn to mush, leaving me with meat sauce when I opened it after cooking. So it was with trepidation that I did the first test run, and I was ridiculously excited that they not only held together, but were so much juicier and more tender than my traditional method!
Usually it takes all day simmering in the sauce for them to get that gorgeous flavor and texture – but these meatballs cooked in my Instant Pot in just 10 minutes!
Typically I would saute my meatballs in olive oil to get a nice brown crust on them and then simmer them in my easy keto marinara sauce for a bit. I considered sautéing that first batch in a nonstick pan and then finishing them in the IP, but that kind of defeats the purpose of the ease of using my Instant Pot to make meatballs.
Because the Instant Pot comes with the saute feature, I tried browning the meatballs in a little olive oil in the stainless insert that comes with it. They stuck like crazy. So after the initial batch was browned and left a lot of meat stuck to the bottom, I just layered the rest of the meatballs in raw and poured the sauce over them.
After cooking the Instant Pot meatballs on low pressure for 10 minutes and releasing the steam, I really did expect to find a meat sauce in there, but the meatballs were fully intact. Be sure to leave space between them though and don’t jam them in too tight.
So you can brown the meatballs first, or not brown them first – the bottom ones that had browned didn’t taste any different than the others. That being said, the bits of browned meat from the process did melt into the sauce, and probably added another layer of flavor to it that cooking all of them raw in it wouldn’t have.
No matter which method you use to make these low carb Instant Pot meatballs, I’m fully confident they will be delicious!
Another point I want to add is that I used the equivalent of 85/15 lean beef and there was definitely an oil slick at the top of the sauce. I spooned some of it off and it wasn’t a problem.
You could probably get away with a leaner beef for this meatball recipe if you want to skip that step – I don’t know if it will make your meatballs less tender or not. I suspect you’ll be fine either way – you can even use ground turkey for these Instant Pot meatballs if you prefer.
If you don’t yet have an Instant Pot and are wondering what all the fuss is about, you can get more information on why I love them over on the IBIH Pantry Recommendations Page! It’s my hand’s down favorite appliance and I have gifted many of them to friends and IBIH readers at my own expense because of it!
Look for more low carb Instant Pot recipes coming soon!
How to Make Meatballs in the Instant Pot – Low Carb
Juicy and tender, these easy Italian meatballs and sauce are made in just 10 minutes in the Instant Pot! Low Carb and Gluten Free too!
- Yield: 5 servings 1x
- Category: Low Carb Instant Pot Recipe
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 1.5 lbs ground beef (85/15 or leaner)
- 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ½ cup almond flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried onion flakes
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- 1/3 cup warm water
To cook the meatballs:
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 3 cups easy keto marinara sauce (or any sugar free marinara sauce)
Instructions
- Combine meatball ingredients in a medium bowl and mix thoroughly by hand.
- Form into approximately 15 two inch meatballs.
- Coat the bottom of the Instant Pot insert with the olive oil.
- If you wish to brown them, turn on the saute function and brown on both sides – or brown in a separate nonstick pan first.
- Layer the browned or raw meatballs in the Instant Pot, leaving 1/2 inch of space between them. Don’t press down.
- Pour the marinara sauce evenly over the meatballs.
- Seal the Instant Pot according to the manufacturers instructions.
- Set the Instant Pot to Manual.
- Select low pressure.
- Set the cook time to 10 minutes.
- Once the timer goes off (it will be longer than 10 minutes total due to preheating time,) turn the valve to vent and allow the steam to dissipate completely.
- Remove the lid and serve the meatballs with sauce over zoodles or spaghetti squash if desired.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3 meatballs, 1/2 cup sauce
- Calories: 455
- Fat: 33g
- Carbohydrates: 5g net
- Protein: 34g
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Hi there
Wondering if tapioca flour would work? I am gluten free and just use regular all purpose gluten free flour?
Regular flour won’t work the same – typically bread crumbs are used in meatballs so if you have gluten free bread crumbs then that would be a good substitute.
Well they are cooking now. 5 minutes in I got a burn notice so I added water and restarted. Fingers crossed 😬 I hope it turns out they look so good!!!
I don’t have an IP but another brand of electric pressure cooker. It doesn’t have a low pressure option, would cooking it on normal high pressure be ok? May I ask why you didn’t use the normal high pressure function??
High pressure would likely turn these to mush.
Just finished making and eating this. I am in love!!! These are the yummiest meatballs ever! I’ve had my IP for almost a year and had never used the low pressure setting, so I was curious to see how they would turn out. Soooo good, that’s how! I ate them over zoodles, and now I am very happy. :)
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So glad the recipe turned out for you! I still love this one and make it all the time!
I have coconut flour on hand right now and was wondering if I could substitute the almond flour for that. I read that it’s generally 1/4 cup coconut flour +1 egg for almond flour. But that’s generally for baking and was wondering if it would alter the meatballs. If you could help me out I’m really excited to try out this recipe!! Thanks!
Excellent recipe – simple, quick, and very tasty.Gluten-free, the almond flour makes a good binder, so they remain intact throughout the cooking. Very much enjoy these quick and easy meatballs.
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These are amazing!! I made them with two pounds of ground turkey, adding a little more of each ingredient. I did brown them slightly in a separate non stick pan, quick to brown and quick to clean. Thank you for a well thought out delicious recipe. It’s my first time on your site, and I am inspired to try more of your recipes!
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All i had on hand was 99% fat free ground chicken. I was nervous, as ground chicken tends to have a much different texture than ground beef or turkey, but figured I’d atleast try and if all else fails I’ll have a meat sauce. I followed the recipe exactly with my ground chicken, but once I formed my meatballs I decided to stick them in the fridge for an hour in hopes they would firm up and possibly keep their shape while cooking. An hour later they seemed okay (not as firm as I hoped but I was running short on time) so i stuck them in the instant pot with my pasta sauce for 10 minutes. Low and behold , they came out delicious. They maintained their shape, were juicy, and the texture one would expect for a meatball. Will definitely be making these again.
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It’s ‘Lo and behold’.
Haha oh jeezzzzzz
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Made these tonight and they were SO easy and so yummy! I didn’t brown them, just put on 10 minutes and they were perfect.
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YUM! I made these tonight with ground turkey. They held together beautifully yet still had a soft bite, just like a good meatball should. Highly recommend the mentioned sauce recipe as well. Thank you!! They’ll be going in our regular rotation for sure!
Can I eliminate the parm to make it dairy free? Will that make them mushy?
Just add a little extra salt Holly so they aren’t bland, but it shouldn’t make them mushy to remove the Parmesan!
Well, I botched these up- but it was MY fault. :) I attempted to make it with 2 lbs of lean ground beef (to avoid the oil in the pot). I also forgot to set to Low, and then I let it naturally release while I was cooking my first ever batch of Zoodles! The meat balls were incredibly dried out. Shame on me for not following instructions! If it’s any consolation, both the homemade marinara and the uncooked meatballs smelled HEAVENLY!! I am an advanced Instant Pot user (often ad-libbing with great results) – but, I am VERY new to Keto, so I think there might be a learning curve. ;) I’ll try these again!!
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So frustrating. I follwed directions exactly and mine keep burning and won’t pressurize…
I think water needs to be added to this recipe with the sauce. Not enough liquid in the pot will cause it not to pressurize. I would add 1/2 – 1 cup water or broth.
I had such issues with this! Kept getting the burn message so it wouldn’t pressurize. I put the meatballs in raw so maybe that was the issue? Idk what the deal is. So sad cuz I was so excited!
Mine did this too. I am so upset and frustrated. I tried to sort of list them off the bottom when this kept happening and they all completely disintegrated. I followed the recipe but used fresh grated parm so IDK if I needed to use prepackaged. The meatballs were so wet that I wasn’t sure if they were going t o work. 😡 Dinner ruined.
Hi. I dont have an Insta Pot… Can I use a crock pot? or would stove top be better?
Thanks :)
And yes I know I need an InstaPot but No new appliances can come into the house, until Something leaves the kitchen Hahahahaha :)
Stovetop or crockpot would also work Katie – and an Instant Pot is great because it does replace the crock pot. If I had that rule in my kitchen I’d have a lot more cabinet space lol!
Ok. This was phenomenal!!!! So easy and so quick. I followed the recipe to a T except I used 2lbs of meat because they were prepackaged. (Did not adjust anything). I used Roa’s marinara Sauce because it is our sugar free go to.
Can’t wait to share with others!!!!
I didn’t put the flour in. Is this why they are a little mushy? They are really good though.
Yes.
Hi there, if I make another batch to freeze, how long do I cook frozen ones in the Instapot? 10 minutes as well?
Trying this right now. But using my own sauce. Love this instapot. Wife thinks im turning into a wuss as i been sharing it on pinterest lol.
I dont care,i love food.
So i used 2 lbs of beefand mushroom sauce and some spice. No saute so i could see the results. 10 minutes was almost enough but a couple were pinkish. So for fun i put it on saute after for 4 mins and it was a nice feroshish boil. They look ugly but were around 185 degrees.
Easy to clean so will keep doing this but will add a saute to the
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This was so good and nice that all ingredients are your common one’s in the cabinet. I just got my Instapot and was not sure about the settings but they cooked. I used moose burger and they still were moist. Can not get over the flavor!
Thank you~
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I’m making these for dinner, and I thought I set the timer to 10 minutes, but now after reaching pressure it says 30! Should I just take them out when 20 minutes are left?
Sorry I didn’t get this until now Sarah, hope they turned out ok!
So I made this today. It was DELICIOUS! However, I had to destroy the “meatballs” and just make it into “turkey sauce” lmao
The meatballs started sticking to the bottom of the pot while it was coming to pressure and the IP wouldn’t come to pressure. I just put it on saute and heated it through for about 20 minutes then “deglazed” the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. I then cooked it on High Pressure for 8 minutes so it would cook through and I wouldn’t be eating raw turkey.
I used Rao’s Homemade Marinara and each “serving” came to less than a carb per! I also used Parmigiano Reggiano from Costco instead of regular ol’ Parmesan.
I will be making this again but I think next time I will put a thin coating of sauce under the meatballs so they don’t stick!
Thank you so much for this recipe!
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Can you freeze these? I’d love to make a batch for my daughter’s lunch box
Made these this week using 1 lb of ground turkey (meatball ingredients adjusted accordingly), did not brown them, used the easy keto marinara sauce, and they were delicious. I cooked them on high pressure for 6 minutes and then did quick release.
Thanks for this one, I’m sharing it!
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So glad you liked them Rebecca, thanks for sharing your method!!
I made these last night and I wanted to share with you how I browned them without too much sticking and breakage of the meatballs. I read on someone else’s blog or something that if you turn the sauté function on with a completely empty pot (no oil or anything) and let it heat until the display says “HOT” then add the oil and food it’ll be nonstick and it was right. I used that technique last night and only had one meatball that stuck enough to break it apart a little. I also let the meat brown until I see it is browning up the sides before I disturb it and that helps a lot as well!
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That’s great to know Karissa, thanks for sharing!
How long do you brown? Im new to the Instant Pot thing, do you not seal lid? Oil, meatballs, saute, and just watch to brown and once that is done then lid and seal?
When using the saute function to brown, you leave the lid off – you don’t seal it until you are ready for the pressure cooker part to begin!
What do you mean by “Select low pressure” I dont have a way to select a pressure….does that matter?
My instant pot gives me the option for high or low pressure settings – if yours doesn’t give you an option just go with the factory setting and you should be fine.
I have the instant pot lux and it’s 8 inch diameter. I can only fit 8 meatballs if they are not on top of each other. Did you really fit 15 on one later?
It wasn’t one layer, I gently placed them in two layers.
Are you psyllium husk instead of almond flour and it tastes just like breadcrumbs
Sorry I use Psyllium husk
I’m watching nuts right now and wondered if you have ever made your meatballs with ground pork rinds? I make sausage balls with almond meal and really enjoy that recipe, so I think I’d love the meatball recipe you posted. I eat LCHF. Thank you 😊
Thank you for the Instant Pot instructions – made your Kung Pao Meatball recipe instead (used same time/pressure as above) and it is delicious! Did not bother to brown the meatballs first. So simple!
Melissa, my husband and I are in our 70’s and I have been wanting to get the instant pot! My husband Thinks it’s too big for just the two of us and that it’s no different from my Wolfgang Puck pressure cooker. How can I convince him? I really would like one and is it too big for just the two of us? I’ve been following you for about five years and use your recipes most every day. Thank you
They sell the IP in different sizes Marilyn so you can get the smallest one and I think it would be fine for just the two of you! I don’t know much about the WP pressure cooker and it may work the same – but the IP also works as a slow cooker, has a saute function built in, and does other things too that I haven’t even experimented with. Maybe read him some of the positive reviews on Amazon? If your WP pressure cooker is older then the ease of the IP might win him over. But most of my IP recipes use the pressure cooking function so you can probably use them in you WP if you can’t win your hubby over to the IP!
I have an Instant Pot, I could make this1
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You can and you should Margot!!!
Yumm.. these look so good. I was just thinking i wantee meatballs this week to. I already have everything too. Thanks for the recipe.
Hope you enjoyed them Cami!!!!