Beef & Veggie Meatballs with Walnut Pesto
Nourishing beef & veggie meatballs perfect for postpartum recovery, meal prep, and sneaking extra vegetables into family meals.
There was a long season of my life where I felt best and most grounded eating mostly plant-based. It aligned with my values at the time, and I loved the creativity of cooking with vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. But when I entered motherhood—especially my postpartum seasons—my body began speaking in a different language. I struggled with anemia, intrusive thoughts, and the heavy fog of postpartum depression. I didn’t immediately connect these things to my diet, but I knew something in my body was asking for deeper replenishment.
During my third pregnancy, the signals became louder. I felt tired down to my bones. I couldn’t shake the light-headedness or the sense that something was missing nutritionally. Slowly, gently, I began to consider what it might look like to integrate meat back into my diet—just to see if it made a difference.
The idea honestly terrified me. I hadn’t handled raw meat in years. I didn’t even remember how to cook it without second-guessing myself. But if I was going to begin anywhere, it had to be meatballs. They were the comfort food I loved most before going plant-based—warm, savory, nostalgic, familiar.
But I wasn’t ready to give up the veggie-forward cooking that I loved. So I started experimenting, blending the two worlds together: vegetables, herbs, and nourishing aromatics folded right into high-quality ground beef. The result was these beef & veggie meatballs—a deeply nourishing, flavor-packed hybrid that felt true to me. They became my gentle bridge back to eating meat, a way to honor where I’d been and where I was going.
And honestly? My body responded almost immediately. With the guidance of my provider, I learned more about postpartum nutrient demands—things like iron, B12, zinc, creatine, and easily absorbed protein that many women find supportive in healing and mood recovery. Adding meat into my meals gave me steady energy, deeper satiety, and helped address the anemia that had been dragging me down. The intrusive thoughts quieted. The fog thinned. My mental health felt sturdier, more anchored.
I just… felt better. Stronger. Clearer.
These meatballs ended up being more than a recipe—they were the start of reconnecting with my body and giving it what it had been asking for.
Why These Beef & Veggie Meatballs Are Great for Postpartum
Whether you’re in the newborn trenches, pregnant, or simply trying to nourish yourself more deeply, these meatballs check every box:
- Iron-rich & protein-dense — helpful for replenishing depleted nutrient stores.
- Veggie-boosted — zucchini, carrots, spinach, or whatever you like, finely shredded and mixed right in.
- Easy to freeze — perfect for postpartum meal trains, batch cooking, or stocking your freezer before baby arrives.
- Kid-friendly & adult-approved — the hidden veggies blend seamlessly into tender, flavorful bites.
- Balanced & comforting — the kind of meal that feels grounding when everything else in life feels anything but.
*This recipe is best for postpartum after the first six weeks. During the first six weeks it is recommended to consume slow cooked meats as they are easier to digest.
Beef & Veggie Meatballs with Walnut Pesto
Equipment
- Food Processor
- Large Cast Iron Pan
- Large Stainless Steel Bowl
- Lipped Sheet Pans
Ingredients
Beef & Veggie Meatballs
- 2 lbs organic grass fed ground beef
- 1 lb non-gmo or organic ground pork
- 1 1/2 cup parmesan reggiano freshly grated
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup parsley fresh, chopped
- 1 tbsp oregano fresh, chopped
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 large zucchini shredded
- 3 carrots peeled & shredded
- 1 large shallot finely chopped
- 1 cup cremini mushrooms finely chopped
- 1 large red bell pepper chopped
- 1/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 4 tbsp avocado oil
Walnut Basil Pesto
- 2 cups basil leaves
- 1/2 cup toasted walnuts
- 1 garlic clove
- sea salt to taste
- fresh cracked black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup parmesan reggiano freshly grated
Instructions
Prep your Vegetables
- Shred the zucchini and carrots in your food processor and set aside.
- Finely chop your shallots, cremini mushrooms and red bell pepper and set aside.
- Add your shallots to a large cast iron pan and cook with avocado oil until translucent. Then add your cremini mushrooms and cook until starting to soften. Then add your carrots, zucchini and red bell pepper. Add sea salt to the vegetable mixture. Cook vegetable mixture until vegetables are soft, starting to brown but are not overcooked.
- Set aside and let your vegetables cool.
Prep your Meat
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F
- In a large stainless steel bowl mix together your ground beef and pork.
- Add the grated parmesan cheese, eggs, breadcrumbs and mix in. If you are doubling or tripling the recipe it is best to do these steps in 2-3 separate bowls so it is easier to mix.
- Prepare your herbs and spices and combine them into your meat mixture. Keep this cold, if you need to wait for your vegetables to cool but your meat mixture into the refrigerator covered to stay cold while you wait.
- Add your cooled vegetables to your cold meat mixture. Mix together thoroughly. Depending upon your comfort level you can incorporate with gloved hands, hands or two wooden spoons. It is important to mix together well so that there is a little bit of everything in each ball.
Make your Balls
- Time to make the balls! Keep your mixture cold as you create your balls and roast them. Set up a couple lipped sheet pans with parchment paper and set them aside.
- Use a spoon or small ice cream scooper or baller to make consistent sized meatballs. I usually make ours about 1.5" size in diameter. This size then really dictates your cooking time. Scoop each ball and use your hands to shape it into a ball then place it onto the parchment paper lined pan. As you create your balls I like to have them touching and in rows of about 4-5 per row.
- Once you have all of your balls made and on lined pans you can place them in the oven to roast them. Roast your balls at 450 for about 20-30 minutes depending on size. I check them at 20 minutes using a meat thermometer. You want their internal temperature to be at 160 degrees or higher. Once at temperature they are done.
- Set aside to cool on a new parchment paper lined pan or on a cooling rack. There will be drippings I like to have them cool off of their drippings.
Walnut Basil Pesto
- Toast walnuts on a lipped pan in the oven at 450 for a couple of minutes until you smell them or they start to toast. Set aside to cool.
- In your food processor, add your basil leaves, cooled toasted walnuts and garlic clove and pulse until processed into a gritty meal.
- Add salt, black pepper and parmesan cheese and pulse for a couple seconds to combine.
- Take the small top portion off to be able to add liquid and run the food processor at the same time. Slowly add the olive oil in as you run the food processor. Blend for about 30-60 seconds until your pesto is at your preferred consistency.
- Store pesto in an airtight container with additional olive oil on top to help prevent browning. Browning is natural.
Serving
- Serve your meatballs on a plate with 3-4 balls and a couple scoops or drizzle of pesto. Top with additional parmesan reggiano cheese, sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper. Enjoy!
Freeze & Meal Prep
- This recipe is freezer and meal prep friendly. It is perfect for busy families, postpartum and athletes. Add your meatballs to meal prep schedule and double or triple the recipe. Save your leftover or batch made balls in plastic bags, reusable containers or your preferred method in your freezer.
A Recipe Rooted in Nourishment
These meatballs carry a little symbolism for me. They represent permission to evolve. Permission to listen to my body. Permission to nourish myself in the ways I genuinely needed—not in the ways I thought I “should.”
And now, every time I make them—whether for my family, for myself, or for a postpartum friend—I feel a small, quiet gratitude for what they helped restore in me.
If you’re looking for a way to introduce more nutrient-dense foods, sneak veggies into a family-friendly dinner, or stock your freezer with meals that actually keep you full, these beef & veggie meatballs are a beautiful place to start.
