These homemade meatballs with Italian sausage and ground beef are easy to make and full of rich flavor.
The best meatballs should be tender, juicy, and full of flavor. This homemade meatball recipe is great for more than just a plate of spaghetti and homemade pasta sauce.
Try adding these flavorful meatballs to soups and casseroles, creating meatball subs, or serving them as an appetizer. You could also top them with this delicious spinach pesto or your favorite sauce.
This recipe makes a large batch of homemade Italian meatballs. Serve some for dinner and freeze the rest for another night.
Here are some other meatball recipes you will want to try: chicken pineapple meatballs, chicken apple meatballs, and sage chicken meatballs with brown butter sauce.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- These perfect meatballs use everyday ingredients that are probably already in your kitchen. Serve them as a family meal or bring them to a party,
- Baking meatballs is a hands-off easy way to cook them and is much easier than cooking them in a pan on the stove. 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.
- This easy recipe is freezer-friendly and is a great make-ahead meal.
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 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 could also substitute Italian seasoning for the herbs.
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 parmesan, parsley, basil, and oregano for hoisin sauce and fresh ginger.
- For Greek-inspired meatballs try swapping out the parmesan 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, ground pork, ground lamb, ground turkey, ground chicken, ground veal, or ground buffalo. The fattier the meat you use the more tender your meatballs will be.
My favorite for tender juicy meatballs is a combination of ground beef and ground pork. You can use sweet Italian sausage or spicy Italian sausage depending on your preference.
This combination of meats is readily available and provides just the right amount of fat to create a great meatball.
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.
See recipe card below for exact quantities.
Directions
Follow the directions below to prepare this simple recipe.
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.
In a food processor pulse the parmesan cheese, parsley, onion, and garlic until finely chopped.
Add the breadcrumb/milk mixture, onion mixture, ground meat, egg, salt, black pepper, Worcestershire, basil, and oregano to a large mixing 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 meat mixture creates tight tough meatballs.
Shape the mixture into one inch 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 meatballs in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake meatballs in a preheated oven 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
The easiest way to know when meatballs are fully cooked is to use an instant-read probe thermometer. When fully cooked the internal temperature of meatballs should be 160 degrees Fahrenheit. An instant-read probe thermometer is an essential kitchen tool. This one from ThermoWorks is my favorite. It is recommended by America's Test Kitchen and is super fast and accurate.
If you don't own a thermometer, cut a meatball in half. If it is still pink in the middle the meatballs need to cook for longer.
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 the 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
This is a great recipe for a make-ahead meal.
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
- Follow steps 1 through 6 in the directions below.
- Place the meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Place the baking sheet in the freezer for a couple of hours until the meatballs have frozen.
- Transfer the meatballs to a zip-top bag and label it with the contents and date.
- Uncooked meatballs can be stored in the freezer for up to one month.
- Thaw meatballs in the refrigerator overnight before following one of the cooking methods described below.
Freezing Cooked Meatballs
- After cooling the meatballs place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Place the baking sheet in the freezer for a couple of hours until the meatballs have frozen.
- Transfer the meatballs to a zip-top bag and label it with the contents and date.
- 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.
📖 Recipe
Meatballs with Italian Sausage and Ground Beef
These homemade baked meatballs with Italian sausage and ground beef are easy to make and full of rich flavor.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (25g) panko breadcrumbs
- ½ cup (113g) milk
- ½ cup (50g) parmesan cheese - cut into pieces
- ½ cup fresh parsley
- 1 large onion - peeled and quartered
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 pound of ground beef
- 1 pound of ground Italian sausage
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
- 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.
- In a food processor pulse the parmesan cheese, parsley, onion, and garlic until finely chopped.
- Add the breadcrumb/milk mixture, onion mixture, ground meat, eggs, salt, pepper, Worcestershire, basil, and oregano to a large bowl.
- Mix with your hands until just combined.
- Shape the mixture into golf ball-sized meatballs using approximately 2 tablespoons of the mixture for each meatball.
- Place on a foil-lined baking sheet.
- Bake 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.
Notes
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 and refrigerate for up to one day.
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.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 525Total Fat: 37gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 23gCholesterol: 175mgSodium: 912mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 38g
This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from an online calculator. Although raspberriesandkohlrabi.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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