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Buffalo Turkey Meatballs
If you are like me and LOVE Buffalo Sauce, this is the perfect recipe for you! It’s so quick and easy to make and taste delicious! These Buffalo Meatballs are a regular dinner staple at your house. It’s Whole 30, Paleo and Keto friendly, and cooks in just 10 minutes in the Air Fryer. On busy weeks, I meal prep a batch ahead of time, then all I have to do is heat them and toss in the sauce, and dinner is ready in just a few minutes. It’s truly one of my favorite recipes. I know I say that about a lot of recipes, but this is top of my favorite list 🙂
All About That Buffalo Sauce
When I was younger, I hated anything spicy. I mean black pepper too spicy hatred. Then in college, there was this local bar that offered free wings on Tuesday nights, and I had resisted for so long, one night I was drunk and succumbed to the pressure of eating wings. So finally I gave in and guess what I LOVED THEM!!! I’ve been eating wings ever since, I even on occasion will cook with Jalapenos (seeds removed and very very small amounts), but still, it’s a big jump from not wanting ground pepper on my food lol.
Now I’m so obsessed with buffalo everything I have so many buffalo style recipes for you to enjoy. If you are craving a kick in your food, try these other buffalo style recipes. Buffalo Chicken Salad, Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole, BEST Gluten Free Buffalo Chicken Tenders.
What Makes This Dish Keto, Paleo and Whole 30 Friendly?
I usually take a minute to explain what makes each recipe on this site fall into the dietary categories so my readers a better idea of what each diet is about. Keto is a diet focused on keeping the body in a state of ketosis. In this state, the body starts to burn fat for fuel. You do this by consuming under a certain number of carbs per day, typically 20G or less. This meal is a keto dream, really. All the main ingredients, Turkey, Ghee, and Franks Red Hot, have 0 G Carbs. The only ingredient that has some carbs is the almond flour, but that has about 3 Net Gram per 1/4 Cup, and we only use a few tablespoons.
Both Whole 30 and Paleo diets focus on eating whole foods that are minimally processed, avoiding any inflammatory ingredients, like gluten, grains, dairy, and legumes. All the ingredients in this dish fall into that category of complaint, but for Whole 30 & Paleo brands can matter. For example, some bacon is compliant, but lots of brands aren’t. So you ALWAYS want to check the labels. For the Hot sauce, I love the New Primal and Primal Kitchen. Also, there Ranch Dressing is a great Whole 30/Paleo approved dipping sauce. If not Whole 30/Keto, you can use Butter, otherwise you’ll need to make sure you use Ghee. You can click those links to order off amazon.
What Ingredients Do You Need?
- Ground Turkey (Can use chicken)
- Green Onion
- Almond Flour
- Egg
- Coconut Oil (Optional but I think it brings a good amount of fat to the meatballs)
- Buffalo Sauce – Make sure it’s Whole 30/Paleo compliant. See Above for the brands I recommend.
- Ghee (or Butter if not Whole 30/Paleo Complaint)
- Optional Toppings -Blue Cheese (if not Whole 30/Paleo), Ranch Dressing, Turn it into a sub with bread.
How To Make It
- Mix all ingredients, except hot sauce and ghee, in a bowl. Roll with hands into 1 1/2″ Diameter meatballs
- Cook in the Air Fryer at 390 for 10 Minutes
- Heat Hot Sauce and Ghee or Butter in microwave or on stove until combined.
- Toss cooked meatballs in sauce to coat.
That Simple!!!
Helpful Equipment and Ingredients (Directly From Amazon)
What Are Some Good Sides?
No dish is complete with some great sides! Here are some of my favorites for this dish below
- A simple side salad. Almost every night with dinner we have a very simple of spring mix, salt pepper and a dressing of apple cider vinegar and olive oil. Simple, easy, low calories and helps keep you full.
- Cauliflower Rice (Fresh or frozen)
- Spaghetti Squash – A twist on a classic spaghetti and meatballs
- Sesame Roasted Asparagus – Keto, Whole 30, Paleo Friendly Veggie Side
- Grab some bread and turn this dish into a sub. Against the grain makes a great paleo baguette !!
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Tips, Recs, Subs
- If not Paleo/Whole 30, you can sub the Ghee for Butter.
- If not Paleo/Whole 30 blue cheese or blue dressing is an excellent addition to this dish
- Make sure your buffalo sauce is compliant. My two favorites are New Primal and Primal Kitchen brands!
- Coconut Oil is not necessary, but I like that it adds the right amount of fat since turkey and chicken tend to be really dry
- If your meat mixture is too wet add a little more almond flour
- If your meat mixture is extremely dry add one tablespoon of coconut oil
- Always preheat your air fryer the same way you would heave an oven. Heat at 390 for 3-5 minutes.
- Spray the air fryer or coat with oil, so the meatballs don’t stick.
- You can heat your ghee/buffalo sauce mixture in the microwave for 1minute – 1minute and half until the ghee is melted or on the stovetop on low for just a few minutes.
- If using Cauliflower Rice, make sure the only ingredient is cauliflower. One more than one occasion, Dave has put Cauliflower rice in our cart only for me to realize it was a cheesy cauliflower rice mix.
- See my section above for side dishes to serve.
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Buffalo Turkey Meatballs
Equipment
- Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 lb Turkey or chicken
- 1 Egg
- 3 Tablespoons Almond Meal (or Flour)
- Handful chopped green onion
- ¼ cup Franks Red Hot Sauce
- 2 tablespoons Ghee or butter
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil (optional to add a extra fat, may need to add another tablespoon of almond meal if mixture becomes to wet)
Instructions
- Combine turkey egg, almond flour and green onions, and salt and peppe, and optional coconut oil in a bowl. (I usually use gloves and my hands for this step). Once combined well, roll with hands into small meatballs.
- Place meatballs in air fryer at 390 for 8-10 minutes. While meatballs are cooking, microwave franks red hot and ghee in a bowl, for 1 minute 30 seconds, when butter is melted stir to combine.
- Add meatballs to a bowl, top with hot sauce mixture, making sure to fully coat. Serve as a main dish or side, top with blue cheese crumbles (omit for paleo/whole 30), or whole 30 ranch, or extra hot sauce.
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All of my favorite ingredients–including Franks Red Hot Sauce. YUM!
Me too! I love buffalo sauce! Hopefully you enjoy it. Thank you for taking the time to stop by 🙂