Easy Baked Meatballs | Recipe
A simple and easy recipe for Italian-style meatballs, made with ground beef and fresh bread crumbs. Plus, how to make fresh bread crumbs.
Meatballs hold a special place in my heart. As far as I was concerned as a child, spaghetti and meatballs was its own food group, and while my family has just about every ancestry other than Italian running through our blood, my grandmother sure could whip up a batch in no-time flat. And, she did it very, very well. My mom would often make us the bolognese version of spaghetti with marinara, and don't get me wrong, I loved that too, but there was just something special about a meatball. Maybe it's the extra love and care that goes into forming each little round, or maybe it's the fact that they're basically little bite-sized meat loaf spheres that make them so special. Whatever it is, their allure has transferred over to the hearts of my children, and taking after my beloved grandmother, I too can now whip up a batch in no time at all.
I've experimented with the versions in which you sear the meatballs in a skillet of hot grease prior to baking or adding them to the sauce, and yes, this method imparts a great deal of flavor, but here the drawbacks: (1) it's greasy, (2) it's time consuming and (3) there is a simpler way. Now, if y'all know anything about me by now, I hope you know that cutting corners isn't really my style in the kitchen. Especially when it comes to nostalgic dishes. However, if we can cut corners, without compromising the end product of our dish, I'm all for a shortcut. And, the simpler way here still allows for massive amounts of flavor. Plus, it doesn't require getting popped every so often by hot grease. Yeah, I think I'll take that route. Rather than frying the meatballs, I bake them...actually, I roast them. Cooking at a high temperature not only has these beauties ready in a jiff, but it also allows for a fair amount of browning, which essentially means more flavor.
If you've ever found yourself intimidated by the thought of making meatballs from scratch, I'm here to tell you: You can do this. Like I said before, they're basically just tiny little bite-sized meat loafs. All you have to do is roll up your meat mixture in a little ball, pop it on your baking sheet and voila! You've done it. Soon, I can only imagine you'll be making meatballs like the best of 'em...in no-time flat.
P.S. If you're going the spaghetti and meatballs route, simply drop you're oven-cooked meatballs in the sauce, and let them simmer in there on low for about 15 minutes or so. Serve over pasta and enjoy!
Fresh Breadcrumbs Side Note:
If you are a first-timer in the fresh bread crumbs department, take my hand and let's walk through this one together. You ready? Here we go: I always have some form of a French loaf on standby in the fridge. Usually, my go-to is the skinny French loaf that comes two to a package. That's the one with the shape and size that lies somewhere between a standard-sized loaf and a baguette. If you can't find that one, no prob. Go with a rustic French loaf or Sourdough bread. Just steer clear of the baguette. Dries out too fast and get's hard as a rock. I buy my bread fresh from the bakery at the grocery store, pop it in the fridge and get to it when I get to it. Sure, it gets a little dried out in there, but I'm good with that. Why? Because slightly stale bread is not only great for whipping up a fast batch of bread crumbs, but it's also the bees knees for making homemade garlic bread, French toast and also preparing both savory stratas and sweet bread puddings.
To make fresh breadcrumbs, simply pull off hunks of bread from the loaf, throw it in the food processor and give it a whir until it looks like...well, bread crumbs. That's all there is to it. Oh...did you want me to let go of your hand now? Ok, then. Until next time.
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (see note above)
1/3 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons freshly minced parsley.
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 pounds (80/20) ground beef
Method:
Preheat the oven to 400° and have ready two rimmed baking sheets lined with nonstick aluminum foil
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine bread crumbs and whole milk. Stir until crumbs have absorbed the milk and set aside.
Add olive oil to a small saute pan over medium heat. Stir in onions and coat with oil. Saute for about 3 minutes, add the garlic and saute 1 minute more. Stir in the parsley, remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
Add egg to the moistened bread crumbs and stir to combine. Add in the sauteed vegetables, Parmesan, Kosher salt and black pepper. Stir once more to thoroughly combine. Gently mix in the ground beef. With damp hands, roll about to 2 tablespoons worth of the meatball mixture into a ball and place on the baking sheets, placing each meatball at least 1" apart. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until properly cooked through. Serve with spaghetti and marinara sauce, make yourself a meatball sandwich or eat them as is, and enjoy.
Serves 4-6.
Would pair well with:
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