No need to depend on expensive gluten free breadcrumbs to replace wheat breadcrumbs in your favorite meatballs or meat loaf. Use what you have on hand to make moist, tender, nutritious entrees.
minced mushrooms with a bit of zucchini photo by lsimon
Veggies
My favorites are minced veggies with the leanest ground meat I can get. The results are juicy, never dry, or tasteless. And you can sneak a serving of veggies into the mix. Make it half meat, half veggies.
1. carrots
2. cauliflower
3. celery
4. cilantro
5. mushrooms
6. onions
7. parsley
8. peppers- green and sweet bell peppers
9. sauerkraut
10. spinach- thaw frozen spinach, no need to mince
11. zucchini
![ricegrains[1]](http://kitchentherapy.us/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/ricegrains1.jpg "ricegrains[1]")
many kinds of whole grain rice photo by lsimon
Starches and grains
Grains work well too. Use dry cornmeal, gluten free oatmeal, and quinoa flakes. Or leftover cooked amaranth seeds, quinoa seeds, and whole grain rice are perfect additions to the meat mixture.
12. amaranth
13. cornmeal
15. quinoa
16. rice (this is really dozens of choices since there are so many kinds of rice).
nuts photo by Dano
I haven’t tried a few of these, but any kind of nut adds flavor and richness. Grind nuts into meal in a mini food processor, not nut butter. My Mom approved when I added ground pecans to Greek Meatballs. Her verdict, first that happy sound in the back of the throat, then “these are SO good”.
17. almonds
18. cashew
19. hazelnut
20. macadamia
21. pecans
22. pine nut
23. pistachio
24. walnuts
Have I forgotten anything? What do you use in meatballs and meatloaf?
![[del.icio.us]](http://blog.kitchentherapy.us/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[diigo]](http://blog.kitchentherapy.us/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/diigo.png)
![[Facebook]](http://blog.kitchentherapy.us/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Furl]](http://blog.kitchentherapy.us/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/furl.png)
![[LinkedIn]](http://blog.kitchentherapy.us/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/linkedin.png)
![[MySpace]](http://blog.kitchentherapy.us/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Newsvine]](http://blog.kitchentherapy.us/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/newsvine.png)
![[Shoutwire]](http://blog.kitchentherapy.us/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/shoutwire.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://blog.kitchentherapy.us/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Twitter]](http://blog.kitchentherapy.us/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Email]](http://blog.kitchentherapy.us/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
Could tofu be used with the veggies instead of ground beef for the meatballs?
Hi Helen,
Thanks for the question! I don’t think a 1:1 replacement of tofu for the meat would work in “meat” balls. The beef helps the meatballs hold together.
I like tofu and often use silken tofu in puddings, custards, and smoothies.
I have tried crumbled tofu in place of meat in a marinara sauce. No need for shape here. But I didn’t care for this either, the tofu stays white and makes the sauce look funny. I prefer marinara.
Tempeh works well in sauces, chili, or sloppy joes. Again, things that don’t have a defined shape. Tempeh is made with soy, but it may contain wheat also. Be sure to read the ingredient label.