A tasty twist on an Italian classic. These Baked Pesto Keto Meatballs are easy to make, they are baked in a delicious tomato based sauce, instead of fried in oil. And the meatballs themselves are filled with homemade basil pesto.
Once they’re baked to perfection, serve them on a delicious bed of cauliflower mash – low in carbs but a great source of fiber, great for aiding in gut health.
If you do include a small amount of dairy in your diet, you could top off the dish with some grated grass fed mozzarella. However, it is just as good without.
This recipe uses grass-fed beef, but you could easily use free-range pork mince to substitute half of the mix. This will also increase the fat content if you are following a keto diet, which will keep the meatballs nice and moist.
My kids also really enjoy this meal. Although, I serve the meatballs to them with an organic and gluten-free brown rice pasta we get, which they love!
I hope you enjoy the recipe. If you have any questions or comments, please share them in the comments section below.
Enjoy!

Baked Pesto Keto Meatballs
- Prep Time: 15 - 20minutes
- Cook Time: 30 - 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 Hour
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main
Ingredients
500g grass-fed Beef Mince
1 egg
1/4 cup basil pesto
1/4 cup Almond Meal
2 tablespoons olive Oil
1 tin organic crushed tomato
1 small onion finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic chopped
1 cup bone broth
1 tablespoon fresh herbs (thyme, Oregano, Rosemary)
Himalayan Salt & Pepper
For the Cauliflower Mash:
1 head cauliflower
3 tablespoons almond or coconut milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
Himalayan salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
To serve:
Basil Leaves
Basil Pesto
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C
- Combine pork & beef mince, pesto, almond meal, egg, salt, and pepper in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Shape into meatballs. You should get about 20 meatballs from the mixture.
- Heat olive oil in an ovenproof frying pan on medium. Fry meatballs for 7-8 minutes until browned on all sides then remove from pan and set aside.
- Add onion and garlic, saute until translucent. Then add tomato, bone broth, fresh herbs and salt & pepper to the pan and bring to a simmer for a few minutes. Then return the meatballs to the pan
- Place the dish in the oven for 15-20 mins until the cheese is melted, and bubbling
- While the dish is in the oven, make the cauliflower mash. Separate the cauliflower into florets and discard the core.
- Bring about 2 cups of water to a simmer in a pot, then add the cauliflower or you can steam it. Cook the cauliflower for 12-15 minutes or until very tender.
- Drain and discard all of the water (the drier the cauliflower is, the better) and add the ‘milk’, butter or olive oil, salt, and pepper and mash with a masher until it looks like “mashed potatoes.”
- Once the meatballs are ready, serve with basil leaves, additional pesto, and the cauliflower mash.