A great meatball recipe?
I have tried many times and have not yet succeeded to make great meatballs, they always seem to fall short. Does anyone have a really great meatball recipe? (One that even I can't mess up?).
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13 Comments:
These are my favorite:
Norwegian Meatballs (serve with a yummy brown gravy and potatoes)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup minced onion
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 pound ground pork
In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, bread crumbs, onion and seasonings. Let stand until crumbs absorb milk. Add meat; stir until well blended. Shape into 1-in. meatballs. Place on a greased jelly-roll pan. Bake at 400 degrees F until browned, about 18 minutes. Set aside.
**These freeze really well. Just reheat them in your gravy when you want to serve them!**
annaliseree at 10:53PM on 05/24/08
These are always a big hit.
izzy's mama at 11:50PM on 05/24/08
You have to use a great meat mix. Get a "meatball" mix of beef, pork and veal. In combination this is the flavor you are looking for. Use any meatball recipe but always use this combination. I never use anything else.
JerzeeTomato at 3:48AM on 05/25/08
The secret to a good meatball is just that...MEAT. Not all that frou frou crap. This is the recipe handed down from my great-great-great grandma Argenziano.
2 lbs good ground beef and 1lb meatloaf mix, lightly forked apart and left to sit for an hour to take the chill off.
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
salt and pepper
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped fine
1/2 cup good romano (nothing from an icky green can)
1 egg lightly beaten
1/4 cup dry italian bread crumbs.
mix gently. roll. drop in hot sauce. good, tender meatballs need time. I usually do 6-8 hours in the crock and sometimes even overnight.
MEEAAATTTTTballs!
ChelleyD01 at 5:21AM on 05/25/08
Chop Meat
Egg
Grated Parm
Chopped Parsley
Chopped Onion
Wet Bread
I never use bread crumbs in my meatballs because they tend to become tough. Bread crumbs wick all the moisture away from the meat. Instead, take a couple of slices of good bread or a roll, dash it under the tap to moisten, then break up the bread very finely into your meatball mix.
Roll into meatballs, saute to brown the outside and continue to cook in your favorite tomato sauce for an hour or so (with other meats). If you are cooking them through without sauce, do so slowly in a saute pan so as not to burn the outside.
chiff0nade at 1:24PM on 05/25/08
BAKED ITALIAN MEATBALLS
(3/18/07 www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com/recipes/rcp_10686_00.asp)
4 servings
1# 90%—95% lean ground beef
1/4 C seasoned dry bread crumbs
1 egg
2 T water
1 t minced garlic
1/2 t salt
1/8 t pepper
14-1/2 oz pasta sauce, heated
hot cooked pasta &/or crusty Italian rolls, optional
Combine 1st 2 ingredients in large bowl; combine next 2 & whisk lightly, then whisk in next 3 ingredients & combine w/meat mixture; mix lightly but thoroughly & shape into 12x 2" meatballs; place on rack in broiler pan & bake @400/17—19 minutes to medium, Instant Read Thermometer = 160, 'til not pink in center & juices show no pink color; serve w/pasta sauce over hot cooked pasta or as sandwiches in crusty Italian rolls, if desired.
HOOP'S NOTE:
This, coming from the Beef web-site, should be really great!! Wonder, however, if maybe 2—4 T grated Parmesan added w/1st 7 ingredients, might not help?
3/14/08 — 2# HB, OAFB Commissary, hence doubled Rx; combined next 2 ingredients, whisked slightly, added next 3 ingredients & whisked to blend; add ed to meat mixture & continued w/Rx. Be sure to PAM rack before placing meatballs thereon/baking. This is a right good Rx, but I feel it may have too much bread crumbs – it doesn’t have that real good meat taste. Try 1/2-ing crumbs next time as well as adding ±1/4 C grated Parmesan. Baked @400/17 minutes to IRT = 160 & done. Even though not really great, it does improve after sitting in fridge.
5/16/08 — 2x 1.04# 81% ground beef, so doubled Rx; added ±2 T @grated Parmesan & Romano to crumbs, mixed well, then added a heaping t Garlic Powder w/Parsley & s&p, mixed well & set aside; lightly whisked eggs, added water, whisked to blend & set aside; put HB in mixer to break up [& see how well it blends ingredients], added egg-water mixture, blended, then added crumb mixture & blended[ seems to do a good job of mixing]. Using #30 cookie scoop, produced 27 meatballs & they tested done in 17 minutes. In addition to wanting meatballs, I wanted to see if the addition of cheese would make them more Italian – like Uncle Angelo made for my 11th BDA at 900 Isabel. Too, I wanted to try out my latest toy, Reynolds Handi-Vac food storage device. Let you know later… Everything worked out just fine! Pleased w/addition of cheese, as well as performance of Handi-Vac, & how the balls held up being frozen.
ghooper at 10:55PM on 05/25/08
thanks for the great sounding recipes, I'm going to try today, just wondering, can I put any kind of good grated cheese in the meatballs?
stephie at 7:23AM on 05/27/08
Which ever grated cheese you like is right. :D Meatballs are a good catchall for scraps of cheese that seem too little to put in anything else.
There are some regions of Italy that include pignoli and raisins but I don't put either in mine. Those wouldn't be the meatballs of my childhood.
chiff0nade at 7:42AM on 05/27/08
Stephie -
For an Italian taste, I'd stick w/either Parmesan, Romano or a combination of the 2.
Good luck!
HOOP
ghooper at 10:13PM on 05/27/08
Ina Garten's recipe is the best I've found. I've changed things slightly after making the recipe many times, but it's a good starting place.
I often use 'meatloaf mix', which I find in my supermarket. It's equal parts of beef, pork, and veal. I leave the crust on my bread and cube it, then soak it in milk. I add the milk and bread in together, even if there's some excess milk. I usually bake my meatballs, instead of frying, but if you have the time and the motivation, the best thing to do is to make the meatballs, then roll them in dried breadcrumbs and (deep) fry them.
azured00 at 10:43AM on 06/02/08
Oh, and add some spinach and make with turkey. They're so good that way. The best I ever had were made by my sister according to our adapted Ina Garten recipe using turkey only.
azured00 at 10:44AM on 06/02/08
I always include ricotta in mine, and bake them on a rack over a sheet pan. I like italian sausage and ground chuck, too. They are super moist and flavorful, and make a fantastic sandwich.
Cary at 10:57AM on 06/02/08
Since I don't eat pork or veal, do any of you think a mix of beef and dark meat ground turkey would work? I can't stand dry, hard meatballs. I've been using just ground chuck, maybe 1% lean ;-) and that yields pretty good results, but if I want to make these more often I probably should have a mix of moist meat which would make for a less fatty meatball.
Any thoughts?
joannabar at 11:29PM on 06/02/08