Flavorful Smoky Hot Ketchup Chicken Meatballs made with a spicy beetroot ketchup, ground chicken breast and almond flour. The perfect low carb and paleo-friendly barbecue flavored meatballs!
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Hot ketchup? And pink? Yes. I used the hot-flavored ketchup from Foraging Fox, which is made of beetroot instead of tomatoes.
This stuff is good! Slightly sweet, slightly spicy and just everything!
I was so hooked on these meatballs, I had them every night for dinner until they ran out – so 3 nights basically.
And then as soon as that was done, I already had another slight variation lined up using that ketchup!
What makes these ground chicken meatballs low carb and paleo?
There’s the basics in there like a good old meatballs recipe – ground chicken(or chicken breast pulsed in the food processor), onion, paprika, salt and pepper – , but:
- Foraging Fox Hot Ketchup made from beetroot:
Its very little sugar compared to normal ketchup(about half), and no added sugars or sweeteners at all. Low sugar bbq ketchup meatballs ftw!
No nightshade – which is an ingredient in regular ketchup that makes it non-paleo. So these chicken meatballs are actually Paleo-friendly and whole30 compliant while keeping the bbq flavor. - Almond flour
Instead of bread crumbs, this recipe uses almond flour to bind the meat. So other than low carb and Paleo, this also makes the ground chicken meatballs keto-friendly and gluten-free!
P.S. These chicken meatballs have no flour (no carb), no egg and no parmesan like the usuals.
How to make the perfect healthy chicken meatballs?
Bake those babies!
Okay fine there’s more before that:
- Use your hands to mix the chicken, onion, ¼ cup (hot) ketchup, paprika, salt and pepper
- When that’s all combined, add the almond flour and mix it up again
- Grease a baking sheet with olive oil or spray
- Use a tablespoon measure to scoop out the mixture (about 16 portions), your hands to shape them into balls and then and place them on the sheet
Then, bake those chicken meatballs in the oven at 350°F for 23 minutes.
If you don’t want to do the whole baking in the oven thing, you can also cook these chicken meatballs in an air fryer for about 17-18 minutes. Work in batches if you need to.
For something extra, slather on the remaining 2 Tbsp of hot spicy ketchup (or bbq sauce if that’s what you’re using) on the meatballs as a sauce and then dig in!
How to store meatballs long-term?
Meal prep these pretty little hot n smoky ketchup or bbq meatballs and keep them in the fridge for about 3-4 days in an airtight container.
You can also make these in bulk and stash them away in the freezer – cooked or raw. Place them on a baking sheet, and let them freeze on the sheet itself. Then transfer them to freezer-safe zipper bags or an airtight container and freeze.
To cook raw meatballs, bake them for about 3-4 minutes longer, and to reheat cooked meatballs (after letting them thaw) just microwave them.
Substitutes?
- Chicken: Ground turkey works great too
- Hot Ketchup: Regular ketchup + ¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper, or replace it with barbecue sauce to make these into a bbq chicken meatballs recipe. No going wrong with that either.
- Almond flour: Use about 1-1½ Tbsp coconut flour or just bread crumbs if you don’t have dietary restrictions.
P.S. You can also make ground chicken from scratch using chicken breast by pulsing it in the food processor (pulse not process).
What goes with these?
- Grilled or Roasted Veggies
- Corn on the cob
- Mashed Potatoes
- Potato Wedges
- Smashed Potatoes
Smoky Hot Ketchup Chicken Meatballs (Low Carb & Paleo)
Ingredients
- 1 lb Chicken Breast, Ground or Whole, 454g
- ½ medium Red Onion, Chopped, 52g
- ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp Hot Ketchup, see notes for sub
- 1 tsp Paprika
- ½ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper
- ¼ cup Almond Flour, 20g, see notes for sub
- Cooking spray or Olive Oil for greasing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease a baking sheet.
Prepare Chicken:
- If using whole chicken breast, cut into large chunks and place in a food processor.
- Pulse (do not process, use the pulse option, or the chicken will form mush) about 10-15 times until it turns into a ground chicken.
- Work in batches if needed.
Make Meatballs:
- In a large bowl combine chicken, chopped onion, ¼ cup ketchup, paprika, salt and pepper, and mix well until uniform. Use clean hands!
- Add almond flour and mix again.
- Spoon out a heaping tablespoon worth of the mix and use hands to shape into meatballs (about 16) and transfer to baking sheet.
- Bake for about 23 minutes.
- Coat with additional hot ketchup, and serve!
Notes
- To replace hot ketchup, use regular ketchup + ¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper.
- To replace almond flour use ¼ cup breadcrumbs or 1½ Tbsp Coconut Flour.
- Make sure to use “pulse” and not the regular “process” option on the food processor, or it will turn the chicken into a soft mush.
- Fridge: 3-4 days in an airtight glass container. Reheat in a 350°F oven for about 5-7 minutes, or microwave on high for 1 minute until warmed through.
- Freeze raw: Place baking sheet in freezer and allow meatballs to freeze. When frozen, transfer to a freezer-safe bag and freeze. Thaw before cooking, and increase cook time by 3-4 minutes.
- Freeze cooked: Cook meatballs and cool. Transfer to parchment paper lined baking sheet and freeze. When frozen, transfer to a freezer-safe bag and freeze. Thaw and reheat in microwave to serve.
- Foraging Fox Beetroot Ketchup, Hot
- Nature’s Eats Superfine Almond Flour
- Servings: 16 2” meatballs | Serving size: 4 meatballs
- Calories: 192kcal
- Fat: 5.9g | Saturated fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 6.1g | Fiber: 1.4g | Sugar: 1.3g
- Protein: 27g
Hey! I'm Haylee
Google Software Engineer
I use my passion for baking (and eating) to create healthy, high-protein, good-for-you and diet-friendly desserts and sweet treats that are actually delicious.
Come join me in Hayl's Kitchen and let's eat high protein, sweet and guilt free!