High Fructose Corn Syrup Free Sunday Sauce with Herb-Spiced Meatballs
Few things hit the table with as much comfort and depth as a slow-simmered tomato sauce loaded with tender, herb-spiced meatballs. The blend of ground beef and pork keeps the meatballs rich and juicy, while fennel seeds, turmeric, and fresh parsley give them a fragrant complexity that goes well beyond the standard Sunday pot. Almond flour stands in as the binder here, which means no breadcrumbs to scrutinize for sneaky sweeteners or additives. The sauce is built entirely from whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, tomato paste, aromatics, and dried herbs — nothing processed, nothing with a suspiciously long ingredient list. That matters more than it sounds, because canned tomato products and jarred sauces are some of the most common places high fructose corn syrup quietly shows up in a savory dish. Roasting the meatballs first at high heat locks in the crust before they finish low and slow in the sauce, which is the move that takes this from good to genuinely great. Finish with torn fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil, and you have a pot of something that tastes like it took all day — because, honestly, it kind of did.
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Learn more →Ingredients
6 servings
For the meatballs
- 1 lb ground beef (85% lean)
- ½ lb ground pork
- ½ cup almond flour
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
For the sauce
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 cans (28 oz each) whole peeled san marzano tomatoes
- 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
For serving
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, torn
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, ground pork, almond flour, eggs, parsley, minced garlic, fennel seeds, turmeric, dried oregano, salt, and black pepper. Mix with your hands until just combined — stop as soon as no streaks remain.
- 2
Roll the meat mixture into balls about 1½ inches in diameter (roughly 24 meatballs) and arrange them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tbsp of the olive oil and roll to coat.
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