Low-Carb Baked Ricotta Dumplings
Dearna Bond- Ready in 1h
- 10.2 g net carbs
- 452 kcal
- Serves 6
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Happy New Year everyone!
Is there anything more comforting than a bowl of pasta? These meat-free dumplings, a riff on gnudi which is basically ‘nude’ ravioli (ie the filling only, without the pasta), are fluffy and flavoursome, and are perfect on top of a bed of zucchini noodles.
The vegetarian keto dumplings are baked in a sugar-free tomato sauce, which may seem a lot at first but they will soak up some of that sauce as they bake, taking on all the delicious flavours. If you follow a vegetarian keto diet, Parmesan cheese is technically not vegetarian but you can find vegetarian alternatives.
A few things to get the best outcome with this dish. The amount of eggs required will depend on how wet your ricotta is. I would suggest mixing in one egg to start, and then the other if needed.
The coconut flour is kept to a minimum so that you can’t taste the coconut, but you do need it to help bind, the mixture holds together much better with it.
If you want to make this keto recipe nut-free, use about 2 tablespoons of flax meal to replace the almond flour.
Lastly, you can use your fingers to shape into more compact little dumplings, however I prefer to use two teaspoons which creates a more loosely-formed, rustic dumpling, which cling to the sauce better.
Step-by-step
Preheat the oven to 180 °C/ 355 °F (conventional), or 160 °C/ 320 °F (fan assisted). Instead of fresh spinach, you can use frozen & thawed spinach (make sure to squeeze any excess water out).
Prepare the spinach first by blanching it in boiling water until wilted, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and place in a colander. Once cool, wring out excess moisture, and finely chop.
Combine all dumpling ingredients in a bowl, and mix well. Shape the dumplings into small balls, a little smaller than a golf ball, either using two teaspoons or your hands. You can either make 12 larger dumplings (about 45 g/ 1.5 oz each, 2 dumplings per serving), or 18 smaller dumplings (about 30 g/ 1.1 oz each, 3 dumplings per serving). If the mixture is too wet (in case you used large eggs instead of medium), add a bit more coconut flour or almond flour.
Pour the tomato sauce into an oven proof dish. Place the meatballs on top of the tomato sauce.
Drizzle with olive oil, and bake 35–40 minutes, until starting to brown on top.
Serve immediately on top of lightly cooked or raw zucchini noodles.
Recipe
Low-Carb Baked Ricotta Dumplings
★★★★★4.6Deliciously soft and creamy ricotta parmesan dumplings cooked in sugar-free marinara sauce and served on a bed ...
- Hands on
- 20m
- Overall
- 1h
- Servings
- 6
- 10.2 g
- Net carbs
- 14 g
- Protein
- 38.9 g
- Fat
- 452
- kcal
Ingredients makes 6 servings
- Dumplings:
- Sauce and noodles:
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180 °C/ 355 °F (conventional), or 160 °C/ 320 °F (fan assisted). Instead of fresh spinach, you can use frozen & thawed spinach (make sure to squeeze any excess water out).
Prepare the spinach first by blanching it in boiling water until wilted, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and place in a colander. Once cool, wring out excess moisture, and finely chop.
Combine all dumpling ingredients in a bowl, and mix well. Shape the dumplings into small balls, a little smaller than a golf ball, either using two teaspoons or your hands. You can either make 12 larger dumplings (about 45 g/ 1.5 oz each, 2 dumplings per serving), or 18 smaller dumplings (about 30 g/ 1.1 oz each, 3 dumplings per serving). If the mixture is too wet (in case you used large eggs instead of medium), add a bit more coconut flour or almond flour.
Pour the tomato sauce into an oven proof dish. Place the meatballs on top of the tomato sauce.
Drizzle with olive oil, and bake 35–40 minutes, until starting to brown on top.
Serve immediately on top of lightly cooked or raw zucchini noodles.
Nutrition per serving, 2 dumplings + sauce + zoodles
Carbs 9%Protein 13%Fat 78% of calories
- Net carbs
- 10.2 g
- Total carbs
- 14.4 g
- Fiber
- 4.3 g
- Sugars
- 7.2 g
- Protein
- 14 g
- Fat
- 38.9 g
- Saturated fat
- 9.5 g
- Calories
- 452 kcal
- Sodium
- 636 mg · 27.6% RDA
- Magnesium
- 68 mg · 17% RDA
- Potassium
- 638 mg · 31.9% EMR
Nutrition by ingredient
| Per 2 dumplings + sauce + zoodles | Net carbs | Protein | Fat | kcal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spinach, fresh | 0.2 g | 0.5 g | 0.1 g | 4 |
| Ricotta cheese, full-fat | 1.3 g | 4.7 g | 5.4 g | 73 |
| Egg, whole, fresh, raw (free-range or organic eggs) | 0.1 g | 1.8 g | 1.4 g | 21 |
| Nutmeg, spices | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Almond flour (blanched ground almonds, almond meal) | 0.5 g | 1.2 g | 2.9 g | 33 |
| Coconut flour, organic | 0.4 g | 0.6 g | 0.5 g | 12 |
| Parmesan cheese | 0.2 g | 2.7 g | 1.9 g | 29 |
| Salt, sea salt | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Pepper, black, spices | 0.1 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 |
| Olive oil, extra virgin | 0 g | 0 g | 6.8 g | 60 |
| Marinara sauce | 5.3 g | 1.3 g | 19.6 g | 203 |
| Zucchini (summer squash, courgette) | 2.1 g | 1.2 g | 0.3 g | 17 |
| Total | 10.2 g | 14 g | 38.9 g | 452 |
Serving size 2 dumplings + sauce + zoodles
- Gluten free
- Pork free
- Avocado free
- Fish free
- Shellfish free
- Beef free
- Pescatarian
- Vegetarian
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Comments & ratings (16)
Delicious! Your food picture drew me to your site. Great recipe. Easy. I made my own marinara. I didn't have zoodles so I used a can of green beans as my noodles. Spectacular!
Thank you for the lovely feedback!
Hi Martina, this recipe was so very yummy and satisfying- thank you for sharing! Do you think the dumplings could be made in advance and frozen?
Thank you so much Cara! I think you should be able to do that although the texture might be slightly affected because it includes ricotta. You can let the dumplings and sauce defrost in the fridge and cook fresh zoodles to serve with it (or add to the sauce to cook for 2-3 minutes).
Hi Martina, thank you for this recipe. I made it last night and it turned out perfectly! I didn’t have zucchini so I served it over Shirataki noodles.
Question: Is the nutritional information for the dumplings without the marinara sauce?
Thank you for your feedback, I'm glad you enjoyed! The nutritional information includes all ingredients - also marinara and zoodles.
Made these for the first time last night for dinner. Had some ground beef so made a few little meatballs and threw them in with the dumplings. Oh My!! We all loved this dish. We had unexpected company so I doubled the recipe. My husband and I had it cold for breakfast, lol. Thank you for this gem!
Thank you for your lovely feedback, Dawn! I'm glad you enjoyed!
Made this last night and WOW, so easy to make and so delicious! Thanks for the recipe and greetings from France!
p.s. I replaced the coconut flour with bamboo fiber for a more neutral taste and it worked well.
Thank you for the new idea, I've never heard of that ingredient but now I'm intrigued! 😊
When you say combine all ingredients in a bowl, do you mean spinach to salt and pepper? I ask because you are not specific and it says drizzle with olive oil prior to baking. So I'm thinking the oil does not go into the dumplings? It would be great if you could clarify please.
Hi Ronnie, you should combine all ingredients down to black pepper. Thank you for letting me know, I'll clarify this.
This is delicious! I will prepare this evening for my partner. Thank you very much
Hi! This looks amazing! I have an almond allergy and can't use almond flour. How much coconut flour could I use or there something else keto friendly to bind everything together?
Hi Say, this is only a guess but I would use a total of 1/3 cup (about 40 g/ 1.4 oz). You may want to start with just 1/4 cup (30 g/ 1.1 oz) and add more if it's too moist. Or you could try about 1/4 cup of flax meal instead of the almond flour. I hope this helps!
I MUST try this 😉 Thanks