Instant Pot Keto Meatballs

Posted on by nomnomprincess

I held out for the longest time. I had steadily refused to buy an air fryer, citing a tiny kitchen that you can’t swing a cat by the tail in. And I refused to get involved in all the Facebook posts that were raving about the Buffalo Air Fryer. But one day I stumbled onto a post about turnip fries and that just about did me in. Living the low carb lifestyle I’ve happily depended on my instant pot and oven, and done very well, thank you. But the idea of frying without slaving over the stove and dodging splattering oil was overwhelmingly attractive. Just last month I had a nasty oil splatter that blistered and later, thanks to my Asian genes, developed into a keloid scar…most upsetting.

So a couple of weekends ago I ended up walking into the Song Cho showroom and picking up the Buffalo. And my…it did have a rather large footprint. But fortunately it was a rather quiet giant and even my helper D has taken to making all manner of decadent keto indulgences…like air fried salmon skin and chicken skin…oh my, what she’s made beats what 4 Fingers has to offer.

Helper D’s Salmon fish skins…too pretty.

So today was my turn to play with the kitchen toys. I had been planning on making Instant Pot low carb meatballs for a while. Lately I’ve been getting better at making meatballs that are not rock hard and only good for bouncing against the wall. (The trick is to substitute breadcrumbs with almond flour and finely minced onions). But after a really long day at work, getting a really sore bum from sitting in front of the computer catching up on all the requisite online courses that I had studiously avoided for the past year, I was ready to get out. I really needed a good pottering around the kitchen but with minimal sweat and discomfort.

I’ve always made meat balls by searing them over the stove or baking in the oven, but the sight of the Buffalo Air Fryer was instant inspiration. So I popped the meatballs into the air fryer and then threw them into the Instant Pot and voila, beautiful meatballs in tomato sauce for dinner. And I am so impressed…the Buffalo Air Fryer and Instant Pot are just a magical partnership…Julia Child would have been envious! 😁

Clockwise from top left: 1. Meatballs cooking in the Buffalo Air Fryer; 2. Neatly fried meatballs; 3. Pop the meatballs into the freshly made tomato sauce and 4. Beautiful meatballs in tomato sauce. All done in less than an hour with minimal oil splatter and mess.

Instant Pot Keto Meatballs

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Ingredients

Meatballs

  • 500g ground beef
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 1 small onion, finely minced
  • 2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup chicken stock

Tomato Sauce

  • 2 cans diced tomatoes
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 tsp fish sauce (optional)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp peanut or olive oil

Method

  1. Mix all the meatball ingredients together in a large mixing bowl by hand.
  2. Shape the meatballs into 1 inch size and lay on the rack in the air fryer.
  3. Add 2 tbsp oil to the base of the air fryer and cook at 200 deg C for 8 minutes.
  4. In the meantime, turn on the Instant Pot and put on sauté mode and add the oil to the inner pot.
  5. Sauté the garlic and onions, till lightly caramelized. Add the canned diced tomatoes, salt, bay leaf, oregano, salt, pepper and fish sauce to the pot and gently mix.
  6. When the meatballs are cooked in the air fryer, transfer directly into the Instant Pot and gently mix the meatballs in the tomato sauce.
  7. Turn off the sauté mode. Close the pot and put the valve on sealed position and turn on manual high pressure for 8 minutes.
  8. When done, do a quick pressure release and serve hot over zoodles or cauliflower rice.

5 thoughts on “Instant Pot Keto Meatballs”

  2. Hi, may I know where did you get your Instant Pot? I’m planning to bring one from Canada to Asia, do you think it’ll work with a converter? Thanks!

    Reply

    1. You need to get a very good transformer – because the pressure cooker function does draw quite a lot of energy. I bought my Instant Pot from Amazon UK which carries the Singapore plug.

      Reply

      1. After a lot of research, I think it’s better to buy from Amazon UK (but they currently sold out)…. I hope they restock them soon…. Thank you for your reply!

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