Tender Lamb and Mint Meatballs in a sweet and spicy sauce packed with healthy vegetables.
Lamb is probably on the top of my list for my favourite meat to use in recipes and this simple but flavoursome recipe does not disappoint.
Simple juicy lamb meatballs fragranced with mint, shallots and garlic, simmered in an amazing sauce that will have you scooping up every last bit with a spoon.
When it comes to ground lamb, many tend to avoid it on Slimming Eats, as extra lean less than 5% fat ground lamb is pretty impossible to find unless you are making it yourself, which means it's not going to be fat free and we all know how much you love the fat free recipes.
However, it really doesn't need to be and shouldn't be avoided. It's such a great ingredient to use and really has an amazing flavour. Plus when you use less and combine it with lots of delicious vegetables, like in this Lamb and Mint Meatballs in a sweet and spicy sauce recipe, divided up into portions is not really many at all.
Remember this is a lifestyle change. If you carry on just sticking to fat free meals, it's going to become boring very quickly and you will drift off plan. Sometimes you just need to use the odd ingredient that does have some calories to make your meals more enjoyable and flavoursome. That is exactly what your daily calories are there for. Being sensible and healthy doesn't mean you need to compromise on flavour for the sake of saving a few calories.
Of course, if you really can't bear to use calories on some ground lamb, this dish would also work well with some extra lean ground beef or you could keep the lamb flavour by using some lean stewing lamb instead, just simmer in the sauce for a little longer than you would the meatballs, to ensure that meat is falling apart tender.
Want some other lamb recipes? Check out these:
- POT BOMBAY LAMB CURRY
- LAMB KOFTA WITH SWEET POTATO FLATBREAD
- LAMB ROGAN JOSH
- LAMB AND VEGETABLE CURRY
- LAMB MEATBALL AND BEAN CURRY
- GREEK STYLE LAMB BURGERS
- LAMB MEATBALLS WITH A SPICY TOMATO SAUCE
- LAMB MEATBALLS WITH MINT GRAVY
or head on over to my FULL RECIPE INDEX with over 850+ delicious recipes all fully searchable by meal type, ingredients etc
Sides for Lamb Mint Meatballs
The sauce is super packed with vegetables such as onions, passata, aubergine (eggplant) and zucchini but I love to serve this with my Roasted Cauliflower Rice for some additional speed foods.
If you can't do without your regular rice, try serving it with a ⅓ of your plate filled with some Roasted Cauliflower florets, which are a perfect side to these Lamb and Mint Meatballs in a Sweet and Spicy Sauce.
Kitchen Items I used in these Lamb and Mint Meatballs in a Spicy Vegetable Sauce
- Kitchen Scales
- Chopping Board
- Measuring Jug
- Santoku Knife
- Grater
- Mixing Bowl
- Measuring Spoons
- Wooden Spoon
- Frying Pan
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Recipe Card
Lamb and Mint Meatballs in a Spicy Vegetable Sauce
Tender Lamb and Mint Meatballs in a sweet and spicy sauce packed with healthy vegetables.
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
- 455g (1lb) of Lean Lamb Mince
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 1 egg
- A handful of fresh mint, finely chopped
For the sauce:
- 1 cup (240ml) of vegetable or chicken stock
- 1 sweet onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 teaspoons of freshly grated ginger
- 1 courgette, chopped
- 300g (10.5oz) of aubergine (eggplant), chopped
- 2 cups (480ml) of crushed tomatoes (or passata)
- 2 teaspoon of ground cumin
- 2 teaspoon of ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- ½ teaspoon of onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons of brown sugar
- salt and black pepper to season
- cooking oil spray
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the lamb mince, shallot, 2 crushed garlic cloves, mint and egg and bind all together.
- Form into meatballs, the mixture should make 12 medium sized meatballs (3 each).
- Spray a frying pan with some cooking oil spray and place over a medium high heat and lightly brown the meatballs on all sides, remove and set aside.
- Add the sweet onion, garlic and ginger to the frying pan, along with a couple of tablespoons of the stock, and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened.
- Add in the aubergine (eggplant), courgette (zucchini) and all the spices, crushed tomatoes, brown sugar and remaining stock and bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Dropping the meatballs into the sauce for the last 20 minutes.
- Season as needed with salt and black pepper.
- Serve with your choice of sides and garnish with fresh mint.
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
- WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
4 (3 meatballs)Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 388Total Fat 20.2gSaturated Fat 9.3gCholesterol 46mgSodium 313mgCarbohydrates 25gFiber 7.7gSugar 11.8gProtein 27.1g
Nutritional information is an estimate and is to be used for informational purposes only. Ingredients can vary greatly from brand to brand and therefore it would be impossible to give accurate information.
disqus_zpDyLeGwJJ says
WOW!!!! Had this with Couscous, and it was AMAZING!!! Hubby has said it was bar far one of the best things I've ever cooked, and we've been married 12 years! It was so easy, and fantastic on the calorie count - thank you Slimming Eats!!!
Louise says
Hi could you please tell me what sweet onions are, I’m not sure if I can get them x
Shevy (Slimming Eats) says
they are a variety of onion with a sweeter flavour, just use any onion, if you can't get them.
Donna says
What % of fat would you class as lean lamb mince. I can only find less than 20%fat. Which seems too high to me? Thank you
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
it will vary from place to place unfortunately, best thing is to just work out the syns in the lamb mince you use and calculator accurately or you can use less than 5% beef mince in its place, which is free.
Clarissa Sweetman says
Omg!!!! Absolutely loved this. Never made lamb meatballs before but I will now never go back to beef! Hard to find anything less than 20% fat though.
Mardie says
Hi ,just to say thank you for this fabulous recipe. Made this tonight for dinner really enjoyed it. Another success! Mxx