These homemade air fryer meatballs are a delicious and healthy dinner or snack, cooked in just 9 minutes in your air fryer. Made without bread crumbs, these meatballs are gluten free and so versatile! Add to a spaghetti sauce for meatballs and spaghetti, serve with tzatziki as an appetiser or with salad for a light dinner (find more suggestions further down the post).
I've also included instructions for cooking these homemade meatballs from frozen, so they are great to meal prep! And if you don't have an air fryer, don't worry, this recipe includes instructions for cooking in a conventional oven as well!
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What You'll Love About This Recipe
There is so much to love about these gluten free air fryer meatballs!
- Juicy meatballs (no tough meatballs here!).
- The perfect quick weeknight meal, have dinner made in under 25 minutes!
- These are the best meatballs to meal prep.
- Leftover cooked meatballs can be frozen for later.
- This recipe is gluten free and grain free
Ingredients Notes & Substitutions
To make these quick and easy gluten free, air fryer meatballs you will need:
- Beef Mince (ground beef) - I prefer to use grass fed as it has a healthier nutrition profile then grain fed beef. You could also use lean ground beef, ground pork or ground turkey).
- Sea Salt Flakes - I've used sea salt flakes in this recipe, if you're going to use granular salt then you will need ½ a teaspoon, not a full teaspoon!
- Cracked Black Pepper - you could also use ground white pepper.
- Ground Cumin
- Fresh Oregano - finely chopped. If you can't find fresh oregano then you can use either ½ teaspoon of dried oregano or dried Italian seasoning or herbs.
- Fresh Parsley - finely chopped. If fresh parsley isn't available then you can use ¼ teaspoon dried parsley.
- Free Range Egg - swap for an egg replacer if need be.
- Fresh Garlic - I mince the garlic by grating it on the fine side of a grater and then finely chopping, if you have a garlic mincer then use that! You can swap the fresh garlic for ½ teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Brown Onion - I recommend grating the onion in this recipe so that you don't have onion chunks throughout the meatballs. Grated onion creates a nicer flavour as the onion disperses more easily throughout the mince mixture. You can swap the fresh onion for 1 teaspoon of onion powder.
- Tapioca Starch - you could also use corn flour or arrowroot flour or corn flour. Because this air fryer meatballs recipe doesn't contain breadcrumbs, the tapioca is needed to help bind the mince.
Find ingredient quantities plus the full recipe in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to Make Air Fryer Meatballs (Including Process Images)
We all need a handful of easy recipes to lean on for those busy weeknights or those can't be bothered nights. I promise this easy air fryer meatballs are so quick to make, they're sure to become a regular meal in your kitchen!
Make the Meatball Mixture
Add all of the ingredients for the meatballs to a large mixing bowl. Using clean hands, mash the mixture together until well combined.
Roll the Meatballs
Once the mixture is well combined, take around two tablespoons and mould into a golfball sized ball.
Cook the Meatballs in the Air Fryer
Grease the air fryer basket with extra virgin olive oil. Add the meat balls to the basket in batches (how many you can fit will depend on the size of your air fryer). Make sure to leave around one inch between each meatball. Air fry for 9 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius (356 Fahrenheit).
Tip: Make a big batch of these meatballs and freeze half raw for an even easier dinner later down the track.
Serving Suggestions
I love how versatile these air fryer meatballs are! Here's some suggestions for serving them:
- Serve on pita with hummus and salad.
- For a quick dinner, add to a Mediterranean bowl with cherry tomatoes, tzatziki, kalamata olives and lettuce.
- Serve as an appetiser alongside your favorite dipping sauces (such as tomato sauce, tzatziki, hummus or babaganush). They are a real crowd pleaser!
- Pack into lunchboxes as a high protein snack.
- Combine with marinara sauce or your favorite pasta sauce for spaghetti and meatballs.
- Make a meatball sub.
Storage
To store cooked meatballs, place any leftover meatballs either in a ziplock bag or an airtight, shallow container. Freeze for up to 6 months.
To freeze raw meatballs, place each meatball in an airtight container in a single layer. Place the lid on and freeze. To save freezer space, once the meatballs are frozen they can be transferred to a ziplock bag and then placed straight back into the freezer. For instructions on cooking these meatballs from frozen see the FAQ section a little further down this post.
Tip: For best food safety practices, make sure the mince you are using to make raw meatballs hasn't already been frozen and defrosted. Frozen and defrosted mince can be used to make air-fryer meatballs if they are being cooked straight away.
FAQ
Yes! If you don't have an air fryer, you can still cook these meatballs in the oven. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease a baking dish. Add the meatballs to the baking dish and place into the oven to bake for 15 minutes.
You can cook frozen meatballs in the air fryer. Cook for 15 minutes at 180 degrees (356 degrees Fahrenheit). This means you can prep your meatballs in advance and have them in the freezer ready to go for dinner on a night when you don't have the time or energy to cook.
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📖 Recipe
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Air Fryer
- Dinner Plate or Baking Tray
Ingredients
- 500 g lean beef mince
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 brown onion grated
- 1 tablespoon parsley fresh, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon oregano fresh, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin ground
- 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
- Cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon tapioca starch corn flour or arrowroot flour
- 1 egg
Instructions
- To a large mixing bowl add the beef mince, garlic, onion, parsley, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, egg and arrowroot flour.500 g lean beef mince, 4 cloves garlic, 1 brown onion, 1 tablespoon parsley, 1 tablespoon oregano, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes, Cracked black pepper, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon tapioca starch
- Using hands mix together all of the ingredients until well combined.
- Take about 2 tablespoons of mixture and form into a meatball. Place the meatball onto a plate and repeat this step until all meatballs or made.
- Place the meatballs into the air fryer. Set the air fryer to 180 degrees Celsius and cook for 12 minutes.
- To cook in a conventional oven, grease baking dish and place meatballs into dish and into a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.
Video
Notes
Meal Prep
Meatballs can be frozen raw and cooked from frozen in the air fryer. To cook from frozen, place the frozen meatballs into the air fryer, set the temperature to 180 degrees Celsius and cook for 15 minutes.Storage
Store cooked meatballs in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to 6 months. To freeze raw meatballs, place in a single layer in an airtight container and freeze. Once frozen you can transfer to a ziplock bag and place straight back into the freezer.Nutrition
Did you make this recipe? Let us know how you went by rating the recipe and commenting below.
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Rachi
They look delicious and moist
Sarah Bell
Thank you, they were so yummy!
Sylvie
I cant wait to try these for dinner! They look so juicy and delicious, and so easy to make too!
Sarah Bell
Thanks so much! So easy to make ☺️
Sarah
Who knew it was so easy to whip up meatballs in the airfryer? I'm always looking out for yummy gluten and dairy free recipes when my cousins come over, will be adding this one to the list!
Sarah Bell
I'm so glad I could help! Hope you love them as much as we do!