ISO Meatballs Advice

[Jules582]

I am making meatballs this weekend for my boyfriends Christmas party. There are going to be between 15-20 people attending. I need to know how much ground beef to buy. Is 1lb not enough? I made them last year but I totally forget how much I used...also, how many eggs and how much bread crumbs would I use per lb of meat? I did a search and found some great meatball recipes that I may use...Thanks!

[Andy M.]

If the meatballs are the primary dish, one pound will not be enough. If you're planning a buffet with a number of other foods, a pound or two of meat may do the trick.

[Jules582]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

If the meatballs are the primary dish, one pound will not be enough. If you're planning a buffet with a number of other foods, a pound or two of meat may do the trick.

There will be lasagna and shrimp scampi as the main dishes...so 1-2lbs will do it?

[Andy M.]

I'm usually cautious and make a little extra. In the case of the meatballs, you can easily freeze what's leftover. I'd go with two pounds. Of course, it also depends on whether or not these folks are big eaters. Some folks will take meatballs along with their lasagna.

[Aurora]

For a restaurant menu I would assume that a single meatball cooked would weigh about 1 ounce. I would also assume that a single serving would be about 4 ounces so that would be 4 meatballs per person. Remember, however, that not everyone will like, want or eat meatballs.

Now with about one ounce per meatball you will have to look at the other ingredients in your meatball recipe. If you use chopped vegetables and/or bread in your meatballs then you will need to include the weight of these ingredients in each meatball. If you use ground meat with 20% fat and filler (bread, etc.) which will be about 10% of each meatball then you need to reduce the cooked meat from 1 ounce in each meatball to 0.9 ounces(1.0-0.1) and then increase the raw meat to 1.08 ounces (0.9*1.2) per meatball. If you assume that 10% of the folks won't eat meatballs but you want to have extra 5% for heavy eaters then for 15 people you will need about 61.25 ounces (1.08*4*15*.945) of raw ground meat or a little under 4 lbs. That would be about 5.1 lbs. of raw ground meat for 20 people.

[cjs]

My favorite meatball recipe makes 75 / 1" meatballs - 2 lbs. meat total (beef, veal, pork)

Here's my proportions -

1 pound grd. beef
1/2 pound grd. veal
1/2 pound grd. pork
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 eggs
1/3 cup onion -- finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
Panko


Mix beef thru heavy cream together; beat till very smooth & well blended.
Shape mixture with wet hands into 1" balls. Roll balls in panko & place side by side in a shallow baking pan; cover & chill.

[Sararwelch]

You definitely need more than a pound, how large were you planning to make them?

[CharlieD]

One thing I've personally do not like about choped onion, it's like a separate entety in the meatballs. I like to ground meat and onion and bread myself. I always add a piece or two of bread.

[Andy M.]

Charlie, you could puree the onion in a food processor and mix it into the meatballs. That way you get the flavor without the chunks. I always add bread to meatballs. It's a must in my opinion. The bread gives you a nice soft texture.

[JoAnn L.]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

Charlie, you could puree the onion in a food processor and mix it into the meatballs. That way you get the flavor without the chunks. I always add bread to meatballs. It's a must in my opinion. The bread gives you a nice soft texture.

What a great idea. I never thought to do that to the onions. Thanks!