These easy and delicious Paleo Salisbury Steak Meatballs are great for families, kid friendly, Whole30 compliant and perfect with mashed white or sweet potatoes! Gluten free, dairy free, sugar free, ready is 30 minutes.
Salisbury steak – it was dinner – the microwavable-TV-variety – at least twice per week for years of my childhood. And you know what?! I actually, secretly, loved it. TV dinner comfort food at its finest. Not joking. One bit.
You know what I didn’t love though? The fact that it was impossible to get those plastic covered mashed potatoes to come out any other way besides half frozen, half burn-your-tongue-off. Yes, I tried slitting the plastic (shudder.)
Yes, I tried stopping it not once, not twice, but THREE times to stir them with no real luck. That was called “recipe testing” back in 1992. Frozen mashed potatoes and the cherry dessert thing would be steaming for the next hour.
Anyway! Since my kids never had the pleasure of rocking their dinner, TV style, I didn’t even attempt to recreate the “official” salisbury steak of yesteryears.
The shape would scare them away, I’m certain. BUT! Something they really never turn down, is meatballs.
We make meatballs twice per week around here, so I like having more than one go-to recipe that I know will be a hit.
So here you go, children. You will be fed homemade Paleo salisbury steak – in meatball form! Frozen mashed potatoes optional.
Okay, you caught me, my potatoes were most definitely not frozen!
But, I did go the mashed potato route since it would’ve felt so wrong not to. I mashed mine up with coconut milk and ghee and they were perfect – if only I had known then what I know now…
But fast forward to 2017 and a whole lot has changed (for the better.) I had to make these salisbury steak meatballs one of those one-pan dinners that – you guessed it – is ready in 30 minutes, because – THIS IS LIFE, after all, and time doesn’t grow on trees.
But it does take time to grow trees, so I’m not sure if that helped me make my point. Point is, 30 minutes is often all we have on any given night to cook dinner.
Where were we? Salisbury steak meatballs, of course. Don’t be scared when you see the ingredient list – there are quite a few ingredients involved to get that signature salisbury steak flavor, but the method is simple. You mix the meatballs and roll them, brown them, remove from pan, then make the sauce.
The sauce/gravy really makes the meal, in my opinion.
I used the grass fed beef bone broth from Western Grassfed Beef and it gave the sauce a rich flavor that was absolutely perfect for the meatballs! The bone broth comes in an easy pour 12oz pouch, contains no synthetic nitrates or nitrites, and no MSG.
It’s also gluten free, Certified Paleo, sugar free, from 100% Grass Fed and Grass Finished Beef.
In fact ALL products from Western Grassfed beef are 100% grass-fed and finished, born and raised in the USA.
Are you guys ready to start cooking? Get the skillet, the spices, the broth, and let’s go!
This recipe post was sponsored by Western Grassfed Beef.
Paleo Salisbury Steak Meatballs {Whole30}
Paleo Salisbury Steak Meatballs {Whole30}
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 1.5 lbs grass-fed ground beef 85% lean
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup blanched almond flour
- 3/4 tsp fine grain sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp brown mustard
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1/4 tsp liquid smoke optional
- 1 cup white mushrooms divided SEE NOTE*
- 1/4 cup finely chopped mushroom from the 1 cup
- 1 Tbsp ghee or other cooking fat
- Parsley chopped, for garnish
For the Sauce:
- 12 ozbeef bone broth divided (1 cup + 1/2 cup)
- 1 Tbsp ghee
- 1 med onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 tbsp arrowroot powder or tapioca
- 1 tsp mustard
- 2 tsp coconut aminos
- See NOTE*
Instructions
Make the meatballs:
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In a large bowl, mix together with your hands the ground beef, almond flour, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, mustard, tomato paste, coconut aminos, finely chopped mushrooms*, egg, and liquid smoke,(if using.)
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Form into 1.5 inch balls while preheating a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp ghee to the skillet, then brown the meatballs all around. Transfer browned but not cooked through meatballs to foil lined sheet and lower the heat to low.
Make the sauce:
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Add second tbsp ghee to the pan, then the onions and cook until translucent. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
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Add 1 cup of the bone broth, leaving a half cup to mix with arrowroot
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Add the mustard, aminos, sliced mushrooms* and bring to a simmer, stirring.
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In a small bowl, whisk arrowroot with the remaining 1/2 cup of broth, add to the pan and stir to combine.
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Add meatballs back to the pan with the sauce, cover and simmer on low for 5-10 minutes until meatballs are fully cooked and sauce thickens.
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Spoon sauce over meatballs, sprinkle with parsley and serve with mashed potatoes. Enjoy!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
*NOTE: Slice 3/4 cup of the mushrooms for the sauce, and finely chop the remaining 1/4 cup to add to the meatball mixture.
Nutrition
Want more family friendly Paleo dinner recipes? Try one of these!
Slow Cooker Meatballs in Marinara Sauce {Whole30}
One-Pan Bacon Wrapped Chicken {Whole30}
One-Pan Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs {Whole30}
Tell Me!
Did you eat TV dinners growing up? Which one was your favorite?
How often do you make meatballs?
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The almond flour or the coconut sauce made these have a chalky taste. My husband usually goes for seconds, and he barely ate 2 balls 🙁
I haven’t heard of them being chalky but I’m guessing the almond flour might have contributed depending on what brand was used? They aren’t all equal. The coconut aminos is just like soy sauce so I doubt that would make them chalky. Sorry they didn’t work out for you!
So..I am brand new to pale cooking and went to the store for this recipe today. Couldn’t find or didn’t have some of the ingredients. Thanks meatballs were awesome, stayed together perfectly but I tried to use coconut flour in place of the tapioca and coconut amino (don’t even know what that was and neither did my store clerk). Do NOT try this people. It made the gravy grainy and gross. Luckily I didn’t put the meatballs back in it so we salvaged dinner but I tried everything to fix the sauce…more broth, cooking longer, straining. Not sure if that is normal because I have never used different flour before….remember I am a newbie. I assumed i could make a roux with the coconut flour but possibky did it wrong…I think I will have many more trial and errors as I am not used to these ingredients.
Ah yes, so coconut flour is EXTREMELY absorbent and you would typically need less than half of the amount of almond flour, so for every one cup of almond flour it’s more like 6 Tbsp or so coconut flour. Also coconut aminos is just like soy sauce, so if you’re not following a strict paleo or whole30 diet you can always sub in soy sauce, GF if needed. I’ll link to the coconut aminos I use, which I buy from my local stores – either Shoprite or Stop & Shop. Typically store clerks don’t know every product, I’ve noticed coconut aminos is sometimes placed near the vinegar and sometimes in the organic section but almost never near soy sauce, strange. Here’s the link: http://amzn.to/2sYl4Ky – also, it could be helpful to read this guide on grain free flours: https://www.savorylotus.com/grain-free-flours/ – hope this helps!
Oh my goodness! This recipe made me SO grateful that forced myself to do Whole 30. I would have never found it without being on the plan. My husband even asked if we could use the meatball recipe when we try meatloaf again bc they were THAT good! Thank you so much for this recipe. It’s a total game changer!
That’s awesome! So happy you liked it. And a meatloaf version would be great 🙂
Okay, I know these are super quick BUT I was wondering if they could be done in the crockpot. Do you have any suggestions or so you think the crockpot wouldn’t work for this one? My husband and I LOVE your recipes, by the way! ???
The only time I’ve made meatballs in a crockpot was when there was a good deal of sauce along with them, I’m not sure these would work that way since there isn’t much sauce. For my other ones, I brown them a bit either by broiling or pan-frying and then cool in the sauce for about 3 hours on low. Glad you’re enjoying the recipes!
Yuuummmazing!! Happened across these bad boys while searching for Whole 30 beef meatballs and I do believe they’re a game changer. Oh so incredibly delicious. I can hardly believe the flavor!!
Thank you for this addition to my beef recipe rotation… Whole 30 or not!!
Yay! So happy you like them! I agree Whole30 or not they’re just good 🙂
Very tasty; thanks!. I re-hydrated 1 generous tablespoonful of dried porcini mushrooms in 1/2 c hot water and added both water and porcini to my mushroom mix. I usually prefer baking my meatballs (400° 18-20 min) so I baked 1/2 and fried half. For me the baked balls hung together a bit more. Though we haven’t eaten dinner yet, my not-so-healthy eating husband tasted and gave his approval!
Sounds good! Hubby approval is always a good thing 🙂
How many meatballs does this recipe make? & what is considered a serving?
Thanks!
Hi – how integral are the mushrooms? I am allergic to them. Thanks!
You can make them without and it should be just fine 🙂
Sooooo delicious!! I’ve never made Salisbury steak before and I like this meatball version so you don’t have to have a huge patty. Even my son said to “add it to the list” of dinners. So yum!! I used two pounds of beef and I used coconut flour and it all turned out great.
So happy you guys liked it!
I definitely ate TV dinners growing up! I just made your Salisbury Steak Meatballs and they are absolutely delicious! I just wonder…how do your Meatballs have such a nice shape? When I was browning them they were falling apart!
I’m not sure, maybe they stuck to the pan a bit? Mine haven’t fallen apart, it could be the almond flour also, not sure. In any case, glad they tasted good!
I made this with deer meat, my family went crazy and said it’s a keeper. Thanks for the great recipe!
I was reading through the comments wondering about using venison since I have a whole freezer full – I am just worried it is too lean and they won’t really stick together as meatballs – did you have any issues?
So happy you enjoyed, sounds fabulous!