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This baked gluten-free meatballs recipe is using oatmeal instead of bread crumbs! These meatballs are so tender, juicy, delicious and healthy!
If you always used bread crumbs in your homemade meatballs but are now trying out the gluten-free diet, the easiest way to get rid of gluten in meatballs is to substitute bread crumbs with oatmeal! These gluten-free oatmeal meatballs taste exactly the same as regular meatballs, you won’t even notice the difference!
Many traditional meatball recipes require pan-frying meatballs in a frying pan and then simmering them in sauce, but baking meatballs in the oven is so much easier! If you were pan-frying meatballs, you have to do it in batches since they won’t all fit on a frying pan at once, then have to stand over the stove and flip the meatballs with a spatula. When you bake the meatballs, you just put them in the oven and the oven does all the work!
The baking method is completely passive – you just put the meatballs in the oven, set the oven timer and take them out when the timer beeps. The less work the better!
If you line your baking pan with foil or parchment paper, you don’t even need to wash the baking dish – just throw away the foil!
Making these oven baked gluten-free meatballs is super easy. Just combine simple ingredients into the meatball mix – ground meat, grated onion, oatmeal, egg, salt and pepper. Roll the meat mixture into meatballs, put on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes at 375F. That’s all there is to it!
You can make these oatmeal meatballs with any type of ground meat – ground turkey, beef, pork, lamb or chicken. Just use the meat of your choice, these gluten-free baked meatballs will taste amazing no matter which ground meat you use!
Feel free to make a double batch of these gluten-free oatmeal meatballs and freeze them for later. Meatballs freeze great in a cooked form! For more details, please see my guide on how to freeze meatballs.It’s always awesome to have some homemade frozen meatballs in your freezer for those nights when you are too busy to cook!
Other Easy Healthy Recipes For Meatball Lovers
Muffin Tin Meatloaf – you can make individually sized meatloaves by using this oatmeal meatball mixture and baking it in a muffin tin! This technique is great for portion control and freezing mini meatloaves for later!
Gluten-Free Banana Pancakes – this the best clean eating pancakes recipe ever, just 3 ingredients!
Gluten-Free Cheese Bread Rolls – these Brazilian cheese bread rolls are amazing! Naturally gluten free, so soft and delicious!
Stuffed Zucchini Boats – hollowed out zucchini halves stuffed with ground meat and cheese – mouthwatering!
Best Ever Crockpot Chili– another great recipe to make with ground meat, just dump the ingredients in a slow cooker and come back to a delicious dinner!
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Baked Gluten-Free Meatballs With Oatmeal
These baked meatballs are gluten-free and taste delicious! They are using healthy oatmeal instead of bread crumbs! You can make these meatballs with ground beef or turkey, they are so tender and juicy!
Prep Time5 minutes mins
Cook Time25 minutes mins
Total Time30 minutes mins
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: American
Servings: 4 servings
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mix ground meat, onion, quick oats, egg, salt and pepper in a bowl.
Take the meat mixture by a heaping tablespoon, roll into balls and put the meatballs on the baking sheet in a single layer, so they are not touching.
Put the meatballs in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
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FAQs
While bread/breadcrumbs is a binder in traditional meatball recipes, it is also there to absorb the juices from the meat as it cooks, keeping all that flavorful goodness inside. Plus, it makes the meat less dense, resulting in more tender meatballs. Using oats in place of breadcrumbs achieves the same result!
What is a gluten-free substitute for breadcrumbs in meatballs? ›
Rolled oats are the perfect gluten-free binding ingredient, replacing breadcrumbs in meatballs or meatloaf and many more recipes when you need to bind meat and eggs. Rolled oats are best not used as a coating agent as they tend to go soggy.
What do you put in meatballs so they don't fall apart? ›
Add a lightly beaten egg, but not too much. Egg acts as a binder for the ingredients, but you only need a small amount. One small egg will do for one pound of minced meat. Alternatively, if you're following an egg-free diet, you could soak fresh bread in milk, squeezing out any excess milk, to use as a binder.
How much oats instead of breadcrumbs? ›
Bread Crumb Substitutes
¼ cup panko. ¼ cup cracker or pretzel crumbs. ¼ cup crushed cornflakes or other unsweetened cereals. ⅔ cup regular rolled oats (Use this only as a substitute for bread crumbs in meat loaf and other meat mixtures, such as burgers.
Can you use oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs? ›
Rolled Oats
Simply place them in the food processor and pulse until they become a fine powder. They don't have as much flavor as bread crumbs, so we recommend spicing up crushed oats with herbs or seasonings when using it as a coating.
What can I use to bind meatballs instead of breadcrumbs? ›
Breadcrumbs are the most common binder used in meatball recipes, but thankfully they are not your only option. Using oats works just as well! The secret is to pulse the oatmeal in your food processor or blender to make them fine like breadcrumbs. The broken-up oats will work just as well to make tender juicy meatballs.
How do I substitute oatmeal for breadcrumbs in meatloaf? ›
You can use a food processor to achieve a breadcrumb-like consistency that binds your meatloaf ingredients splendidly. The oats, equal in quantity to the bread crumbs, not only serve as an effective substitute but also provide the dish with added amounts of heartiness and nutrition.
What can I use to make meatballs stick together? ›
Egg: A lot of meatball recipes add egg to the mince mixture because it helps to bind the balls together. Breadcrumbs: Breadcrumbs also help to bind your meatballs. If the mince mixture is quite wet, breadcrumbs will help soak up excess moisture so that the balls don't fall apart.
What makes meatballs stick together better? ›
Breadcrumbs and eggs are the most common binder to use for meatballs. Bread soaked in milk (called a panade) is another traditional type of binder. Without a binder, the meat is likely to fall apart like you're finding.
What else can I use to bind meatballs? ›
Ricotta cheese is a great alternative for the eggs in meatballs. A good rule of thumb is one cup of ricotta cheese for every pound of ground meat. The ricotta cheese will make a good binding mixture.
Yes, pure, uncontaminated oats are gluten-free. The U. S. Food and Drug Administration considers oats a gluten-free grain under its gluten-free labeling regulations and only requires that packaged products with oats as an ingredient contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten overall.
Can I use almond flour instead of bread crumbs? ›
Almond flour has a nutty taste and a course texture, which makes it an easy sub for bread crumbs. It's also gluten-free, so if you have a sensitivity or diet need, this is a great option. "It's used in a lot of keto recipes as a sub for breadcrumbs," Xie said, adding that it'll work as a binder or a topping.
Which is better for meatloaf breadcrumbs or oatmeal? ›
What do you put in meatloaf to keep it from falling apart? Oatmeal can bind meatloaf together into the perfect loaf shape just like breadcrumbs can, though healthier.
What can I use instead of breadcrumbs to bind meatballs? ›
Pretzels. Pretzels are a great all-purpose substitute for bread crumbs. You can pulse them in a food processor until they're super-fine and use them as a binder for meatballs or meatloaf.
How to make something crunchy without breadcrumbs? ›
Corn Flakes
"Toss them in butter or oil with seasoning and toast in a 325 degree oven for five to seven minutes," Xie suggests. Crush them to smithereens for a smoother coating or leave small chunks of cereal if you're breading chicken. You'll get an extra crunch that way.
What is a good substitute for breadcrumbs? ›
Sunflower seeds, almonds, and sesame seeds are all great breadcrumb alternatives. Chop larger nuts finely in a food processor. Seeds like sesame are already small enough and can be used as is. Use a variety of nuts as a coating for chicken, fish, or pork; just pulse them finely so they will stick.
