A healthier alternative to traditional meatballs, but nothing short of taste! These paleo, whole 30 and gluten-free butternut squash meatballs are so delicious and moist. It will sure be your top go-to meatball recipe.
I am all into the idea of incorporating more vegetables in a meat entrée for my picky-eaters. And my family just love these delicious meatballs made out of beef and butternut squash! I am excited to share my best paleo meatball recipe with you.
Best Whole 30 & Paleo Meatballs
I put a healthy and seasonal twist on a classic Italian meatball recipe, making it also paleo-friendly, gluten-free and dairy-free. In addition, these meatballs are loaded with butternut squash and truly delicious. They are the best whole 30 and paleo meatballs I have ever had.
The natural aroma and sweetness of the butternut squash pair perfectly with Italian herbs, beef and tomato sauce. As a result, I appreciate the depth of flavour of these butternut squash meatballs. In my opinion, they taste yummier than the traditional ones. It has become a dish we make repeatedly in the family.
Butternut Squash Makes the Meatballs Tender
Typically breadcrumbs, cheese, and sometimes rice are added to meatballs to make them tender. In Asian cuisines, we often add corn starch, flour, water and even tofu to the meatball mixture to achieve the same goal.
In this meatball recipe, butternut squash is the true star of the show. The moisture content and starchiness of the squash are what make these meatballs so tender.
Can I Substitute Butternut Squash?
Now if you happen to have a different kind of winter squash waiting to be eaten in your pantry, go for it! It will work just fine in this recipe as long as it’s starchy with a rich flavour. Most winter squashes are interchangeable in recipes. But I wouldn’t go as far as spaghetti squash – to me, they just aren’t flavourful enough.
You can also try substituting with pumpkin, but make sure you give my recipe a try as-is first! The measurements below are based on the use of butternut squashes because we love them and they are very easy to find locally anywhere. If you make with a substitute, you may need to watch out for the meat to squash ratio depending on the moisture content of your squash. I would love to hear your results, so be sure to leave me a comment below.
Kitchen Tools You Will Need
Depending on whether you will make the meatball mixture by hands or not, here are some tools you may need:
Related: More Wholesome Dinner Recipes You Will Love
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- Keto Cauliflower Fried Rice /w Hot Dog and Eggs
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- Olive and Preserved Lemon Poached Shrimp
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- Cheesy Veggie-Stuffed Meatloaf


The Best Paleo Meatballs: Butternut Squash Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef (approx. 2 1/4 cup per pound)
- 1 lb. butternut squash (approx. 2 1/2 cup per pound)
- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 egg
- 5 cups marinara sauce
Instructions
- Remove seeds and skin of the butternut squash. If using a boxed grater, make sure to use the smaller setting to finely shred the squash. You want the strands of the squash to be very thin so that they can be well integrated with the meat after mixing. The amount called for in the recipe is based on shredded butternut squash with seeds and skin removed.
- Chop down the herbs very fine or pulverize in a coffee grinder if the herbs are too coarse, especially the rosemary. If you don't have a collection of individual herbs, you can use an Italian mix instead.
- Finely mince 4-5 cloves of garlic.
- Mix everything except for the marinara sauce listed in the ingredients section, to make the mixture of the meatballs.
- Alternatively, you can blend all meatball ingredients in a food processer, instead of chopping each of them separately as in above steps.
- At this point, the mixture should be as soft as possible without losing the shape when made into meatballs. Firmer mixture results in less tender meatballs once cooked.
- Shape meatballs by hand to roughly 1.5 inch diameter size and place in a large baking dish. The meatballs should not be touching each other. I usually make 20 meatballs with the amount of ingredients in this recipe.
- Bake the meatballs in a pre-heated oven at 375ºF for 20 minutes.
- Pour your favourite marinara sauce over the meatballs. If you use an unsalted plain tomato sauce, you can add more salt, herbs and minced garlic to taste.
- Bake the meatballs at 375ºF for another 40 minutes.
Video
Nutrition


Hi, this sounds really good. Are you supposed to cook the squash first before shredding and mixing? Thank you.
No need to cook the squash before shredding and mixing. 🙂 You can shred the squash by hands or in a food processor. The squash is cooked along the ground beef. Cooking time of squash is already factored in the recipe. Happy cooking!!!
Just letting you know it turned out really great! Everyone loved them. Since I made it for my son and husband, I cooked spaghetti for them to go with it, but I ate mine plain. 🙂
Yay!!! Thank you for sharing your success, Denise! This is so nice to hear. ❤️ I also eat my meatballs with zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash noodles or meshed potatoes sometimes.
Hi! Can I do it without eggs?
I haven’t tried, but I think you can. It may be a little less moist as you are taking away a liquid ingredient.
Just made these and they were incredible! Loved the video. As a new girl in the kitchen trying to find healthy recipes that are easy to make, I found it super helpful, excited to try more recipes by you.
Nadia, I really appreciate your kind words! I am glad you found the video helpful. So happy to share the food love <3
Yang, this was so good and easy to make!
Everyone in the family liked the meatballs and they were surprised that I was using butternut squash instead of things like breadcrumbs.
I made it specially for Joshua’s 1st birthday and also because yours recipes are usually simple and healthy.
The meatballs turned out tasty and moist. Joshua ate a few bites of it 👍😊😋
Looking forward to more yummy recipes on your blog!
I am so happy you guys liked it! Little Joshua’s birthday is just 1 day away from Connor’s. That’s so special, Val!
This is great awesome …. We are so proud of you… Looking forward for more such videos….😘😘
Thank you Nisha! I am glad you enjoyed the video. It’s been fun putting this together. I will surely be making more video recipes in the future!