ISO Good Meatball Recipe

[GotGarlic]

I love all kinds of meatballs, but I can't find my basic meatball recipe! So I kinda made this up, based on the one from my 30-year-old Betty Crocker Cookbook, which I have tweaked. It's a little simpler and smaller than Andy's - not so Italian, so it can be used with spaghetti sauce, sweet and sour sauce with peppers and pineapple, or the well-known '60s-era appetizer with chili sauce and grape jelly in a slow cooker

Meatballs

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup minced onion
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a sheet pan with foil. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and shape into 1-1/2 inch balls. Bake for 15-20 minutes till browned. Remove to paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Serve with, or in, your favorite sauce.

Servings: 6

Oven Temperature: 400°F

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

 

[taxlady]

That's a nice, basic, meatball recipe GG. Thanks for sharing it. I really like having something basic, that can be modified with herbs, etc., when the mood strikes.

 

[Kayelle]

Speaking of Swedish Meatballs, my long gone Auntie made the best ones ever. I wish I could ask her how she did them. They had such a unique flavor.

 

[Addie]

I am so glad to see you put milk in your meatballs. So many folks think I am nuts when I tell them to do that. The enzymes in the milk, tenderize the meat. It also allows the taste of the meat to shine through.

 

[Cheryl J]

Copied and pasted your recipe, GG. Sounds good. I am so craving meatballs now! Oh, and the Swedish meatballs....been years since I've had those...love them!

 

[Dawgluver]

Speaking of Swedish Meatballs, my long gone Auntie made the best ones ever. I wish I could ask her how she did them. They had such a unique flavor.

I remember the Swedish meatballs at our church potlucks as a kid. Those church ladies sure did them right, sooo good.

 

[creative]

Does anyone bake their meatballs? I guess it may depend on whether you add them to a sauce or not. I usually flash fry them (to seal) then let them cook out in a sauce. (I have been known to add a pinch of sage

...it goes with the onions).

 

[Kayelle]

Creative, baking meatballs was discussed in four different posts. I like to bake mine too.

After seeing these meatballs in a Bobby Flay "Throw Down", I had to try them. I've been using the recipe ever since. I do sub parm for the romano.

Grandma Maronis Meatballs 100 Year Old Recipe Recipe : Food Network

Craig, I also bake mine in the oven. Beats standing over the stove and getting splattered with grease. But I put a rack on the cookie sheet. It speeds up the baking and the meatballs aren't sitting in any of the grease. I just have to turn them once. There is such a difference in the flavor when you put them in the oven than when you fry them. Definitely oven every time!

I forgot to mention that I use fresh bread crumbs. I'm also not that fond of parsley, so I use 1 oz of it and 1 oz of fresh oregano.

Addie, I also use a rack.

The rack does make a difference. The meatballs are not sitting in a pool of grease like they would if you sautéed them. I am all for cutting the grease without sacrificing the flavor.

 

[Andy M.]

I think it's essential to either bake or pan sear meatballs. They need to be browned for flavor. Flavor that enhances the sauce as well as the MB. That nice dark brown crust, similar to what you get with a properly cooked steak, is what you need. I wouldn't add raw MBs to a sauce any more than I would boil a steak.

 

[Kayelle]

I think it's essential to either bake or pan sear meatballs. They need to be browned for flavor. Flavor that enhances the sauce as well as the MB. That nice dark brown crust, similar to what you get with a properly cooked steak, is what you need. I wouldn't add raw MBs to a sauce any more than I would boil a steak.

Normally I agree with you Andy, however two exceptions to using raw MB's would be in Albondogas Soup and my lamb MB's in my lemon asparagus soup. Both examples are for texture reasons.

 

[creative]

Creative, baking meatballs was discussed in four different posts. I like to bake mine too.

Kayelle - what I wanted to know was whether these baked meatballs are then incorporated into a sauce. It would appear not. How are they eaten then? Just dry? If they are added to a sauce, is the surface area not to hard and crusty, i.e. doesn't absorb the sauce?

I think I might like to try the baked meatball method and have them with spaghetti tossed into pesto.

 

[CWS4322]

I only make Swedish meatballs (which have nutmeg, ginger, and allspice in them). I didn't grow up where people put meatballs in "gravy" or made meatball subs. (I'm trying to recall if I've ever made any other kind of meatball)...I am not really fond of meatballs covered in tomato sauce. Just doesn't seem "right" to me. I sure ate a lot of Sw. meatballs at Lutheran Church suppers in rural MN. Those were the best meals.

My grandmother used to sear them and then put them in the roaster oven. I cook mine in the oven and then smother them and cook them some more.

Italian Wedding Soup--that's the other way I make meatballs.

 

[CraigC]

I totally forgot an ingredient I want to try in Italian meatballs, fresh fennel! Anyone ever use it in meatballs?

 

[GotGarlic]

Kayelle - what I wanted to know was whether these baked meatballs are then incorporated into a sauce. It would appear not. How are they eaten then? Just dry? If they are added to a sauce, is the surface area not to hard and crusty, i.e. doesn't absorb the sauce?

Apparently, you missed my post, too, at 2:19 PM EST.

If they're made with the right ingredients, they're not hard when they come out of the oven - crusty, yes, with dark brown caramelized bits on the outside, but delicious. My recipe was for basic meatballs, but when I make them, I simmer them in whatever sauce I'm using so they do take up the flavor of the sauce. But they have great flavor on their own and are nice and juicy.

I love all kinds of meatballs, but I can't find my basic meatball recipe! So I kinda made this up, based on the one from my 30-year-old Betty Crocker Cookbook, which I have tweaked. It's a little simpler and smaller than Andy's - not so Italian, so it can be used with spaghetti sauce, sweet and sour sauce with peppers and pineapple, or the well-known '60s-era appetizer with chili sauce and grape jelly in a slow cooker

Meatballs

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup minced onion
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a sheet pan with foil. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and shape into 1-1/2 inch balls. Bake for 15-20 minutes till browned. Remove to paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Serve with, or in, your favorite sauce.

Servings: 6

Oven Temperature: 400°F

Cooking Times
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

I've also tossed these meatballs with bottled barbecue sauce and served them over buttered egg noodles. That was really good

I think I might like to try the baked meatball method and have them with spaghetti tossed into pesto.

 

[Kayelle]

Kayelle - what I wanted to know was whether these baked meatballs are then incorporated into a sauce. It would appear not. How are they eaten then? Just dry? If they are added to a sauce, is the surface area not to hard and crusty, i.e. doesn't absorb the sauce?

I think I might like to try the baked meatball method and have them with spaghetti tossed into pesto.

Yes, most times they are cooked (either fried or baked)and added to the sauce. You can do them however you want, and even add sage if you wish. One of my favorite sayings around here is "it's my kitchen, my rules" and the food police will never know.

As I said before to Andy...
"Normally I agree with you Andy, however two exceptions to using raw MB's would be in Albondogas Soup and my lamb MB's in my lemon asparagus soup. Both examples are for texture reasons."

 

[Andy M.]

...As I said before to Andy...
"Normally I agree with you Andy, however two exceptions to using raw MB's would be in Albondogas Soup and my lamb MB's in my lemon asparagus soup. Both examples are for texture reasons."

Kayelle, you're right. Soups are an exception. My mom used to make a couple of different soups with mini meatballs and they were not pre-browned.

I was thinking about the Italian-style meatballs I make for addition to a tomato sauce.

 

[creative]

I totally forgot an ingredient I want to try in Italian meatballs, fresh fennel! Anyone ever use it in meatballs?

Yes I posted this recipe on this thread (back on page 4)

Pork, fennel & chilli meatballs | BBC Good Food

(I would finely chop the onion and fennel, i.e. not just chopped) - I think celery would be a nice addition to a tomato sauce. Celery and fennel I think would go well together

 

[Kayelle]

Kayelle, you're right. Soups are an exception. My mom used to make a couple of different soups with mini meatballs and they were not pre-browned.

I was thinking about the Italian-style meatballs I make for addition to a tomato sauce.

Thanks Andy. Yes, personally I would never add raw ones to anything but special soups.

 

[CraigC]

We love a Thai soup that requires mini pork meatballs which are put in raw.

How would you classify Salisbury steaks. Do you think they qualify as a type of meatball?

 

[Kayelle]

oh heck, lets just throw in some other stuff I can't stand like some chopped brussel sprouts, and tarragon, and rosemary and maybe some oregano. No wait, we can't use oregano because we've all been told recently you can only use that for pizza. I'm cracking myself up!