A great, no-frills, meatball that can be used in casseroles, on sandwiches, for spaghetti and meatballs, and of course, our fabulously loved grape jelly meatballs.
Basic Homemade Meatballs
This is my favorite basic meatball recipe that I have been using since I started cooking, and the same one I use when I make my spaghetti with meatballs, and those famous grape jelly meatballs that we southerners are so endeared to.
It is not, nor is it intended to be an "Italian-Style" meatball, though I've included the revisions I make when I'm leaning more toward those flavors. This, rather, is a very basic meatball recipe that you can use for sandwiches and even for casseroles, though you can certainly jazz them up by adding whatever extras you like.
For most meatball recipes, I prefer them simple with very basic seasonings.
By the way.... I'm interrupting the post here to remind you that this is a blog, not just a "recipe site," and want to thank all of you who have supported my work over the years! If you aren't interested in the chit chat, info, photos, tips and such in a post, as always, you'll find the complete recipe text with measurements and instructions, as well as a printable document, a little bit further down the page. Just swipe or scroll down to the bottom of the post!This is also a perfect recipe for freezer meatballs too and there are many readers here who have shared that is exactly what they do because the flavor on these is so much better than premade meatballs available at the grocery markets.
Simply multiply the ingredients as needed for how many meatballs you want to make, prepare, let cool and flash freeze on a greased baking sheet. Once frozen, pop 24 meatballs into zippered freezer bags and place into freezer until needed and use them for everything - spaghetti and meatballs, meatball po'boys, casseroles, sweet and sour meatballs, for meatball stroganoff, all your favorites.
Here's how to make them.
If baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the one pound of ground beef, 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs, 1/3 cup of onion that has been finely minced, 1/4 cup of milk, one large egg, one tablespoon of parsley, one teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce. An 80/20 blend of ground beef is the best tasting. Gently shape into 1-inch balls.
I like to use a small or medium cookie scoop to extract the meat.
So that the meatballs will be fairly uniform.
Run your fingers around the edges of the scoop to knock off the extra meat.
Then dump the scoop into your hand. Then just roll into a ball.
You'll get about 24 meatballs out of a pound of ground beef using a small scoop.
There are also some great meatball pans available that make this task so easy!
From here it's just cooking them! Pan frying is more traditional than baking, but baking is easier and less messy if you ask me, so I often bake or air fry them. If baking, place on a baking sheet that has been coated with non-stick spray, and bake on the center rack of the oven, for about 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees, turning once halfway through.
If cooking in a skillet, heat 2 to 3 tablespoons of vegetable or canola oil in a large skillet and brown the meatballs, turning to brown on all sides. Remove the meatballs and set aside. Air fryer instructions are included with the printable below.
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