February 7

Air Fryer Zoodles and Meatballs

Air Fryer Zoodles and Meatballs? Yes, it can be done. And yes, deliciously!

This all started on my ongoing quest to figure out more food I can make in the appliances I got for Christmas: oh-my-gosh Instant Pot and utterly-amazing Air Fryer.  See, I love my gadgets and I’m kind of a lazy cook. Which is good news for you–anything I come up with is both easy and hard to mess up!

The air fryer is ridiculously convenient. I’ve employed it making meatballs repeatedly. Since I don’t cook my zoodles a whole lot anyway, I thought to myself, “Why not just dump the zoodles on top of the meatballs here and see what happens?”

I can tell you what happens, friends: dinner. Air Fryer Zoodles and Meatballs for dinner happens! And the whole thing went down in less than the time it takes to watch a Roseanne rerun.

And before anybody asks me, no, you don’t have to use the flaxseed meal. The food police ’round here don’t care.

I added the flax because: 1. It’s already in my freezer; 2. I like the extra fiber; and 3. It seems to absorb some of the fat and help bind the meatball together. At least, that’s what I think it does. I’m not JuliaChild’s long lost protege, y’all.

In many meatball recipes, people use breadcrumbs similarly to how I’m using flax here, sometimes soaked in milk. I understand it’s supposed to make sure the meatballs are moist, tender and still hold together. I may try adding a little cream to the flax next time and see if it warrants an update here.

But either way, these were SUPER easy and SUPER fast and SUPER tasty. A trifecta of dining delights, right there. (Want to save this one? Pin is here!)

Air Fryer Zoodles and Meatballs 1

Air Fryer Zoodles and Meatballs

Delicious, healthy, and 30 minutes, start to finish. Dinner is ready!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Air Fryer Meatballs, Air Fryer Zoodles, Low Carb Pasta Replacement, Zuchinni Noodles
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 361kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Mix hamburger, flaxseed meal, liquid smoke and seasoning. Form into meatballs and place in the Air Fryer Basket.
  • Set Air Fryer to meat presetting (or 370F for 20 minutes) and let your fryer do it's magic! You'll want to check on your meatballs a little over the halfway point to roll them around a bit for even cooking.
  • Put the spaghetti sauce in a small saucepan and warm or reduce as you like it, over low heat. I like to doctor store-bought up with roasted chilies, diced tomatoes, leftover fresh mushrooms, or just whatever I've got hanging out in the fridge that looks like a good match.
  • Zoodle up your Zucchini. If you don't have a tabletop or handheld spiralizer, you can use a julienne peeler or even mandoline. Whatever it takes!
  • With about 5 minutes left on your meatballs and after you've rolled them about the fryer basket, just pile your zoodles on top!
  • Cook a couple of minutes, and then pop open the air fryer and flip the zoodles.  I do this a couple of times. When the zoodles are warm, "al dente" texture and maybe have a hint of browning, I consider them done. 
  • Serve it up! The bitty bit of leftovers we had reheated fine the next day.

Recipe Notes

Nutritionals based on standard spaghetti sauce. If you have homemade or lower carb (like Rao's), your total carb count will be less. My "doctoring it up" also not included in the numbers listed.
And if you make any low carb bread, these also make great meatball sandwiches, with or without the zoodles. Yum!
Nutrition Facts
Air Fryer Zoodles and Meatballs
Amount Per Serving
Calories 361 Calories from Fat 234
% Daily Value*
Fat 26g40%
Saturated Fat 9g45%
Cholesterol 80mg27%
Sodium 407mg17%
Potassium 827mg24%
Carbohydrates 8g3%
Fiber 4g16%
Sugar 5g6%
Protein 22g44%
Vitamin A 460IU9%
Vitamin C 21.9mg27%
Calcium 64mg6%
Iron 3.7mg21%
Net Carbs 4
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Made this? Show it off!Follow @lowcarbzen & tag it #lczen.

 

What do you make in your air fryer? 

Air Fryer Zoodles and Meatballs

About the author...

Zen Goddess

Just a regular gal who found she feels better eating low carb.

Tags

Air Fryer, Hamburger, Spaghetti, Zucchini


  • 5 stars
    Update: Soaking the flax in a couple tablespoons heavy cream DID make for a more tender, more juicy meatball. They’re good either way but it was definitely an upgrade.

  • What a fantastic recipe, Dixie! Thanks for sharing it, recently I bought an air fryer and I`m obsessed with trying recipes with it!

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