This filling and delicious Keto Meatball Casserole recipe is packed with easy homemade meatballs, pasta sauce, and mozzarella cheese. It comes together in minutes and is perfect to share with the whole family.
Updated August 24, 2026: I've refreshed this post with new tips, expanded FAQs, and helpful make-ahead instructions based on your questions and feedback. Same delicious recipe, even more helpful! Originally posted on January 15, 2020, and photos updated on July 19, 2024.
Watch this quick video tutorial!
There was a winter a few years back when I made this casserole so many Thursdays in a row that my family started calling it "the Thursday pan." I wasn't even trying to build a recipe. I just wanted something hot and cheesy on the table that didn't leave me washing three pots. Nine meatballs, a jar of sauce, a handful of mozzarella, one dish. That was it.
I've been developing and photographing recipes here since 2013, and this one has earned its keep longer than almost anything else in my dinner rotation. It first went up on the blog back in January of 2020, and I've retested and re-tweaked it several times since, the meatball spacing, the draining step, the bake times. My family has eaten every version, and they'll tell you plainly which ones missed.
What you've got below is the version that finally stopped needing changes, plus everything I've learned answering your questions in the comments over the years. Let's get started!
Why You'll Love This Keto Meatball Casserole
- One dish, start to finish - The meatballs bake in the same 8x8 pan the casserole comes together in, so there's no skillet to scrub and no second bowl of grease to deal with.
- Genuinely low carb - It lands at about 11g net carbs per serving, with no breadcrumbs, no panko, and no almond flour. Grated parmesan does the binding work instead.
- Feeds the keto eater and everyone else - I serve mine over zucchini noodles and let the rest of the family have theirs over spaghetti. Same pan, nobody's making a separate dinner.
- Forty-five minutes, mostly hands-off - Fifteen minutes of actual work, then the oven does the rest in two stages while you set the table.
Ingredients You'll need
Here's everything you'll need to make this recipe.
- Ground beef. I use regular ground beef and don't fuss over the fat percentage. You're draining the rendered fat off partway through anyway, which is what keeps the sauce from going greasy. If you'd rather swap it, ground turkey, ground pork, Italian sausage, or ground chicken all work. Sausage brings the most flavor of the bunch. Turkey and chicken run leaner and drier, so don't overbake them.
- Mozzarella cheese. This does double duty: a small amount goes into the meatball mixture, and a larger amount goes on top. Shred it yourself from a block if you can. Pre-shredded cheese is coated with anti-caking starch, which both blunts the melt and quietly adds carbs you didn't plan on. Cheddar or an Italian blend also melts beautifully on top if that's what's in the drawer.
- Grated parmesan. This is the part that makes the recipe work without breadcrumbs. Parmesan binds the meat mixture and seasons it at the same time, which is why you don't need a filler in here at all.
- Egg. Your other binder. One large egg holds nine meatballs together through two rounds in the oven without making them dense.
- Onion. Chopped fine. It brings sweetness and moisture, and it's the single largest carb contributor in the dish. So if you're counting tightly, this is the knob to turn.
- Pasta sauce. For a from-scratch version, try my San Marzano Tomato Sauce Recipe, which comes together in about the time it takes the meatballs to bake. It calls for a pinch of sugar, you can leave it out or use stevia, and I've done both with no trouble. Store-bought is completely fine too. Just read the label, because jarred sauces vary wildly in added sugar. Look for one at 4g of carbs or less per half-cup serving.
- Garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, black pepper. Garlic powder over fresh garlic here on purpose. It distributes evenly through raw meat in a way minced garlic doesn't, so you don't get one meatball carrying all the flavor.
👉🏾 See the recipe card below for exact quantities and full instructions.
How to Make Keto Meatball Casserole
Here's a quick overview of the process. Full step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Mix the meatballs without overworking them
Combine the beef, both cheeses, egg, onion, and seasonings in a large bowl and stir just until the mixture holds together as one mass. The moment it clumps into a ball, stop. Overmixing is the number one reason keto meatballs come out dense and rubbery. You're compressing the protein and squeezing out the fat that should be keeping them tender. A wooden spoon or clean hands both work. Hands are faster because you can actually feel when it's done.
Step 2: Scoop and space them properly
Use a small cookie scoop or an ice cream scoop so they're all the same size and cook at the same rate. Set them in the dish with a little room between each one. They shouldn't touch each other or the sides of the pan. They will shrink as they bake, and that's exactly what's supposed to happen. If they're crowded, they steam against each other instead of browning, and you lose the little bit of crust that makes them taste baked rather than boiled.
Step 3: Bake, then drain, don't skip this
The meatballs go into a 400°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on how large you scooped them. When they come out, there will be a real pool of rendered fat in the pan. Lift the meatballs out with a slotted spoon, set them in a bowl for a minute, and pour that fat off completely. This is the step people skip, and it's the difference between a sauce that clings and a casserole that swims. If you're using a fattier ground beef, expect to pour off a surprising amount.
Step 4: Layer sauce, meatballs, sauce
Coat the bottom of the empty dish with half the sauce, nestle the meatballs back in on top of it, then spoon the rest over so every meatball is covered. Don't leave bare tops exposed. Uncovered meatballs dry out and go leathery in the second bake. Use the back of a spoon to work the sauce into the gaps.
Step 5: Cheese and finish
Spread the mozzarella in an even layer and return the dish to the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling with a few golden spots. Watch it rather than trusting the clock. Cheese goes from bubbly to tough quickly, and this is the moment the whole dish is won or lost.
LaKita's Expert Tips
Here are my best tips for making this recipe turn out perfectly every time.
- Check for doneness by temperature, not time. Ground beef is done at 160°F. Stick an instant-read thermometer into the center of the largest meatball settles the question in three seconds, and meatball size varies enough that the 15-to-20-minute range is genuinely a range.
- Cold beef scoops cleaner. Take the ground beef straight from the fridge rather than letting it sit out. Warm fat smears. Cold fat holds its shape, and you'll get rounder meatballs with less sticking.
- Let it rest five minutes before serving. Straight from the oven, the sauce is loose, and it'll run all over the plate. Five minutes on the counter and it sets up enough to hold a clean scoop.
- A rack works if the grease bothers you. A reader named Pat asked years ago about baking the meatballs elevated on a rack to keep them out of the fat, and honestly, if that's easier for you, it works fine, you'll just be transferring them into the sauced dish rather than draining in place.
- Taste your sauce before it goes in. Jarred sauces range from bland to aggressively sweet. If yours tastes flat, a pinch of salt and a little extra Italian seasoning stirred in before layering fixes it, and there's no fixing it after it's baked.
- Don't overbake the second stage. This is the mistake I still catch myself making when I'm distracted. The casserole is finished when the cheese bubbles. Anything past that and the meatballs tighten up.
- Double batches want a bigger pan, not a deeper one. If you're scaling up, spread into a 9x13 rather than piling into the 8x8, or the center never gets there while the edges overcook.
Want To Save This Recipe?
Enter your email below & we'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get comforting new recipes from us every week!
Variations & Substitutions
This recipe is flexible, here are some easy ways to make it your own.
- Change the meat. Ground turkey, ground pork, Italian sausage, or ground chicken all substitute straight across. A half-and-half mix of beef and Italian sausage is the most flavorful version I've made.
- Change the cheese. Cheddar, provolone, or an Italian blend on top all melt well. One reader, Dwana, made it with an arrabbiata sauce and an Italian cheese blend for a little heat and reported back that it was fabulous, I'd take her word for it.
- Add a creamy layer. Dollops of ricotta or softened cream cheese under the mozzarella turn this into something much closer to a baked lasagna.
- Sneak in vegetables. Finely shredded zucchini worked into the meat mixture adds moisture and disappears completely once baked. Spinach or mushrooms layered in with the sauce also work.
- Frozen meatball shortcut. Store-bought frozen meatballs skip the mixing and shaping entirely. Check the label, since most contain breadcrumbs and won't be strictly keto.
- Keto meatballs without the casserole. If you came here for the meatballs themselves rather than the full bake, they stand entirely on their own. Mix and scoop exactly as written, bake at 400°F for 15 to 20 minutes, drain, and serve them straight. Over zucchini noodles, tucked into a lettuce wrap, or as an appetizer with warm sauce alongside for dipping. No breadcrumbs, no almond flour, no coconut flour. Just parmesan doing the binding. For the full pasta version instead, see my Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe, and for a handheld take, try the Meatball Sub Sandwich.
- Carnivore-friendly. Leaving out the onion and the tomato sauce entirely gets you close, but it becomes a genuinely different dish.
Make-Ahead & Storage
Make-Ahead
You can assemble the entire casserole. Meatballs baked, drained, sauced, and cheesed. Cover it, and keep it in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days before its final bake. This is how I handle it when I know Thursday is going to get away from me. Add a few extra minutes to the second bake since you're starting from cold. You can also bake and drain just the meatballs a day ahead and refrigerate them separately, then assemble and finish whenever you're ready.
For the freezer, assemble the casserole unbaked. Meaning meatballs baked and drained, sauce and cheese on, but no final bake, and wrap it tightly in a double layer of aluminum foil. It keeps up to 3 months. Move it to the refrigerator overnight to thaw, then bake per the recipe, allowing an extra 10 to 15 minutes.
Storage & Reheating
Storage. Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Glass holds up better than plastic here. Tomato sauce stains, and the cheese reheats more evenly in glass.
Reheating. My best result has been covering the dish with foil and warming it at 325°F for 15 to 20 minutes, until it's hot through the center. The foil is what matters. Uncovered, the cheese on top toughens before the middle warms up. On the stovetop, a covered saucepan over low heat with a splash of water works. In the microwave, go at 50% power in one-minute bursts rather than full blast, which makes the meatballs seize.
Freezing leftovers. I've only ever frozen this recipe unbaked.
What to Serve with Keto Meatball Casserole
Here are some of my favorite ways to serve this dish.
- Zucchini noodles for you, spaghetti for everyone else. This is what I actually do most nights. Spiralize or buy them pre-cut, sauté 2 to 3 minutes in a dry pan, and spoon the casserole right over. Boil regular pasta alongside for anyone who wants it and nobody's making two dinners.
- A green salad with something sharp on it. The casserole is rich, and it needs a counterweight more than it needs another rich side. Try it with my Homemade Ranch Dressing.
- Roasted vegetables. Broccoli, asparagus, or green beans on a sheet pan at 400°F go in right alongside the casserole's second bake, so they're done at the same time.
- Something to mop the sauce with. Almond Coconut Flour Bread is my keto option here. For a non-keto family table, Southern Baked Beans or Baked Potato Wedges Recipe both hold their own next to it.
- Cauliflower rice or spaghetti squash. Both catch sauce well and neither competes with the meatballs for attention.
Frequently asked questions
This version is, yes. There are no breadcrumbs, panko, almond flour, or coconut flour in it. Grated parmesan and an egg do all the binding work. It comes out to roughly 11g net carbs per serving (about 14g total carbohydrate minus 3g fiber). Most of those carbs come from the pasta sauce and the onion, which are the two places to adjust if you're counting tightly. Traditional meatball recipes are usually not keto, because breadcrumbs are the standard binder.
About 14g total carbohydrate and 3g fiber, which puts net carbs around 11g per serving at 4 servings per pan. That number moves depending on your sauce. Jarred pasta sauces range from about 4g to well over 10g of carbs per half cup, and added sugar is common. Reading that label is the single biggest lever you have on the final count.
The short version is yes, it's a real time-saver, but two things change: most store-bought frozen meatballs contain breadcrumbs or filler, so they're not strictly keto. Check the label and the carb count per serving. And frozen meatballs go into the dish cold rather than hot from their own bake, so the total time in the oven goes up considerably.
Yes, and it's the step that makes this recipe work. Raw meatballs release a lot of fat and liquid as they cook, and if that happens in a dish already full of sauce and cheese, you end up with a greasy, watery casserole instead of a saucy one. Baking them first lets you pour all of that off before assembling. It's fifteen extra minutes and it's not optional.
Breadcrumbs in a conventional meatball do two jobs. They bind, and they absorb moisture so the meatball stays tender. Grated parmesan handles the binding and adds salt and flavor while it's at it, and the egg plus the small amount of mozzarella mixed into the meat handles the tenderness. You get a meatball that holds its shape through two bakes without any filler at all.
Any sauce you like, as long as you check the label, the range is wide. Look for one at 4g of carbs or less per half-cup serving and no added sugar. If you'd rather control it entirely, my San Marzano Tomato Sauce comes together in about the time the meatballs bake, and you can leave out the pinch of sugar or use stevia in its place.
Zucchini noodles are my default, and spaghetti squash and cauliflower rice both work just as well, all three catch sauce. Past that, a sharp green salad and roasted broccoli or asparagus round it out. Honestly though, it's substantial enough to eat on its own out of a bowl, which is how it gets eaten at my house more often than not.
Almost always one of three things. Overmixing, which compresses the meat, stop stirring the second it holds together. Overbaking, either in the first stage or the second; check with a thermometer at 160°F rather than going by the clock. Or bare tops, where meatballs weren't fully covered in sauce before the second bake and dried out from above. Very lean ground turkey or chicken is more prone to all three.
If you do, spread into a 9x13 dish rather than piling deeper into the 8x8. A deeper pan means the center is still cold when the edges are overdone.
📖 Recipe
Keto Meatball Casserole Recipe (Baked Keto Meatballs, No Pasta)
Video
Equipment
- 1 8x8-inch square baking dish
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 24 ounces pasta sauce
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. and grab an 8x8-inch baking dish.
- To a large mixing bowl, add the 1 pound ground beef, ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese , ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese, 1 large egg, ½ cup chopped onion, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon ground black pepper.
- Using a large wooden spoon or clean/gloved hands, mix all of the ingredients together until they stick together to form a large ball.
- Using a medium scoop or clean/gloved hand, form the meatballs any size that you like. Place the meatballs in a casserole dish leaving a small amount of space between each meatball. Basically, make sure they are not touching each other. They will shrink in size while baking.
- Place the meatballs into the oven to bake for about 15 to 20 minutes depending on the size of your meatballs.
- Carefully remove the meatballs from the oven and drain off the excess fat. It may be easier to use a slotted spoon and remove the meatballs and place them in a separate bowl. Completely drain the dish of any fat and evenly coat the bottom of the dish with 12 ounces of pasta sauce.
- Place the meatballs evenly on top of the sauce. Top the meatballs with the rest of the leftover 12 ounces of pasta sauce. Make sure each individual meatball is covered in the pasta sauce. Use a spoon to spread it evenly.
- Top the meatball casserole with 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese spread out in an even layer. Place into the oven and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Carefully remove the casserole from the oven. Serve warm on top of your favorite pasta or with a side of your favorite vegetable. Enjoy!
Notes
- Try not to overbake the casserole, check it during the baking process and adjust the cooking time as needed.
- Use any beef that you prefer or feel free to substitute ground turkey or ground chicken.
- This recipe makes enough for about nine medium size meatballs. I use an ice cream scoop to try to get them all the same size so they cook evenly.
- Shed the mozzarella cheese yourself because it melts the best. Much better than the shredded cheese in a bag.
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you give this keto meatball casserole a try, I'd love to know what you think! Leave a comment below, share a photo on Instagram and tag @SimplyLaKita, or save it on Pinterest for later. Your star rating genuinely helps other home cooks find this recipe, and it means a lot to me to see it. And if you tried it with a different sauce, a different cheese, or a variation I haven't thought of yet, tell me in the comments, some of the best tips in this post came from y'all.
judith A oneil says
How many carbs?
LaKita says
Hi there! Thanks so much for checking out the Keto Meatball Casserole. Per serving, it comes out to about 14 g of carbohydrates, which includes 3 g of fiber, giving you an approximate net carb count of 11 g per serving.
Please note, these numbers are an estimate and can vary depending on the brand of ingredients that you use.
Hope that helps, and I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Dwana Lewis says
One of our favorite recipes! This time, I used an Arrabiatta sauce and Italian cheese blend on top and it was fabulous (gave it a little kick)
LaKita says
Thank you so much for sharing Dwana! I love the changes that you made and I'm glad to hear it's a favorite 🙂
Mik says
This turned out delicious! Super easy to make. Next time I will simmer meatballs in marinara sauce so they are a bit more juicy. Thank you! My hubby really liked it!
LaKita says
Thank you so much! Happy to hear that you enjoyed the meatball casserole and that it was a success for you 🙂
Ryan says
Would this be ok to freeze?
LaKita says
Yes, Ryan it should be perfectly fine to freeze this recipe!
Pat says
I was thinking about putting the meatballs on a rack and baking them that way, elevating them from the grease. Doing it this way would seem to make removing them from the pan easier too. Since what I have is 85/15 ground beef, there will certainly be a lot of grease coming out during the baking time. Your thoughts?
Thanks for the easy and interesting recipe.
LaKita says
Hi Pat! Cooking them that way will be perfectly fine if you feel that will be easier for you 🙂
Evie S says
I made this tonight and my oldest boy was visiting and he asked for the recipe! It was that good.
LaKita says
Hi Evie! Glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe!