Finally! Moist Meatballs
As a descendent of an Italian immigrant family, I have been handed down numerous variations of Meatball recipes from great- grandmother to grandmother to mother then me. That’s a picture of Mom over on the left.
Then after marrying an Irish-Italian man I was given his Italian families versions of their best meatball recipes. I could fill a book with these recipes.
However, they really don’t differ much.
It could be as simple as a little less cheese or no parsley but basically the same. However, I could never find one recipe that really gave me a nice moist meatball and one that would stay moist after being cooked in spaghetti sauce.
Solution was not in the ingredients but in the method of preparing. Thus, I have found a method that makes a moist and juicy meatball.
Watch me prepare moist meatballs in this video below and see how easy it really is!
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. ground meat (preferably chuck)
- 2 slices bread or rolls
- 1 cup milk
- 1 whole large egg
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 TBS. chopped parsley
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ tsp. course ground black pepper
- ½ tsp. salt ( to taste)
Directions:
- In large bowl mix together with your hands (best tool for this recipe) the bread, milk, egg, garlic, parsley, and cheese. You can also use a food processor for this. Mix until well blended. It will be a very runny mixture.
- Add the ground meat, salt and pepper and mix well, again using hands.
- The mixture will feel soft and moist. Shape into balls.
- Fry in olive oil or microwave or bake until fully cooked.
- Now you are ready to add the cooked meatballs to simmer in your spaghetti sauce. Here’s my Marinara Sauce Recipe along with a video.
Filed under: Italian Food
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We can’t wait to try this recipe. We’ve tried Mary’s stuffed pepper recipe and it is to die for!
Hi Marilyn:
Would love to hear from you after you try the recipe. I plan to post the stuffed pepper recipe soon.
What a pretty adornment this cook is to her efficient kitchen! I thought she had a lovely manicure and wondered if she ever uses disposable gloves when attacking mixings that are best done by hand. I never knew to cook the meatballs first – always dropped them into the simmering sauce as I formed them I’m sure Mary’s way retains the individual meat flavor. Is it permissable to freeze meatballs? Cooked or uncooked? When visiting my married daughter with family I would cook a large batch for the freezer to save her time. My favorite pictured “recipe” is “Mom.” I miss our darling Moms. I’ve had a wonderful visit with Mary today. Thank you
Hi Carmen:
I too enjoyed our visit. Yes, you can freeze the meatballs once they are cooked. I still prefer baking my meatballs instead of frying, less fat and they stay really moist that way.
I enjoyed your video and plan on trying your meatball recipe out. The video says 1 1/2 lbs ground meat but the recipe says 1 lb. I don’t want to mess up the recipe, so which is the correct amount? I’m planning on serving the meatballs as an appetizer, so I’ll make the meatballs much smaller. How will this affect the baking time? Thank you so much for your help!
Hi Julie:
Sorry for the discrepancy. Use 1 lb. of ground meat and if too moist add seasoned bread crumbs. Just remember the liquid (milk, eggs) is what makes these meatballs moist.They make excellent appetizers, just bake 20 to 30 minutes.
I tried this recipe…these meatballs are the best!!! Great flavor, very moist and light. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Cheryl:
So happy you enjoyed the meatballs. If you make them in advance you can freeze them and they will still keep moist. Thanks for commenting.
I’m going to try this, hopefully tonight. How long should I cook these in the oven, and at what temperature?
Hi Carrie:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Coat pan with olive oil, place meatballs in pan, not touching, and sprinkle olive oil on meatballs. Bake for 15 minutes, turn meatballs and bake until done. Approximately 10 mins.more. Timing for baking meatballs is similar to baking a meatloaf. Would love to hear how this works for you.
Your recipe looks delicious! Just a quick question. My son’s grad party is in a month or so and I would love to make these for it. Do you know how long they will stay fresh if i freeze them?
Hi Lauren:
I have only frozen these meatballs after they were cooked in spaghetti sauce and they hold up well.I put the sauce and meatballs together in a ziplock freezer bag and have frozen it up to two months. However, if you freeze these meatballs separately, either uncooked or cooked, I am not sure they will retain the same moisture and consistency that makes this recipe unique. Thanks for your comment and congratulations to your son on his graduation.
Hi Mary! Thanks for the recipe. I made them and added a packet of lipton’s beef onion soup for seasoning. They are moist and yummy!! I made meatball subs and will use the leftovers with pasta tomorrow.
Hi Lakisha:
Thanks for sharing your idea of adding the onion soup for seasoning. This addition would also make a great meatloaf.
What a tasty and moist meatball! Delectable! Mine were slightly flat – I think I needed a little more bread. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Robyn
Happy to hear you like the moist meatballs. If they were too flat, I recommend using a more dense bread i.e. Italian bread, sourdough bread. Adding more bread will make the meatballs less moist.