Texas is beef country. That being said, in Texas, it is uncommon for me to find very many patients who are very motivated to follow a full-on plant-based diet approach for CKD. But I have plenty who are willing to make some small adjustments to cut back on the protein or swap red meat for ground turkey!
We’ve not only reduced the protein in this recipe by adding in veggies, but we’ve also made it lower in sodium than traditional recipes. Not to worry, we’ve only reduced that salt, not the flavor!
Meatball modifications for kidney health!
Meatballs and meatloaf are easy meal items that just a few adjustments can help cut back on the protein without sacrificing a whole lot of flavor. We call items like this a “less meat meal.” I also wanted to modify this recipe to make it a great choice for kidney health by cutting back on sodium and adding veggies!
The original recipe we pulled from Davita.com, but despite rave reviews, I really didn’t find the meatballs all that great. So, I played with the recipe several more times, researched meatball recipes, and worked on lowering the sodium without compromising flavor.
I am proud of the final product. It has a little bit more sodium than the original recipe but is still less than 500 mg per serving!
Phosphorous additives in ground meat
Before I reveal this beautiful recipe, let me make a quick KidneyGrub side note on ground meat and phosphate additives: Whatever stage of kidney disease you may be dealing with, starting to recognize phosphate additives in your food is helpful.
Through several complex mechanisms the kidneys help keep your bones strong, and this means keeping normal phosphorus levels. A lot of recent research shows that when you have kidney disease, even if your blood work shows normal phosphorus levels, phosphates in your diet can already be causing problems for your bones and cardiovascular system.
Phosphate additives are inorganic compounds that our bodies absorb almost 100%. Manufacturers use phosphate additives for a number of reasons like:
- Food preservatives
- Flavor enhancement (cola drinks)
- Anti-clumping agen (powdered drinks and cake or pancake mix)
The good news is that usually there is an alternative product in all types of phosphorus-laced foods (for example instead of using brand-name Kool-Aid you can switch to a store-brand and avoid some phosphate additives).
Meats are no exception when it comes to additives. I have a lot of patients that switch from red meat to white meat because of their chronic kidney disease and thus start using a lot of ground turkey (which often has additives).
If you choose to use ground turkey or ground chicken or ground pork for this recipe that is great. Just be sure to use a variety that doesn’t have a lot of additives. Often, those 1-lb ground turkey tubes you get in the store can be loaded with phosphate additives. In the case of ground meat, look for something labeled as “natural” or “no preservatives” to avoid the phosphate additives. Below are a few pictures of some products we used and found at our local Walmart.
Sweet N' Sour Meatballs for CKD and ESRD
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 2 lbs ground meat pork, beef, or turkey
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon low sodium Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 1.5 cups finely diced vegetables zucchini, carrot, or green pepper - we used a combination of carrot and zucchini
- 1/2 cup finely diced onion
- 2 large eggs - if you are on dialysis then you can add them for extra protein but if you have CKD then I'd leave them out. The meatballs were just fine without them., optional
Sweet and Sour Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 6 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame seed oil optional, but fantastic for flavor!
- 1/3 cup vinegar
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 2 cups pineapple juice
- 40 ounces canned pineapple chunks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Finely chop or grate whatever vegetables you plan to use. (I used my mini food processor so this was super fast!)
- Combine ground meat, eggs (if using), chopped vegetables, rice, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, nutmeg, and garlic powder. Mix well.
- Form into 1” balls and place on a baking sheet. (Baking note, one of the keys to juicy meatballs is handling them as little as possible.)
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through.
- While meatballs are baking, drain the juice from pineapple cans into a measuring cup. Add water to make 2 cups. Reserve pineapple chunks.
- Combine 6 tablespoons cornstarch, reduced-sodium soy sauce, sesame seed oil, vinegar, water, unpacked brown sugar, white sugar, and pineapple juice. Heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
- Place meatballs, sauce, pineapple chunks, green and red peppers in a covered warming dish or crockpot set on low setting until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
KidneyGrub Verdict
With all the modifications, we like this recipe. You can just make the meatballs and then add your own sauce or use this sweet and sour sauce and serve over a bed of rice with some vegetables on the side. To make it extra fancy, sprinkling a few toasted sesame seeds over the top would look great. This also would make a great meatloaf recipe.
Thank you for the information.
There’s no nutritional information here and it doesn’t tell you how much is a serving. Please correct this as it sounds really good. Thanks!
Hi Chris, thanks for letting us know! We’ve updated the post and you should be able to see the nutritional information now!
Do you have any ideas to replace the burger for a vegetarian? Could you use nuts or tofu? Veggie meat is so high in sodium.
Hi Joyce,
A couple of great plant-based swaps for ground meat are quinoa and tempeh (which you can crumble). They will be a bit drier than ground meat, so the consistency may not be the same, and you may need to increase some of the liquid ingredients to help it bind. If you try it, let us know, and we will look at modifying/testing this recipe for a plant-based version!