Our delicious Meatballs and Gravy + Cauliflower Mash is the comfort food you are going to want to make over and over again! Made with tender meatballs, homemade gravy, and served over a creamy cauliflower mash for a healthy dinner that also warms the soul!
The Best Meatballs and Gravy + Cauliflower Mash
During those chilly months of fall and winter, we love a good bowl of warm comfort food. We also love to lighten things up with slightly healthier options to those heavy comfort foods. Enter this easy meatballs and gravy recipe that we chose to serve over a simple cauliflower mash. It is the best combination! If you aren’t concerned with Whole30/Paleo, you can easily serve over some creamy mashed potatoes too.
Looking for another meatball recipe? You should try our Dumplings & Meatballs, another family favorite of ours.
What You Will Need
- ground beef – we used a lean ground beef from our local grocery store, but feel free to sub with ground turkey.
- onion powder, kosher salt, & black pepper – simple seasonings that are always a must!
- egg – the binding agent in the meatballs to help hold everything together.
- fresh mushrooms – highly recommend baby bella mushrooms but any variety of mushrooms would be great (i.e. crimini mushrooms, button mushrooms, etc.).
- ghee – added to start the gravy and to add flavor to the cauliflower mash, while also staying Whole30 compliant.
- tapioca starch – perfect thickening agent to get the gravy nice and creamy.
- beef broth – the liquid base used to create a delicious gravy.
- cauliflower – love making our own cauliflower mash, per the recipe card below, but you can also use a store-bought version.
- almond milk – blended into the cauliflower mash for a creamy texture!
How To Make Meatballs and Gravy + Cauliflower Mash
The first steps to making this easy recipe are to gather all of the simple ingredients.
Place the ground beef, onion powder, and egg in a medium bowl and mix together. Use a cookie scoop to portion out the meatball mixture and roll each scoop between your hands to form a ball. Bring a large skillet to a medium high heat, add the avocado oil, and then add the meatballs. Season generously with salt and pepper. Move around the pan until fully cooked.
Remove the cooked meatballs from the pan and set aside. Add the mushrooms to the hot pan to cook for a few minutes and then remove them. Keeping the pan at a medium heat, add the ghee to melt, whisk in the tapioca starch, and then gradually add the beef broth while continuously whisking. Add meatballs and mushrooms back to the pan and mix to combine.
Paleo + Whole30 Gravy
Yes! I said Paleo + Whole30 Gravy! It is a real thing! I am a pro at making “regular” gravy at Thanksgiving and Christmas so I simply took the same technique I use to make that, but swapped out the butter and flour for ghee and tapioca starch 🙂 Took me a few tries, but I perfected it for you!
Now it is time to make the cauliflower mash. Carefully cut the fresh cauliflower into large chunks, boil, and then place it in a blender or food processor with some ghee, almond milk, and salt. Blend on high until it reaches a smooth texture.
Divide the cauliflower mash evenly between some shallow bowls and then serve the meatballs and gravy over the top.
Made this delicious recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Other Meatball Recipes You Might Like
Meatballs and Gravy + Cauliflower Mash
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stove Top, Blender
- Cuisine: American
Description
Our Meatballs and Gravy + Cauliflower Mash is a healthy spin on your classic comfort food! You will want to make it again and again!
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 egg
- kosher salt and ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil (sub extra virgin olive oil)
- 8oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
Gravy:
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 2 tablespoon tapioca starch
- 2 cups beef broth
- kosher salt & ground black pepper
Cauliflower Mash:
- 1 large head of cauliflower
- 3 tablespoons ghee
- 2–3 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (more, if desired)
Instructions
Meatballs & Gravy
- Prep Meatballs: Place ground beef, onion powder, and egg in a medium bowl. Use your hands to thoroughly mix together. Use a cookie scoop to spoon out 1-2 tablespoons of ground beef mixture and use your hands to roll into meatballs.
- Cook Meatballs: Bring a large cast iron skillet and to medium-high heat. Swirl a tablespoon of avocado oil (or ghee or olive oil) to just barely coat the pan. Add meatballs to hot pan and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Move meatballs around until cooked through, turning as needed. Set cooked meatballs aside on a plate.
- Mushrooms: Leaving any grease in the pan, add mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes. Remove mushrooms, place on a plate, and set aside.
- Gravy: Keeping the large skillet at a medium high heat, add 2 tablespoons of ghee to the skillet. Allow the ghee to melt and then add 2 tablespoons of tapioca starch. Use a whisk to combine, allow to cook for approximately 30 seconds. Slowly add 2 cups beef broth, whisking as you add. Mixture will start to thicken as it warms up (it took mine at least a full minute to start to thicken). Once thick, taste, and add additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Combine: Add mushrooms and meatballs back into the skillet and stir to combine. Allow to sit, but ensure the gravy doesn’t boil.
Cauliflower Mash:
- Prep Cauliflower: Use a large kitchen knife to remove stem and leaves from head of cauliflower and cut into medium-sized chunks.
- Cook: Take a medium saucepan and place approximately 1/2 cup of water in the bottom (you just want to ensure there is about a quarter inch of water in the bottom). Place cauliflower in saucepan with water, cover with lid, and bring to a boil. Continue boiling until cauliflower is fork-tender.
- Mash: Place cooked cauliflower pieces in high-powered blender or food processor. Add 3 tablespoons ghee, 2 tablespoons almond milk, and 2 generous pinches of kosher salt. Blend on high for 10-20 second increments, stopping to scrape down sides. Continue until cauliflower reaches a creamy consistency.
- Taste: add additional salt, as needed. If you feel you need additional liquid, add more almond milk 1 tablespoon at a time. Don’t over-blend or add too much almond milk or cauliflower will lose its thickness.
Serve: spoon meatballs and gravy over the cauliflower mash to serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Tapioca Starch: option to substitute arrowroot powder for the tapioca starch.
- Gravy: Don’t boil gravy – it may cause the tapioca starch to get gummy.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6 oz
- Calories: 378
- Sugar: 3.6 g
- Sodium: 427.7 mg
- Fat: 20.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 11.2 g
- Protein: 38.8 g
- Cholesterol: 142.2 mg
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