Cheesy Healthy Meatball Recipe {no breadcrumbs}
This healthy meatball recipe combines ground beef, cheese, mushrooms, and rice to create hearty, protein packed meatballs!
If you need more protein in your diet, this cheesy, healthy meatball recipe will not have you feeling deprived. Plenty of cheese, a little carbs with some cooked rice inside, and lean ground beef can make the most delicious and simple meatballs.

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I decided to make some meatballs for dinner. I’m in the thick of body building training (bikini prep) and honestly, just trying to get really creative with my protein, since it’s my least favorite food group! I do like ground beef with rice, but I wanted to add some cheese and make it a meal my whole family would love.
In 22 years of raising kids, I actually never made meatballs. I never made meatloaf either. And after these healthy meatballs, I totally regret it. My kids would have loved it growing up, and I would have had one more deliciously healthy dinner to add to my rotation.
I used a basic cheesy healthy meatball recipe without breadcrumbs, but with plenty of cheese and I included mushrooms to really “beef it up”. I ground up the mushrooms in a food processor and really packed them in.
Then, I added some cooked rice, mozzarella cheese, and an egg to hold it all together. I used garlic salt, onion powder, and Italian seasoning to flavor it all, and rolled it up into uniform size meatballs using a cookie scoop. Here’s the final Healthy Meatball recipe below:
How to make Healthy Meatballs
The next few photos just show my process. I mixed the ingredients. Mushrooms, lean ground beef, cooked rice, mozzarella, an egg, and some seasonings.
I prepared a dish with some cooking spray, and balled up the meatballs using a cookie scoop, so they would all be the same size.
Then, I topped it all with extra cheese and put it in the oven. I baked it for quite a while (20-30 minutes). I’m sort of paranoid about the insides not getting cooked, so I let it go a little extra long and then cut into one of the meatballs to make sure it wasn’t pink anymore.
And that was it! I could eat them just like this, over noodles, or extra rice, but I chose a bed of zucchini noodles.

This could make a delicious healthy, balanced dinner on a portion control plate, by adding the zoodles for your veggies, and bread or a roll for your grain.
Give this healthy meatball recipe a try, and let me know how you like them, or if you decided to add anything else! Also, pin in for later and follow me on Pinterest.
Cheesy Healthy Meatball Recipe
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup portabella mushrooms finely chopped
- 1 lb ground beef 93% lean
- 1/2 cup white rice cooked
- 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (for sprinkling on top)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Scoop with cookie scoop into a casserole dish till you have 20 meatballs.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Top with spaghetti sauce and 2 more ounces of mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 5-10 more minutes until cheese is melted. ➖