This is another nostalgic recipe from my wonderful mom. She used to make a large pan of these mushroom meatballs to fill our tummies with a hearty, satisfying meal. We laugh a little now at the polar-opposite ingredients she used, such as elk burger for the meatballs and canned cream of mushroom soup for the sauce! While the elk was an excellent protein option, the canned, processed, ingredients-that-can’t-be-pronounced soup was…not so much. I was so excited to try to upgrade this recipe from canned to fresh, whole ingredients, and the results are pure mushroom perfection!
MEATBALL INGREDIENTS
½ pound ground beef
½ pound ground pork
½ cup diced yellow onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 egg (or 1 TBSP ground flax seeds mixed with 3 TBSP hot water; let it sit for a few minutes until it gels)
2 TBSP arrowroot starch
¾ tsp sea salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp allspice
2 TBSP coconut oil
SAUCE INGREDIENTS
2 cups chicken or beef broth
2 cups sliced white button mushrooms
1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
2 cups coconut milk
1 TBSP arrowroot starch
GARNISH
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
Makes 22 meatballs
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the beef, pork, onion, garlic, egg, arrowroot starch, sea salt, pepper, and allspice with your hands. Scoop and shape the mixture into 22, 1½-inch meatballs.
In a large skillet, heat the coconut oil over medium heat.
Add the meatballs to the skillet, leaving space between them so that they brown on all sides.
When the meatballs have browned, transfer them to a slow cooker.
Add the chicken broth to the skillet and whisk to stir up the yummy browned bits from the bottom.
Transfer the broth to the slow cooker.
Add the mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaf to the slow cooker and stir gently.
Cook the meatballs on low for 4-5 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
In a small bowl, mix the coconut milk and arrowroot starch. Add to the slow cooker during the last 45 minutes of cooking.
Serve the meatballs with chopped fresh parsley sprinkled on top.
