Classic homemade meatballs
- Miriam Nice
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Serves 6
Easy
Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 45 mins
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Learn how to make classic Italian meatballs with our easy recipe and cook them so they're perfectly browned on the outside but still juicy in the middle.
High-protein
Low sugar
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What are meatballs made from?
To make meatballs, finely chopped or minced meat such as beef will be seasoned and sometimes flavoured with ingredients like chopped onions, herbs and spices then will be shaped into small balls before cooking. Typically, meatballs will be somewhere between the size of a large cherry and a golf ball. Recipes such as Swedish meatballs and Italian-inspired meatballs are often made with a mixture of both beef and pork, but meatballs can be made with any red meat, game, poultry or a mixture.
Meatballs pop up in a wide range of different cuisines, and that’s no surprise as they’re simple to serve, easy to eat and a good way of making a relatively small amount of meat go that bit further.
How to stop meatballs from falling apart
Making them with just meat and seasoning alone can result in the meatball becoming dry or falling apart during cooking. For this reason, many recipes will include a binding ingredient like egg, and a filler like breadcrumbs. You only need a small amount of egg – it’s there only to help the cooked meatball retain its shape, and shouldn't detract from the meat's flavour or texture.
Filler ingredients like breadcrumbs or flour are important too because they stop the meatballs becoming dry. The breadcrumbs absorb the juices from the meat as it cooks, trapping them within the meatball. Again quantity is important here; too much and your meatball will be more like stuffing or a dumpling.
What to serve with meatballs
A popular Italian-American classic, spaghetti and meatballs is comprised of meatballs drenched in a tomato sauce served with spaghetti and topped with finely grated parmesan cheese. Or, this meatball traybake combines them with crispy chunks of garlic bread and a melty cheese topping for a comforting family-friendly dinner.
As well as classic Italian tomato sauce based dishes, these are some other delicious ways to serve meatballs:
- Gravy-based dishes such as our Swedish-style meatballs or meatball stroganoff
- Curries - try our Red Thai meatball curry or fragrant lamb kofta curry
- Legume-based dishes - make this hearty meatball black bean chilli or Spanish meatball & butter bean stew for flavourful midweek meals.
- For something different: bake them with French fries to make the perfect party sharing platter with our meatball marinara fries
In most cases, it’s better to cook the meatballs separately first before adding them to your chosen sauce at the last stage. This ensures that the meatball is cooked properly, provides deep caramelised flavour to the outside of the meat and stops them breaking up in the sauce.
Ingredients
Nutrition
Units:
MetricUS
For the meatballs
-
8 good-quality sausages
(about 450g)
-
500g minced beef
-
2 garlic cloves
crushed
-
½ bunch parsley
finely chopped
-
3 tbsp dried breadcrumbs
-
1 egg
lightly beaten
-
plain flour
for rolling
-
3 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
For the sauce
-
1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
-
2 garlic cloves
crushed
-
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
-
pinch of sugar
-
½ bunch parsley
finely chopped
To serve
- 500g spaghetti
- grated parmesan
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Nutrition: per serving
-
kcal572
-
fat41g
-
saturates14g
-
carbs20g
-
sugars7g
low
-
fibre4g
-
protein29g
high
-
salt1.18g
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Method
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step 1
To make the meatballs, squeeze the meat out of the sausages into a large bowl. Add the minced beef, garlic, parsley, breadcrumbs and egg, then mix well. Season well with salt and pepper, and mix again.
-
step 2
Dust a large plate or board with a little flour. Scoop out level dessertspoons of the mix, dip them in the flour and roll them into balls. You may find it easier to put a little oil on your hands to help you shape them before you put them in the flour.
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step 3
Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan, then fry the meatballs in batches, browning them on all sides. Set aside on a clean plate. When you’ve fried all the meatballs, pour off any excess fat. Rinse and dry the pan.
-
step 4
To make the sauce, pour 1 tbsp oil into the pan, heat for 1 min then add 2 crushed garlic cloves and fry for a few seconds. Tip in the tomatoes and break them down as you stir. Cook over a medium-high heat for 5 mins until starting to thicken. Season to taste with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar.
-
step 5
Tip in the meatballs and turn them over in the sauce, ensuring they’re all covered. Cover the pan and cook the meatballs on a low heat for about 30 mins. Spoon the sauce over them occasionally, and add a little water if it’s becoming too dry. 15 mins before the end of the cooking time, cook the spaghetti.
-
step 6
To serve, stir most of the remaining parsley into the sauce, then spoon the meatballs and sauce over the spaghetti. Scatter with the last of the parsley and serve with parmesan on the side.
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