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Image © Pink When
$0.71 per serving
1 likes
Ready in 45 minutes
Spoonacular Score: 24% 
Easy Italian Meatballs might be just the Mediterranean recipe you are searching for. For 71 cents per serving, this recipe covers 8% of your daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. This recipe makes 8 servings with 238 calories, 13g of protein, and 18g of fat each. It works well as a cheap main course. This recipe from Pink When requires flat leaf parsley, parmigiano-reggiano, almond flour, and ground pepper. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes approximately 45 minutes. 1 person has made this recipe and would make it again. With a spoonacular score of 0%, this dish is very bad (but still fixable). Similar recipes include Easy Italian Meatballs, Easy Italian Stuffed Shells and Meatballs, and Polpettone alla Toscano, or Easy Italian Meatballs.
Read the detailed instructions on Pink When
You can choose lean ground beef or switch to ground turkey or ground bison if you prefer less fatty meat.
The great thing about parmesan cheese is that a little goes a long way, especially if you're buying the real deal.
Before you pass up garlic because you don't want the bad breath that comes with it, keep in mind that the compounds that cause garlic breath also offer a lot of health benefits. Garlic has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, and antiviral properties. If you really want to get the most health benefits out of your garlic, choose Spanish garlic, which contains the most allicin (one of garlic's most beneficial compounds).
Depending on the recipe, you might be able to substitute almond meal or flaxseed for the breadcrumbs to reduce the carbohydrate content and up the nutrition. For example, almond meal works well for breading, while ground flaxseed can help with binding.
If you find meat (especially grassfed and/or organic meat!) on sale, stock up and freeze it. Ground meat will stay good 3-4 months, while steaks, chops, etc., will be fine for at least 4 months.
Most dairy products stay good well past their sell-by date. Instead of throwing out perfectly safe food that is just a few days or maybe even a week or two old, make sure the product smells fine, has a normal texture, and doesn't taste funny. Sniff testing isn't exactly rocket science and it can keep you from wasting food (and money).
The price of ground beef is going up. Beans and lentils, on the other hand, are both cheap and filling. Depending on the recipe, you might be able to add beans or lentils to stretch out your beef.
Make sure you cook ground meat thoroughly. Grinding meat creates a lot of surface area that bacteria can grow on, so eating undercooked ground meat poses a real health risk.
Here's a trick for peeling garlic quickly. Put the garlic clove on your cutting board. Take a knife with a thick blade and place the blade flat across the garlic clove (the clove should be closer to the handle than the middle of the blade). Whack down on the flat side of the blade with your free hand to smoosh the garlic a bit. Done correctly, the skin will peel right off.
If parmesan plays a big role in the flavor of your dish (or if you're a serious foodie or serious about avoiding additivies) it might be worth your time to track down "true" parmesan, Parmigiano Reggiano.
Choose organic, grassfed beef whenever possible. If you're worried about your grocery budget, try eating a few vegetarian meals so you can afford better meat!
Parmesan cheese is traditionally made using rennet, an animal-derived enzyme. For this reason, true parmesan cheese is not suitable for vegetarians. You might be able to find a vegetarian hard cheese to substitute.
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