In an effort to get my Little Miss to eat better I’m trying to re-create some of her favourite less than healthy meals as healthy batch cooked versions. This meatball recipe was a huge success, she eats every bite and usually asks for seconds.
This recipe does take more time and effort than most of my other recipes but it’s so worth it to see the children clear their plates. In fact it’s such a big hit that I’ve increased the portion size.
I serve it with my homemade tomato sauce which also gets eaten right up. I’d prefer it with fusilli pasta but Little Miss insists on having spaghetti with her meatballs.
It’s only one portion of veggies so not the healthiest meal on the menu but still that’s a whole portion of veggies that actually gets eaten and without an argument either. In my book that’s close enough to a win for this meatball recipe to become one of our regular meals.
Ingredients
2kg Beef Mince £7.00
Tomato Puree 43p
3 Eggs 41p
Stale Bread
Parsley
Total Cost =£7.84
Makes 21 servings = 37p per serving
I’m not sure how much my homemade pasta sauce costs to make. It won’t be more than 30p per jar which feeds the whole family. Allowing 10p per person for spaghetti this makes a total meal price of 57p per portion.
Food purchased from Aldi, UK
How to Make Meatballs
I make my own breadcrumbs from stale bread and crusts. I pop the unwanted bread in the freezer and get it out the day before I want to make meatballs. After the bread has defrosted I whizz it through my food processor until it’s broken down into fine breadcrumbs.
It is possible to make your own breadcrumbs without a food processor. I used to chop the pieces of bread into tiny little chunks. It was quite time consuming and the breadcrumbs were certainly on the chunky side. But it can be done this way if you don’t have a food processor.
You need to use a big bowl or pan to mix all of the ingredients.
I use the high fat mince. Mostly because it’s cheaper but it also means that you don’t need to add any fat to the meatballs to cook them and keep them nice and tender.
Three eggs is about right for 2kg of mince. I just sling them into the pot without bothering to whisk them first.
And a full tube of tomato puree.
I’m using parsley from my garden. Finely chopped and added to the mixture.
Next you need to mix all of the ingredients together. This is much easier to do with your hands, which is rather messy unfortunately. Scrunch up the mince in your fists, stirring it up as you go until all the bread crumbs have been combined with the mince and the mixture is evenly mixed.
You could use an ice cream scoop to portion the mince but I prefer to use the palm of my hand. Roll the portion of mince in the palm of your hands until you have formed a neat little ball.
Lay out the balls on an oven dish, making sure that they don’t touch each other.
They can be put straight into a freezer tub and left to cool. Once the meatballs are completely cool they can be frozen in the freezer.
I get them out the day before to defrost and then re heat them on the hob in a pan of sauce. They can also be reheated in a microwave.
If you don’t fancy cooking all the meatballs on the day they can be frozen raw. They would then need to be oven cooked after being defrosted. I find it more convenient to cook them all in one day and freeze the meatballs cooked.
Thank you so much for stopping by my corner little of the interweb. I’m Bridie, mum to two small humans, full time homemaker and full time craftaholic – which totally explains why I’m always short on time!
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Egg and breadcrumbs are common mix-ins to add moisture and tenderness. Another binder option that people swear by is a panade, which is fresh or dry breadcrumbs that have been soaked in milk. “The soaked breadcrumbs help keep the proteins in the meat from shrinking,” as food writer Tara Holland explained in the Kitchn.
Based on the rule of thumb regarding 6 ounces of meat per person, you will need 2 meatballs per person or 100 meatballs for 50 people. If you are serving meatballs as appetizers you probably want to make small co*cktail meatballs. The best size for appetizers are usually 1-inch meatballs.
There's never a “best” anything, but a great meatball starts with a mix of beef, pork, and veal. The ratio should be 2 parts beef to 1 part each pork and veal. Make sure you season and bind (Panade, see more here: Panade: The Secret to Keeping Meat Tender - Jessica Gavin ).
While water and broth may keep the meatballs moist throughout the cooking process, milk's extra fat and luscious consistency add an unmatched level of complexity to any classic meatball recipe.
One small egg will do for one pound of minced meat. Alternatively, if you're following an egg-free diet, you could soak fresh bread in milk, squeezing out any excess milk, to use as a binder. This will result in a softer-textured meatball, but it does work.
Make-ahead meatballs: Meatballs can be shaped and kept refrigerated up to a day ahead. Arrange them in a casserole dish or on a baking sheet, but don't squish together. Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.
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.
When it comes to adding liquid to meatball mixtures, milk is often used for its versatility, depth of flavor, and richness. Without the use of milk, you may be faced with a plate of dry meatballs. Milk adds a certain level of moisture that helps produce perfectly tender meatballs.
Baking soda, otherwise known as sodium bicarbonate, appears often in köfte recipes. It raises the PH level of the meat, making it harder for the meat's protein molecules to bond. This in turn allows the meat to retain water as it cooks. And more water means a moist meatball.
An egg is usually a good start, as that can help with the tenderness and texture, but the king of meatball binders is breadcrumbs soaked in milk (also known as a panade). Soaking the breadcrumbs first makes them pliable and soggy, which allows them to easily and evenly mix into the ground meat.
Baking will result in meatballs with a crunchy exterior, though the caramelisation achieved from frying will be superior. Baked meatballs take the least amount of effort, as you'll only need to turn them once or twice throughout the cook and you can make a larger batch at once.
Eggs are also important for texture and flavor, their fats and emulsifiers adding moistness and richness. Egg yolks alone work best; the whites just make the mixture sticky and hard to handle, with no benefits.
Each of them uses ground beef, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper. Even their optional ingredients have crossover with the likes of parsley, garlic, and sometimes parmesan cheese. However, while so far they're looking like the same thing, there is one key difference to make note of in their ingredients – the binding agent.
As the collagen in the meat dissolves over time, it transforms into gelatin, which not only adds a silky texture to the sauce but also contributes to the overall richness and depth of flavor. The longer the simmer, the more tender and succulent the meatballs become.
Egg acts as a binder for the ingredients, but you only need a small amount. One small egg will do for one pound of minced meat. Alternatively, if you're following an egg-free diet, you could soak fresh bread in milk, squeezing out any excess milk, to use as a binder.
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