I grew up in a Sicilian-American home. We had substantial Italian feasts at least once a week. Some of my best memories were made around a big bowl of pasta and Italian meatballs.
When imagining an Italian dinner, many Americans think of pasta and meatballs. Over the years, I have eaten pasta and meatballs many, many times. The only drawback that I have come across is that there are a lot of people out there that don’t know how to make a good meatball. I’ve eaten some meatballs that tasted like a hamburger rolled into a ball, I’ve had others that were flavorless and lacked in texture. While meatballs are not the star of a pasta dish—the sauce is— you still need an excellent meatball to top it off.
Over the years, I have tried a range of meatball recipes, some have been successful while others fell short. At the end of the day, the best meatballs that I ever tasted were from my Sicilian grandmothers. Today I am sharing with you my meatball recipe—a delicious blend of both of my grandmothers’ recipes.
These meatballs can be made before and frozen. You can make them into various sizes for your pasta dish, or you can make them into a meatball sub sandwiches, which is a great way to use leftover meatballs.
Choosing Ingredients
First, you want to choose your meat. You can use a variety of meats when preparing meatballs. Meats such as beef, chicken, pork, and veal are the most common. However, if you want a great meatball, you want to use a little pork or chicken Italian sausage in your meatballs. I use 1:1 meat to Italian sausage in my meatballs.
Next, choose the seasoning like garlic, parsley, oregano, basil, rosemary, and black pepper. Finally, the “must have” ingredients that make up the bulk of the meatballs: breadcrumbs, eggs, milk, and grated Parmesan cheese.
I also have a low carb Italian meatball option. Check it out HERE.
Cooking Meatballs
The conventional method for cooking Italian meatballs is to fry them in olive oil. Most recipes call for about a cup of olive oil to be heated in a large frying pan. Place the meat in the hot oil and fry it until they are golden brown and slightly crispy on all sides. Fry the meatballs in small groups to give the meat plenty of room to thoroughly cook. Once the meatballs are fully cooked, remove them and place them in your pasta sauce to simmer. Placing your meatballs into your sauce allows the meatball drippings and seasonings to be absorbed into your sauce as they cook, boosting the flavor.
Tasty Italian Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground Italian sausage
- 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
- 1 heaping tablespoon chopped basil
- 1 heaping tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 finely chopped onion
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except olive oil by hand.
- Roll meat between palms to form a ball that is firmly packed but not compressed.
- Repeat, making each meatball about 2 inches in diameter.
- In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Brown well on bottoms before turning.
- Continue cooking until browned all over.
- Place cooked meatballs on a plate as each batch is finished.
- Let meatballs cool slightly and add to pasta sauce.
Post updated on March 27, 2020
