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:
- 16 ounces ground chicken
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoons italian seasoning
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter
Lunch Bowls:
- 22 ounces romaine lettuce
- 1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced
- 1 1/4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 large green bell pepper, sliced
- 1 small red onion, sliced
- 5 teaspoons olive oil
Tomato and Basil Dressing:
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
- 1 tablespoon basil, chopped
- 1/2 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 Bowl. Each serving comes out to be 461 calories, 34.2g fats, 8.5g net carbs, and 28.2g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 16 ounce ground chicken | 649 | 36.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79.1 |
| 1 cup grated parmesan cheese | 431 | 28.6 | 4.1 | 0 | 4.1 | 38.5 |
| 1 large egg | 79 | 5.2 | 0.4 | 0 | 0.4 | 6.9 |
| 1 teaspoon fresh garlic | 4 | 0 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.2 |
| 1 teaspoon lemon zest | 1 | 0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0 |
| 2 teaspoon italian seasoning | 6 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| — salt and pepper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 tablespoon butter | 203 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| 22 ounce romaine lettuce | 106 | 1.9 | 20.5 | 13.1 | 7.4 | 7.7 |
| 1 medium cucumber | 30 | 0.2 | 7.3 | 1 | 6.3 | 1.3 |
| 1 1/4 cup cherry tomatoes | 34 | 0.4 | 7.3 | 2.2 | 5 | 1.7 |
| 1 large green bell pepper | 26 | 0.2 | 6.1 | 2.2 | 3.9 | 1.1 |
| 1 small red onion | 26 | 0.1 | 6.1 | 0.8 | 5.3 | 0.8 |
| 5 teaspoon olive oil | 199 | 22.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/4 cup sour cream | 114 | 11.1 | 2.7 | 0 | 2.7 | 1.4 |
| 1/4 cup mayonnaise | 374 | 41.2 | 0.3 | 0 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| 1 tablespoon tomato paste | 13 | 0.1 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 0.7 |
| 2 tablespoon sun-dried tomatoes | 17 | 0.2 | 3.8 | 0.8 | 2.9 | 1 |
| 1 tablespoon basil | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice | 1 | 0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0 |
| — salt and pepper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 2314 | 171.7 | 64.6 | 22 | 42.5 | 141.5 |
| Per Serving (/5) | 463 | 34.3 | 12.9 | 4.4 | 8.5 | 28.3 |
Keto Meaty Mediterranean Bowl
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 16 ounce ground chicken
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon fresh garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 teaspoon italian seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoon butter
Lunch Bowls
- 22 ounce 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 teaspoon olive oil
Tomato and Basil Dressing
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoon sun-dried tomatoes chopped
- 1 tablespoon basil chopped
- 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.
