Half-Cauliflower Meatballs

I love meatballs because they're easy, versatile, and pretty affordable. These meatballs are half meat and half cauliflower, so they're great if you're trying to cut down on your meat consumption or if you just love cauliflower!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Ingredients

Meatballs:

1/2 lb Ground meat (I used chicken and pork but this recipe will work with any)

1/4 Cauliflower head

1 egg

2 tbsp White or yellow onion

2 Cloves of garlic

1/8 tsp Cumin

1/2 tsp Pepper

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Peruvian seasoning

1/2 tsp Poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp Sriracha or hot sauce

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Sauce:

Mayo

Worcestershire sauce

Garlic powder

Peruvian seasoning

Poultry seasoning

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 400 and prep a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

2. Finely chop cauliflower, onion, and garlic. You want everything to be pretty small so the ingredients combine well with the meat.

3. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well to make sure spices are well incorporated.

4. Heat a pan on medium and add cooking oil or butter. Your pan is heated when it sizzles when sprayed with water. Add in your meatballs, leaving at least a half inch in between each. Cook meatballs for 1-2 mins on each side, until the side is medium-browned. If you try to flip/move a meatball and it sticks to the pan, it still needs some time on that side.

5. When you've seared (cooked) the meatballs, spray your baking sheet and add the meatballs. Since you've seared them, these won't need to cook for very long. Start with 5 mins and go from there.

6. While the meatballs are cooking, mix together all ingredients for your dipping sauce. I used the same flavors that I used in the meatballs, so if you go with a different flavor/spices combo than I have listed, I recommend using those spices for your sauce. All ingredients are to taste!

7. Use a meat thermometer or cut a meatball in half to check done-ness. When they're cooked through, set them on a plate, paper towel, or rack to rest for 3 mins.

Substitutions

I have not tried all of these substitutions, but have only listed ones I feel confident will work.

Cauliflower: Broccoli, slaw mix, additional ground meat

Meat: You can use any ground meat here, but this would also work (I think) with "Beyond Burger" meat.

Onions: If you don't have white or yellow onions, this recipe would also be great with red onion, scallions, shallots, or onion powder.

Spices: You should use whatever spices you like for this recipe! The spices listed here are one example of flavors that go well together, but when it comes to flavor combos, the world is really your oyster. The only note I'll make is that if you include only dry ingredients and don't include some sort of liquid hot sauce, your meatballs may be a bit more dry.

Searing: You actually don't *have* to sear these meatballs, you can just cook them in the oven. But! They will be dry. If you're planning to cover them in some sort of sauce or dressing, or you don't mind meatballs that are a bit more dry, then skipping the searing step is a time-saver.

Sauce: I included my preferred dipping sauce/dressing here, but these meatballs are also great with Sriracha mayo, soy sauce, ranch and other salad dressings, or solo.

Other Flavor Combos

As I've said before, you hold all the power when it comes to what spices you use. Go crazy! But if you don't want to use the spices I've listed but do want some guidance, here are some additional flavor combos that go well together. FYI salt + pepper are assumed additions to all these combos:

-curry powder, garam masala, cumin, ginger

-oregano, parsley, basil, sage

-dill, mint

-chili flakes, cayenne, paprika, cumin

-cinnamon, ginger, Chinese five spice blend (cinnamon, fennel, cloves, star anise, and white pepper)

-turmeric, oregano, chili flakes

Notes

This recipe makes about 12 meatballs slightly smaller than 2 inches in diameter.

If doubling the recipe, stick with 1 egg.

If searing, these meatballs won't turn out round! That's okay. They will still taste good.

See my Homemade Mayo recipe to step up your sauce game :)