These meaty lunch bowls feature chicken meatballs and serve it over fresh veggies with a sun-dried tomato and basil dressing. We love Mediterranean flavors, so this is one of our new favorite dishes to meal prep for the week.
Those of you who don’t like pork rinds might be happy to see that none are used here, the binder is Parmesan! Just be careful because Parmesan can be salty, so you may not need to add as much salt as you would normally use to the recipe. If you’re unsure then pinch off a bit of meat, fry it up and taste.
Yields 5 servings of Keto Meaty Mediterranean Lunch Bowls
The Preparation
Meatballs:
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter
Lunch Bowls:
- 1 large head romaine lettuce
- 1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced
- 1 ¼ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 large green bell pepper, sliced
- 1 small red onion, sliced
- 5 teaspoons olive oil
Tomato and Basil Dressing
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon chopped basil
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- Salt and pepper, to taste
The Execution
1. In a large mixing bowl add the ground chicken, Parmesan cheese, egg, garlic, lemon zest, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Mix together, then roll out 25 meatballs.
2. Preheat a large skillet with the butter, over high heat. Once the pan is hot and butter has melted and stopped foaming, then lower the heat to medium-high.
3. Add the meatballs, then cook until they are browned evenly and cooked through. Take them out of the pan and set aside.
4. To serve divide up the lettuce leaves into bowls then add the cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, red onion, and olive oil.
5. Mix together the sour cream, mayonnaise, tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to create the tomato and basil dressing.
6. Add 5 meatballs per bowl, and 3 tablespoons of dressing per bowl.
This makes a total of 5 servings of Keto Meaty Mediterranean Lunch Bowls. Each serving comes out to be 502.2 Calories, 36.82g Fats, 11.08g Net Carbs, and 31.38g Protein.
| Keto Meaty Mediterranean Lunch Bowls | Calories | Fats(g) | Carbs(g) | Fiber(g) | Net Carbs(g) | Protein(g) |
| 1 pound ground chicken | 857 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 106 |
| 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese | 420 | 28 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| 1 large egg | 72 | 4.8 | 0.4 | 0 | 0.4 | 6.3 |
| 1 clove garlic | 4.5 | 0 | 1 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.2 |
| 1 teaspoon lemon zest | 0.9 | 0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0 |
| 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning | 5.7 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| 2 tablespoons butter | 204 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| 1 large head romaine lettuce | 106 | 1.9 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 7.7 |
| 1 medium cucumber | 30 | 0.2 | 7.3 | 1 | 6.3 | 1.3 |
| 1 ¼ cup cherry tomatoes | 34 | 0.4 | 7.2 | 2.2 | 5 | 1.6 |
| 1 large green bell pepper | 32 | 0.2 | 7.6 | 1.4 | 6.2 | 1 |
| 1 small red onion, sliced | 26 | 0.1 | 6.1 | 0.8 | 5.3 | 0.8 |
| 5 teaspoons olive oil | 199 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ¼ cup sour cream | 114 | 11 | 2.7 | 0 | 2.7 | 1.4 |
| ¼ cup mayonnaise | 374 | 41 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| 1 tablespoon unsweetened tomato paste | 13 | 0.1 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 0.7 |
| 2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes | 17 | 0.2 | 3.8 | 0.8 | 3 | 0.9 |
| 1 tablespoon chopped basil | 0.6 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| ½ tablespoon lemon juice | 1.3 | 0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Totals | 2511 | 184.1 | 76.5 | 21.1 | 55.4 | 156.9 |
| Per Serving(/5) | 502.2 | 36.82 | 15.3 | 4.22 | 11.08 | 31.38 |
Keto Meaty Mediterranean Lunch Bowls
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter
Lunch Bowls:
- 1 large head romaine lettuce
- 1 medium cucumber peeled and sliced
- 1 ¼ cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 large green bell pepper sliced
- 1 small red onion sliced
- 5 teaspoons olive oil
Tomato and Basil Dressing
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon chopped basil
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl add the ground chicken, Parmesan cheese, egg, garlic, lemon zest, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Mix together, then roll out 25 meatballs.
- Preheat a large skillet with the butter, over high heat. Once the pan is hot and butter has melted and stopped foaming, then lower the heat to medium-high.
- Add the meatballs, then cook until they are browned evenly and cooked through. Take them out of the pan and set aside.
- To serve divide up the lettuce leaves into bowls then add the cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, red onion, and olive oil.
- Mix together the sour cream, mayonnaise, tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to create the tomato and basil dressing.
- Add 5 meatballs per bowl, and 3 tablespoons of dressing per bowl.
