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The Perfect Basic Meatball Recipe


Ingredients

Scale
  • 4 lbs lean ground beef and pork mixture
  • 1/3 cup onion, finely minced (I grated my onion to make sure it was extra fine)
  • 4 cloves glarlic, minced
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 3 tsp Italian herbs seasoning
  • ¼ tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 ½ tsp oregano
  • 1/3 cup Italian style bread crumbs (the kind with the herbs and romano cheese)
  • 2 eggs
  • Additional salt and pepper, to taste
    For cooking in a frying pan:
  • Some cooking oil, as needed

Instructions

  1. Mix together all the ingredients until combined. You can either do this by hand or by using a stand mixer on low speed using the paddle attachment.
  2. Try to not over mix the meat mixture or you’ll end up with tough meatballs. Just mix until everything is combined.
  3. Using the palms of your hands loosely roll about a golf ball sized amount of meat to form a ball. Continue forming balls until all the meat mixture is used. It’s important that when you are forming the balls you DO NOT pack them. Packing the meatballs when you form them will make them tough and less juicy.
    To cook using using a frying pan:
  4. In a large frying pan, heat up a little cooking oil on medium heat.
  5. Once the oil has heated up, place the balls in the pan to cook. Try not to overcrowd the pan.
  6. Sprinkle with additional salt and pepper, to taste.
  7. After about 2 minutes of cooking on one side flip the balls over and continue cooking.
  8. As the balls cook, gently move them around a bit using tongs to brown them on all surfaces. You may need to lower the heat some to make sure they don’t over cook.
  9. Once the meatballs have cooked through and are golden, remove them from the pan and place them on a plate covered with paper towel to remove any excess oil.
  10. Since this is a large recipe, you may need to cook them in a couple batches.
    To make baked meatballs:
  11. Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.
  12. Line a large cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
  13. Place the meatballs evenly spaced on the cookie sheet.
  14. Sprinkle with additional salt and pepper, to taste.
  15. Bake in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes until cooked through and golden.
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Category: Main