As part of our Free Food Festival in February, we invited Slimming World members to create their own original Free Food feasts.
After much taste-testing by members in groups and by our expert judging panel, we have a winner. Drum roll, please…
Free Food Festival 2025 winner: Indian meatballs
Congratulations to Mandy Eames, whose flavour-packed combo of Indian spices and tender beef wowed our judges.
Mandy’s meatball recipe will be turned into a Slimming World food range meal and she’ll receive £1,000 in prize money.
More on the blog: Your 5 favourite Free Food recipes
Try Mandy’s winning recipe
serves 4
Free
ready in 55 minutes
What you need:
500g lean beef mince (5% fat or less)
½ onion, finely chopped
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp each of onion granules, ground turmeric, ground cumin, garam masala and ground coriander
1 tsp tomato purée
boiled dried basmati rice, to serve
For the sauce:
1 large onion, diced
2 small carrots, peeled and diced
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 tbsp each of garam masala and paprika
1 tbsp each of ground cumin, ground coriander, ground turmeric and ground fenugreek
What you do:
1. Mix together all the meatball ingredients in a bowl, divide the mixture into 16 pieces and use your hands to form them into meatballs. Chill until needed.
2. Add all the sauce ingredients to a large saucepan, along with 300ml water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Blend with a stick blender until fairly smooth (or use your food processor and return the sauce to the pan).
3. Spray a non-stick frying pan with low-calorie cooking spray and put it over a medium heat. Cook the meatballs for 5 minutes or until browned all over. Add them to the pan containing the sauce and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through. Divide everything between 4 plates and serve with the rice.
More Free Food feasts to try:
Slow-cooker chicken curry
Salt and pepper chips
Diet cola gammon
Two-step tomato soup
Unlock exclusive Slimming World recipes
Whether you’re a pasta master, a noodle ninja or you want to take things rice ’n’ easy, you’ll have access to more than 2,200 slimming-friendly recipes as a Slimming World member – and that’s on top of all the weight loss support and recipe-swapping action you’ll find in your local group and within our Community at Slimming World Online.
