These easy homemade oven-baked meatballs are made with a combination of Italian sausage and ground beef and are full of flavor.

A great meatball should be tender, juicy, and full of flavor. Meatballs are great for more than just a plate of spaghetti and pasta sauce. Try adding them to soups, casseroles, and sandwiches or serving them as an appetizer.

Here are some other meatball recipes you will want to try: chicken pineapple meatballs, chicken apple meatballs, sage chicken meatballs with brown butter sauce.

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Why You Will Love This Recipe

• These super-simple meatballs use everyday ingredients that are probably already in your kitchen.
• Baking meatballs is much easier than cooking them in a pan on the stove, and less messy too. Simply place the meatballs in the oven, set a timer, and walk away. No standing over a hot stove constantly turning and rotating meatballs in a skillet to keep them from burning.

Ingredients

Breadcrumbs, Milk, and Egg: Adding additional binders, liquids, and eggs to meatballs helps them to hold their shape and makes sure they are still tender once they have been cooked. Adding a binder to meatballs prevents the meat proteins from shrinking and becoming tough.

This recipe uses breadcrumbs soaked in milk. There are several other options for added binders and liquids. Other binder options include torn-up bread, crackers, or for a gluten-free option try pork rinds.

Yogurt, sour cream, or buttermilk thinned with a little water are good alternatives for the milk.

Parmesan Cheese, Fresh Parsley, Onion, Garlic, Worcestershire Sauce, Basil, and Oregano: This meatball recipe uses parmesan cheese, parsley, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, basil, and oregano to enhance the flavor. You can change the seasonings or spices based on what you have on hand or how you’ll be eating the meatballs.

• For Asian-inspired meatballs try swapping out the parmesean, parsley, basil, and oregano for hoisin sauce and fresh ginger.
• For Greek-inspired meatballs try swapping out the parmesean cheese for feta cheese.

Salt: I add at least a pinch of salt to all of my recipes. Salt complements and intensifies the other flavors. For all of my recipes, I use Morton Kosher Salt which is saltier than Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. If you are using Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt you will want to double the amount of salt you add.

Ground Meat: Meatballs can be made with several different types of ground meat. Try a combination of ground beef, pork, lamb. turkey, chicken, veal, or buffalo. The fattier the meat you use the more tender your meatballs will be.

My favorite for juicy tender meatballs is a combination of ground beef and ground pork. This combination of meat is readily available and provides just the right amount of fat to keep the meatballs from drying out. (ground beef, pork, lamb. turkey, chicken, veal, or buffalo

If using leaner meats like ground chicken or turkey, you will need to be more careful about cooking times to prevent the meatballs from becoming dry and tough. You can also add a little extra fat like a tablespoon of olive oil or some raw chopped bacon.

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheight.

In a small bowl soak the breadcrumbs in the milk. The breadcrumbs will absorb the milk and become soggy.

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In a food processor pulse the parmesan cheese, parsley, onion, and garlic until finely chopped.

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Add the breadcrumb/milk mixture, onion mixture, ground meat, egg, salt, pepper, Worcestershire, basil, and oregano to a large bowl.

Mix with your hands until just combined. Do not overwork the meatballs. Mixing the ingredients by hand allows you to ensure the ingredients are combined completely without overworking the mixture. Overworking the mixture creates tight tough meatballs.

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Shape the mixture into golf ball-sized meatballs using approximately 2 tablespoons of the mixture for each meatball. When shaping the meatballs keep them loose. Rolling and squeezing them into tight balls will create tough overworked meatballs.

Place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake meatballs for 18-20 minutes.

Meatballs are done when they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees Farenheight. You can also cut a meatball in half to make sure the meat is no longer pink.

Frequently Asked Questions

Tips

• Do not overwork the meatballs. Mixing the ingredients by hand allows you to ensure the ingredients are combined completely without overworking the mixture. Overworking the mixture creates tight tough meatballs.
• To test and adjust seasoning, microwave a small amount of the meatball mixture until it is fully cooked. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
• When rolling the meatballs, lightly oil your hands to keep the meatball mixture from sticking to your hands.
• Shape into evenly sized meatballs so that they all cook at the same rate.

Making meatballs ahead of time

Shape the meatballs and place them in a casserole dish or on a rimmed baking sheet, being careful to not squish them together. Cover with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to one day. When ready bake according to the directions in the recipe below.

Storing leftovers

Store leftover meatballs in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat over low heat in a saucepan or in the microwave.

Freezing uncooked meatballs

1. Follow steps 1 through 6 in the directions below.
2. Place the meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for a couple of hours until the meatballs have frozen.
4. Transfer the meatballs to a zip-top bag and label it with the contents and date.
5. Uncooked meatballs can be stored in the freezer for up to one month.
6. Thaw meatballs in the refrigerator overnight before following one of the cooking methods described below.

Freezing cooked meatballs

1. After cooling the meatballs place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
2. Place the baking sheet in the freezer for a couple of hours until the meatballs have frozen.
3. Transfer the meatballs to a zip-top bag and label it with the contents and date.
4. Meatballs can be stored in the freezer for up to three months.

How to reheat frozen meatballs

Frozen meatballs can be thawed overnight in the refrigerator and reheated in a simmering sauce or warm oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Meatballs can also be reheated directly from the freezer in a simmering sauce or warm oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

More recipes to try

• Four Cheese Lasagna
• Cheese Stuffed Shells
• Chicken Fajitas
• Chicken Apple Meatballs

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