Cranberry Meatballs -GF & Dairy free!
These Cranberry Meatballs are one of my most requested appetizers! Orange juice and orange zest give them another wonderful depth of flavor! They are tart, sweet and very fruity! Also, they are gluten and lactose / dairy free!
If you are feeding someone with severe allergies to lactose or gluten. Shop carefully for ingredients. There are lots of options now, but be sure to read labels.
But when in doubt, a few simple substitutions will work wonders for your recipes too.
These Cranberry Orange Meatballs are always a huge hit! Zero left by the end of a party!
Mincing the garlic and onion directly over the bowl adds lots of flavor and keeps your meatballs moist.
What you need
- ground beef
- onion
- garlic
- dairy free milk
- gluten free binder (I use corn chex)
- egg
- sage
- thyme
- salt
- pepper
How to make them
- Whisk egg
- Grind up cereal in food processor.
- Get the cereal ground finely.
- Add meat, milk, spices, egg, cereal to a medium bowl.
- Grate garlic directly over the bowl.
- Grate onion directly over the bowl.
- Once everything is added to bowl, mix well.
- Mixed up meatball mixture.
- Use a cookie scoop to portion out meatballs.
- Roll between the palms of your hands. Place on cookie sheet.
- Bake at 375°F / 190°C for 25-35 minutes until browned and internal reaches 165°F / 75°C. You can also air fry your meatballs.
Ingredients for sauce
- jellied cranberry sauce
- orange
- soy sauce (be sure to buy tamari or GF soy sauce)
- sherry
- ginger
- brown sugar
How to make the sauce
- Add cranberry, sherry, soy and brown sugar to a small saucepan.
- Grate ginger directly over pan.
- Zest orange directly over pan.
- Squeeze orange juice
- Add to pan. Cook down over medium low heat, stirring often, until thickened.
When sauce is as thick as you would like it, add the meatballs and the sauce to a medium saucepan or to your slow cooker or crockpot. Turn on low and heat through. Serve with toothpicks.
You can use a variety of substitutions for bread crumbs. In this case I used corn chex that I ground up with my food processor. You can also use rice chex, corn flakes or cornmeal. There are also commercial gluten free bread crumbs available now. I have even used leftover cooked rice for the bread crumbs.
Pro tips for your success
- Use a cookie scoop to portion meat out so that your meatballs are approximately the same size.
- Bake, air fry meatballs or fry in a cast iron pan.
- Grating the onion and garlic results in juicy meatballs with tons of flavor and meatballs don’t have large chunks in them.
- You may want to try these meatballs with less orange zest. If you use the zest from a whole large orange they are very fruity. Most people love that. A few like them better when I use only half of the zest.
- Serve as an appetizer or over rice, mashed potatoes or noodles as part of a meal.
Everyone that has tried these cranberry orange meatballs raves about them! They are extra moist and tender, and very, very fruity! Try these!
Other delicious appetizers
Tools I use for these Cranberry orange meatballs
This cranberry meatball recipe is so easy. It is always the first bowl empty at any party or potluck that we take them to.
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I hope you enjoyed the recipe today.
Enjoy. And have fun cooking!
Cranberry Orange Mini Meatballs
Ingredients
For Meatballs
- 1 pound ground beef or a mixture of beef pork, venison, lamb, chicken or turkey
- 4 small cloves garlic about 2 teaspoons
- 2 tablespoon Onion
- 1 egg whisked
- 1/2 c rice chex or corn chex, corn flakes, corn meal
- 1/4 c cashew milk
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon sage, dried
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
For the Sauce
- 1 can jellied cranberry sauce (14 oz.)
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce Make sure you use GF soy sauce or tamari
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- Juice and zest from one orange preferably a juice orange NOTE: Using all of the zest from the orange gives the sauce a strong orange flavor. 90% of taste tasters loved it. The other 10% preferred the sauce when I only used about 2 tsp. of Zest!
- 2 tablespoon sherry
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger grated
Instructions
For Meatballs
- Preheat oven to 375°F
- Place the beef in a medium mixing bowl.
- Grate the onion and garlic directly into the same bowl to collect the juice too.
- Add egg.
- Pulse the chex in a food processor until fine; Soak chex in the milk for a few minutes. Add to meat.
- Add sage, thyme, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly but gently. Don’t over work.
- Shape with a tablespoon so the meatballs are all approximately the same size.
- Place meatballs on a baking sheet.
- Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until golden and cooked through, 165°F.
For the Sauce
- While meatballs are baking, prepare the sauce
- Place all ingredients In a small saucepan over medium low heat, stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Sauce will thicken up nicely and should be ready about the same time as the meatballs are cooked through.
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Notes
Nutrition
Originally Published 7/6/16 updated 1/23/22
Perfectly balanced flavors
Thank you so much Mary J. We’re so glad you liked them.
Oooh these look so yummy! What do you recommend I use for binder if allergic to corn?
You can use leftover cooked rice, any bread product, oats and the like. Thanks for checking out the recipe KErri!
Too tempted to try the combination of orange and cranberry. Pinned it.
Thank you so much, Renu!!