Every Friday my kids and I work together to plan our meals for the coming week (the meal they plan they also help cook since they have all gone through the Kids Cook Real Food course). Without fail almost every week at least one of them requests meatballs.
Usually, that means our family-favorite sweet and sour meatballs. While my Analytical Eater self could eat them every week, it gets a bit boring for some members of the family.
So we recently added some healthy lamb meatballs into the rotation. After raising lambs for the first time last year, we are always looking for ways to add lamb to the menu.
Are you ready to break out of the meatball rut and add a boost of nourishment to your menu? Let’s find out how!
What Makes Lamb Meatballs Healthy?
Pasture-raised lamb is red meat with a wide variety of nutrients including:
- Copper
- Zinc
- Phosphorous
- Iron
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin B3
- Vitamin B5
- Selenium
- Potassium
- Glutathione
- Creatine
- Taurine
Lamb is a very healthy protein option! But that’s not where the nutrition factor ends!
These lamb meatballs also have an extra dose of nourishment from:
- pastured eggs
- desiccated liver
- nutritional yeast
- bone broth
You can even add some greens powder! Just a few lamb meatballs can be your child’s multivitamin for the day.
Lamb Meatball Recipe Kids Will Eat
You may be thinking that your kids won’t touch lamb. Or maybe you don’t even know what lamb tastes like.
Lamb meatballs have a wonderful flavor that just about any kid will love.
But you can always start with a mixture of half lamb and half beef if you have a really picky eater or a child that is really sensitive to different tastes.
And if lamb is not available or out of the budget, go ahead and use grass-fed beef or even ground pork, chicken, or turkey. The nutrient profile will be slightly different, but still very nourishing and delicious!
Healthy Lamb Meatballs
As a Nutritional Therapy and HTMA Practitioner, I work with a lot of kids that struggle with picky eating, Oral Sensory Processing Disorder, and texture issues. Many of them also have a hard time eating meat.
Whether they have lost the taste for meat due to a mineral imbalance or they struggle to chew meat, ground meats are generally one of the best-tolerated options.
Ground lamb is actually a bit softer than some ground meats, which makes it a perfect fit for kids that struggle with chewing! The mineral content makes it a great fit for balancing minerals and getting a taste for meat back. Lamb meatballs are an all-around win!
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Healthy Lamb Meatball Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 30 meatballs 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Sauted
- Cuisine: Greek
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Nutrient-dense, kid-friendly lamb meatballs.
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 2 lbs. ground lamb
- 1 pastured egg
- 1/4 c. quick oats
- 1/4 c. milk or milk substitute
- 2 tsp. desiccated liver
- 1/4 c. non-fortified nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp. unrefined sea salt (Use the code kitchenstewardship for 15% off of your first purchase)
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. dried parsley
- 1 tsp. greens powder (optional)
- 1 Tbs. olive oil (use the code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off at that site!), avocado oil, tallow, or lard for cooking
Sauce:
- 1 c. lamb, beef, or chicken bone broth
- 1/2 c. milk or milk substitute
- 1/2 tsp. unrefined sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine all of the meatball ingredients and mix well with hands.
- Form into 1 1/2″ balls.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the oil, and brown the meatballs in the hot skillet, turning every few minutes until brown on all sides.
- Add the sauce ingredients, bring to a boil, and simmer until thickened and reduced, about 10 minutes.
- Serve plain or over rice, noodles, potatoes, or root veggies.
Notes
- Any ground meat will work in place of or combined with the lamb.
- Adjust herbs/spices to your liking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 5 meatballs
- Calories: 397
- Sugar: 2g
- Sodium: 643mg
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 3g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 50g
- Cholesterol: 176mg
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Nutrient-Dense Meatballs for Kids
Sometimes it’s hard to get kids to eat nourishing food, such as lamb meatballs. Adding a fun element can make a big difference for many kids, especially Adventurous Eaters.
Serve lamb meatballs with sucker sticks or popsicle sticks to make them easier to eat and more fun. You could even put them on skewers and eat the meatballs like kabobs!
Just don’t forget some healthy sides!
Lamb meatballs taste great on top of rice, riced cauliflower, mashed potatoes, buttered noodles, or even zoodles.
Then add your favorite veggie such as:
- Roasted cauliflower
- Rutabaga fries
- Air Fryer squash fries
- Warm winter salad
- Air Fryer sweet potato tots
- Quinoa tabbouleh
The end result? A delicious, kid-friendly, nourishing dinner and happy, healthy kids!
My kids still request sweet and sour meatballs more often than any other variety. So sometimes I use lamb instead of beef in that recipe as well.
How to Cook Ground Lamb
If your kids just aren’t meatball fans, there are plenty of other ways to incorporate ground lamb into your diet. You can even include the bonus add-ins like desiccated liver and nutritional yeast to these kid-friendly options.
- Sloppy joes
- Tacos
- Nachos
- Shepherd’s pie
- Burgers (lamb burgers are AMAZING)
- Lamb Stroganoff
- Meatloaf
- Philly cheesesteak soup
- Hamburger Helper
- Cheeseburger soup
If you’ve never tried lamb I encourage you to give it a try! Find a local farmer that raises lambs on pasture. Then make a batch of kid-friendly lamb meatballs. You might have a new favorite food!
