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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This looks delicious. Any suggestions on substituting the Onion & Garlic power if we are trying to stay true to the FODMAP’s list?
You can simply omit them, there will be some flavor missing but I believe they’ll still taste good. You can sub in some dried chives to make up for the onion flavor 🙂
Ohmigoodness!!! This was so good. I accidentally used coconut flour and then panicked when I read comments about how badly it will turn out if you use that type of flour. If you use 100% grass feed beef, add an additional tbs of coconut aminos, and allow it to marinate for the day it will turn out perfect. I have really crazy nights with kids as a single mom, so I prepped this before work and put it in the fridge for the day. It was so easy to cook and serve to my palio and gf family. Thank you 🙂
I’m so happy it turned out well for you!!
Loved these! I normally bake my meatballs but frying definitely added to the sauce, because of the pan drippings. I used a lean ground sirloin,and it held up well! I did add a little fresh thyme in the sauce, cuz I had some in the fridge. I added a little garlic, parsnip and cauliflower florets to the potatoes while cooking to lower the carb count a little. My fam doesn’t care for coconut milk in mashed potatoes so I use chicken stock and ghee. It makes great light mashers!
I wanted to let you know that I made the salisbury meatball dish and it’s DELICIOUS! I made sweet potato mash instead of mashed potatoes because the kiddos love them. So tasty. Big thanks!
That sounds great! So happy to hear you liked it!
Hi! My husband and I are doing whole 30 for the second time and mannn what a difference using your recipes vs just standard meat and veggies. SO yummy and creative and I don’t feel like I’m on whole 30 at all!!!! One question about this one: how do you cook the meatballs? Brown them and then bake them? If so, at what temp and for how long in the oven? Thanks so much for all of your wonderful concoctions!!!!
Brooke
Hi! So happy you guys have been enjoying the recipes! I definitely agree my Whole30 now tastes a lot better than my first did 🙂 For this recipe, you brown the meatballs first, then set aside while you make the sauce, then return to the skillet to simmer with the sauce. Hope it goes well!
Can I use unblanched almond flour/meal in place of blanched almond flour? I happen to already have some Hodgson Mill brand on hand. Thanks in Advance!
I made these last night and they were awesome! I make a lot of Mexican and Asian type paleo meals and it was great to have something different. After reading many comments about the yummy gravy, I decided to double it up. I’m s glad I did. We have plenty of delicious gravy to serve with the leftover meatballs. Thanks for posting this great recipe!,
I made these last night and they were awesome! I make a lot of Mexican and Asian type paleo meals and it was great to have something different. After reading many comments about the yummy gravy, I decided to double it up. I’m s glad I did. We have plenty of delicious gravy to serve with the leftover meatballs. Thanks for posting this great recipe!,
That’s great! So happy you enjoyed 🙂
Michele, Is there a nut-free flour that *might* work in place of the almond flour? I love these but I have a nut-free crowd for dinner. Thanks!
I would go with tapioca or arrowroot, you can decrease to 3 Tbsp 🙂
Since the discount doesn’t work any longer you may want to remove that from your blog. Thanks.