AIP Italian meatballs - yuca-bound, egg-free, pan-fry or air fryer

Bread and egg are the first two things most people ask about when they start AIP, since half of home cooking leans on one or the other. This meatball skips both without costing you anything at the table. Mashed yuca, the cooled, starchy kind, holds everything together the way breadcrumbs would, and there is no egg anywhere in the mixing bowl.

Beef and pork together make the base rich enough to hold its own. Zinc and iron both come from the beef here, one tied to immune regulation, the other to how your blood keeps oxygen moving to muscle that is trying to recover. The seasoning is garlic and oregano, full stop, no jarred Italian blend that might be hiding a seed spice you cannot have.

Ask your butcher about where the beef and pork came from, if that is a question you are able to ask. Roll each ball with a little attention so the plate looks like something, then serve them warm over a nomato sauce and let a dish this familiar taste like comfort again.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cooked, mashed, cooled yuca (cassava)
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 lb ground pork
• 2 tbsp finely minced onion
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed or minced
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, for frying

Method

If you are starting from raw yuca, peel it, cut it into chunks, and boil until fork-tender, then mash smooth and let it cool fully. You need 1/2 cup cooled, mashed yuca. Cooling matters, since warm yuca makes the mixture sticky.

In a bowl, combine the mashed yuca, ground beef, ground pork, minced onion, garlic, oregano, and salt. Mix with your hands just until everything is evenly distributed. Do not overwork it, or the meatballs turn dense.

Roll the mixture into balls about 1 1/2 inches across. You should get roughly 16 to 20.

Warm the coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the meatballs in a single layer, not crowded, and brown them on all sides, turning gently, until cooked through, about 10 to 12 minutes total. Work in batches if needed.

Serve warm, on their own or simmered briefly in a nightshade-free nomato sauce.

Air fryer variation

Skip the frying oil. Arrange the rolled meatballs in a single layer in the air fryer basket, not touching, and cook at 380 F for about 10 to 12 minutes, shaking the basket once partway through, until browned and cooked through (time is a sensible estimate, flagged for kitchen testing). Cook in batches rather than crowding the basket.

*Adapted from gutsybynature*