hCG Diet Recipe: Mexican Meatballs w/ Ground Beef for Phase 2 (2024)

FAQs

What grade of ground beef is best for meatballs? ›

80/20: Ground Chuck

It is rich and tender with plenty of flavor. Often referred to as “lean ground beef,” this is perfect for hamburgers and meatballs.

Miso soup is a traditional Japanese soup which is low in calories. It's one of the many vegetarian options on the HCG diet because you can have a lot of it which helps you meet your protein intake, without going overboard on the calories.

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.

The meat from the loin primal is very lean, so it produces ground beef with the healthiest lean point. You will often hear ground sirloin called extra-lean ground beef. If you want to create a healthy menu and limit the saturated fat in your dishes, then ground sirloin is the best choice.

If you should go back to the normal diet when the HCG is still within your body liberating the store fat, you will end up gaining a reasonable amount of weight. Once these 3 days are over, you can go back to the normal amount of calories you were taking.

Seasonings: With each meal the juice of one lemon or lime is allowed. Salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard powder, sweet basil, parsley, thyme, marjoram, and most other herbs and spices are fine to use as seasonings. No oil, butter or dressings of any kind can be used.

Phase 2 – Diet – In phase 2, you'll use daily HCG and follow a very low daily calorie count. The number of days on HCG is usually between 30 and 40 days. Phase 3 – Maintenance - This is phasing off of the HCG diet. If you don't follow this properly, you are more likely gain back the weight you lost.

Regular ground beef (70% to 77% lean)

Ideal for meatloaf and meatballs, ground chuck holds its shape during cooking. The cooked meat should be moist, juicy and slightly firm.

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.

Some people like to use blends, and if you're getting nice beef, pork, and veal from your butcher, by all means, go for it. If you're buying ingredients at the grocery store, where the ground pork and veal can vary in flavor and texture, we'd stick to beef.

Is ground chuck better for meatballs? ›

Because ground chuck has a higher fat content than leaner ground beef from the sirloin or round steak, it holds together better when cooking. This makes ground chuck ideal for shaped meat staples like meatballs or meatloaf, where you want the meat to hold its shape.