Pork and Sweet Potato Meatballs - Slimming World recipes (2024)

FAQs

Can you eat sweet potatoes on Slimming World? ›

You could use sweet potatoes instead of potatoes if you prefer.

Beef and pork meatballs substitute - use ground chicken or turkey instead (bake for 5-10 minutes less and then let simmer in the pan along with the sauce as instructed). Or you can simply make the meatballs only with ground pork as well.

Beef shines in flavor but because of the relatively low fat an all-beef meatball can be rubbery. Pork tends to be higher fat, and with better cooking qualities than beef fat, so it makes the meatball softer and richer.

At Slimming World, we don't believe in cutting out food groups. In fact, potatoes and dried plain pasta, rice, noodles and couscous are all Free Foods, which means that you can eat as much of them as you like!

Let me explain. Pork tends to my go-to meat much more often than beef; I find it more flavorful and cheaper more often than not. It plays as well with other meatball ingredients—onion, garlic, salt, pepper, parsley, and Parmigiano Reggiano—as beef, if not better.

Crackers are a good choice for fillings like meatballs or burgers because they absorb liquids and bind the same way breadcrumbs do. Grab a sleeve of crackers and crush them in a bag with a rolling pin or pulse until finely ground in a food processor.

Add breadcrumbs

Add breadcrumbs to the mixture, but not too many breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs act as a filler and they also prevent the meatballs from becoming too dry by absorbing some of the meat juices released during cooking.

Baking will result in meatballs with a crunchy exterior, though the caramelisation achieved from frying will be superior. Baked meatballs take the least amount of effort, as you'll only need to turn them once or twice throughout the cook and you can make a larger batch at once.

As you can see, the most significant difference between these two meat sources is their fat content. Otherwise, they contain many of the same vitamins and minerals in comparable quantities. The main exception is that turkey usually has a much higher concentration of B vitamins.

Which meat is better for meatballs? ›

Pork gives the meatballs extra flavor, and veal helps keep them moist and tender. But all-beef meatballs taste great too, as long as you choose an 80/20 blend, which has enough fat to keep the meatballs from drying out. If there are other types of meat in the mix, choose 90/10.

Well, fruit and veg that are naturally higher in sugars – such as sweet potato, sweetcorn and mango – for example, count as 'Free Foods' not 'Speed Foods' (aka foods you can eat as much as you please of) but that won't actively promote your weight loss.

Absolutely. Besides their health benefits, sweet potatoes are a great addition to any weight loss diet. First up, they're very high in fibre — especially soluble fibre. Soluble fibre is excellent because it slows down your digestion and helps you feel full, which can curb the urge to snack between meals.

The sweet potato is a hearty, low fat root vegetable. In fact, one medium sweet potato only contains roughly 0.1 grams (g) of fat. Besides being low in fat, sweet potatoes provide several vitamins and minerals including: vitamin A.

Yes, sweet potatoes are free, just not a speed veg. I use Aunt Bessie frozen sweet potato jackets, which are free, too.