As the holidays draw near and life seems to get busier I figured it might be a good time to post another Easy Meal. These are not your typical tomato-based meatballs, but I enjoy their flavor. I serve the meatballs with my standard, a bag of frozen vegetables. This time I also served sweet potato spears, for a more savory meal.

Prep & Cook Time: ~30 minutes
Serves 4

The ingredients

Ingredients

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs – I use a little less, to make it healthier
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 egg whites
• 3/4 tsp salt – I omit this or use 1/4 tsp, to make it healthier
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl until well mixed
3. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray
4. Shape meatball mixture into meatballs and put in pan, leaving space between each meatball
5. Cook until meatballs reach 170 degrees F, about 25 minutes
6. Serve immediately

Besides black pepper being a listed ingredient, I also add pepper to most of  my vegetables. I love how, besides adding flavor, pepper is an antioxidant and naturally has anti-inflammatory effects.!

Applesauce meatballs, mixed vegetables and sweet potato spears

This recipe was originally for a meatloaf, but I like making meatballs because they cook quicker and are already in individual pieces. They also make re-heating any leftovers easier. If you want to make the meatloaf, cook to the same final temperature, which takes around 50 minutes.

What are some of your favorite, easy meals?

You might also be interested in some of these other, Easy Meals!