Anyone have a good homemade meatball recipe?

Question

I am looking for a really good meatball recipe. I consider myself to be a decent cook, but I CANNOT seem to master meatballs! I can make great sauce, braciole, etc. But I fail at meatballs! Please help!

Answer 1

I had never made meatballs before, and used the recipe below. They were very easy and came out great. I made spaghetti and meatballs with them and took the dish to a pot-luck lunch at work and everyone thought they were great.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (20 ounce) package ground beef
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion flakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with the olive oil, and place it in the oven while preheating.

In a medium bowl, mix together the ground beef, egg, garlic powder, onion flakes and bread crumbs using your hands. Using an ice cream scoop if possible, form the meat into golf ball sized meatballs. Place about 1 inch apart in the hot baking dish. Press down to flatten the bottom just slightly.

Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn them over, and continue baking for about 5 more minutes, or until somewhat crispy on the outside. Serve with pasta and sauce or however you'd like.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

This is a recipe my aunt got from her Swedish mother-in-law. It is so good that it is mandatory at all family gatherings and it keeps the relatives coming every time!! Her Swedish mother-in-law was born in Sweden and moved to the United States with her husband in the 1915 range. You can't go wrong with this recipe.

SWEDISH MEATBALLS

1 1/2 lbs round steak
1/2 lb pork steak
onion - grated to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp ginger
2 eggs
about 8 slices dried bread
1 1/2 c evaporated milk

Grind the beef and pork together (she grinds it 3 times but you could use ground beef and unseasoned ground pork in place of this). Put the bread in the milk and let soak until wet. Put everything together in a bowl and, with your hands, mix it together until fully incorporated. If it looks hard, add a little water. Make into balls and fry in fat (bacon fat preferably) - in today's world you could use oil but it won't taste as good. When balls are light brown, put in a casserole dish or metal pan, cover and bake on 350º for about an hour. Drain the juices and make a gravy using the juices. Pour the gravy back in the pan with the meatballs and let everyone spoon it out to go over some nice potatoes. She would cut a whole potato into 4 to 6 pieces, rolled in butter, salted and peppered and baked until golden. You could use mashed potatoes also if you wish.

These meatballs are nice and tender and can be cut with a fork.

Answer 4

Last weekend I took a stab at making meatballs (I'd never made them from scratch before), and they turned out pretty well. Here's how I did it.

First, you need 1 pound of ground beef, 1 egg, some very finely crushed crackers, some basil, some garlic, and salt and pepper to taste.

I say "some", because it all depends on your tastes. I think I didn't use more than a tablespoon of basil or garlic.

Combine all of these in a bowl, and MIX WITH YOUR HANDS. That is the MOST important part of making meatballs or meatloaf! When you mix with your hands, you have complete control of the consistency. You can ensure that the little pieces of ground beef merge with all of the ingredients, and your meatballs will be smoother.

If you wanted to really incorporate the taste of your sauce into your meatballs, use a little bit of it (less than a cup or so) and mix it in before you start mixing in the crackers. If you do, however, you might not want to add as much garlic or basil, depending on how much of those ingredients you have already put into your sauce.

After everything is very well combined, and the consistency is very smooth, start adding in the VERY WELL crushed crackers. I'm talking cracker powder here. Add in a little at a time, making sure to mix it well, again WITH YOUR HANDS, after each time you add more. Stop adding when your meatballs are able to form a shape and hold that shape.

Roll your meat mix into balls. I usually try to make them no bigger than the size my fingers make when I make a round hole with my thumb and forefinger. A little bigger would be fine, but if you make them too big, it will take longer to cook them and they might not cook all the way through.

Line them up on a baking dish (I use glass ones, but whatever you prefer), and put them in the over at about 375-400 degrees for about 30-45 minutes. When you think they are done, choose one to cut in half, making sure it is cooked through.

After they are cooked, drop them into your sauce and let them simmer with the sauce for a while, and absorb the flavor (not to mention get well coated by the sauce). Ad your favorite pasta and you're done!

Making meatballs in this way is really just like making meatloaf, just with a slightly different taste goal. Try it out, I think you'll find it's simple and enjoyable - plus you're in control of exactly how you want them to taste!

Bon Appetit!
~Saffyre

Answer 5

im the same way
mine fall apart all the time
now my moms never do and she makes
those really big ones
this recipe is like my moms
i hope it works for you

35 min 15 min prep

1 1/3 lbs lean ground beef
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup ground parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons dried onion flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 egg, beaten
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
pepper


In large bowl, mix all dry ingredients.
Add rest of ingredients and lightly mix, but mix well, with hands. Form into 20 meatballs.
Place them on lightly oiled cookie sheet.
Sprinkle tops lightly with coarse ground pepper.
Bake in 400º over for 20-25 minutes. *Mine always take 22 minutes in my oven.
If they are still just a little pink inside, it's ok if they are to simmer in a sauce, otherwise bake til done.
Simmer in spaghetti sauce on low for 5-10 minutes.
*You can omit the parmesan and use parsley instead if italian seasoning, and use these meatballs for other recipes.

Answer 6

I find it really helpful to make meatballs with ground beef that has 20% or more fat (not lean) so that they stay together better. Also, make sure you add bread or breadcrumbs or something so that it's not too moist. The biggest help I have found to making meatballs stay together is to make the balls and place them on a broiler pan and broil them on high for a few minutes until they're brown, flip them over and broil the other side, then place them into boiling sauce (don't stir the sauce once they're in) for about ten minutes. This works really well for me!

Answer 7

Okay, this is the biggest cheater method on the planet. I take a pound of ground beef and a pound of sausage (if your store has the sausage in the meat case, that's usually the best), mix them together, form into little balls (an inch and a half across) and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. I can serve them with gravy over noodles or rice, a sweet and sour sauce with rice or marina sauce with spaghetti.
I've had to try different sausages. Some work better than others, but Jimmy Dean seems to be okay.

Answer 8

one recipe of meatballs

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 dash garlic powder
salt
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 egg (keeps the meatballs together!!) (optional)

This is a traditional Italian meatball type. I like to make them and lower them raw into the sauce to cook them. Got this from my buddy's mom. We used to have heated arguments about the egg being in there but it does keep them together.

Answer 9

Here are some links:

http://www.bigoven.com/97562_Homemade-Meatball-Mix_recipe.html

http://www.grouprecipes.com/698/the-best-meatballs.html

http://www.recipezaar.com/8790

http://www.recipezaar.com/92468

http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/Turkish-Meatballs-L1168.html


variety of different meatball recipes in this link:

http://southernfood.about.com/od/meatballs/Meatball_Recipes.htm

Answer 10

Its best to use the meatloaf mix (its beef, pork, veal mixture), lots of good grated cheese, seasoned bread crumbs, salt & pepper and italian seasoning, add as many eggs as you need to keep it moist and fry them until they are browned before throwing them in the sauce, it makes a huge difference.