Best Italian Meatballs Recipe
Do you struggle with making Italian meatballs? Do you resort to buying the frozen kind?
Check out my best meatball recipe and I guarantee you’ll never buy frozen again!
Best Italian Meatballs uses a blend of meat, spices and one special ingredient to make the tastiest, fork-tender meatballs you’ve ever seen!
I’ve spent many year perfecting my meatballs and I am now ready to share my coveted recipe. Are you ready to hear it?
Before you get started, I highly encourage you to read Ways to Improve Your Meatballs so you understand the reason why my recipe is the way it is.
Make sure you PIN Best Italian Meatballs!
Just when you thought you knew everything there was to know about meatballs, you will be like WHAM!
The first thing to know is that meatballs come in many shapes and sizes. They are also prevalent in food culture around the globe, although they are most commonly associate with Italian food.
But alas, Swedish meatballs, Turkish meatballs, Asian meatballs commonly in pho made with seafood and fish, Spanish meatballs called albondigas, American meatballs with pasta (Italian meatballs are rarely served with pasta), Polish meatballs and Dutch meatballs.
They all have their unique qualities and sauce pairings that make them special.
And much like Sunday sauce, or gravy as some Italians refer to it, there are many different ways to make them. And all of these ways are equally delicious in their way.
PRO TIP: Don’t overmix the ground beef! This is the number one cause of tough meatballs!
So please don’t leave me any nasty comments that your Nonna does it this way and that is the only way. I am sure Nonna’s meatballs are fantastic, but this is my way and I suggest giving it a try.
Of course, some of these tips aren’t always practical and we all take shortcuts, myself included. One of my shortcuts is instead of grating the onion and garlic, take it for a ride in the food processor.
The resulting pulp can also be combined with parsley for a super fine mince, nearly paste, that will fold into your meatballs seamlessly.
If you do not have evaporated milk, regular milk will do just fine. I would strongly discourage you from using skim or 1%. Whole milk would be best for the fat content and smooth consistency.
Evaporated milk is condensed milk where the water has been evaporated out by at least 60%.
The last commonly asked question I get is about the meat. Italian meatballs traditionally use a blend of veal, pork and beef and some grocers even sell a single package with equal amounts, but if you are unable to find this and don’t want to buy a pound of each, you are fine using just beef.
If you do use beef only, settle for 80/20 fat (or more) content so they aren’t too dry and will stick together properly.
Lastly, and not usually a question is what sauce do I serve meatballs with? And the anwer I usually give folks is “whatever sauce you’d like!”
While most Americans eat their meatballs with a tomato sauce, you can use whatever sauce your heart desires and I won’t judge.
If you liked this recipe for homemade meatballs, check out these other Italian inspired dishes:
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The Best Italian Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups white bread crusts removed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 2/3 cup evaporated milk
- 1/2 white onion micrograted
- 4 large garlic cloves micrograted
- 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley minced
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons coarse salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground beef bouillon
- 1 pound ground beef broken into 1 inch pieces, minimum of 80/20 mix
- 1 pound ground pork broken into 1 inch pieces
- 1 pound ground veal broken into 1 inch pieces
Instructions
- Place cubed white bread and evaporated milk into a large mixing bowl, tossing to combine. Allow to sit while you prepare other ingredients. Bread will start to disintegrate.
- Add micro grated onion and garlic to bread, mix well. Add parsley through ground beef bouillon, mixing until combined.
- Working in 3 rounds, add 1/3 of each type of meat, blending with your fingers until it just comes together until everything is combined.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Take a good amount of meat and toss back and forth between your hands to pack. Meatballs should be approximately 2-3 inches wide (I like big meatballs!)
- Place onto a broiler pan, make sure meatballs are not touching. Bake for 20 minutes, placing on broil for the last 2 minutes of cooking.
- Remove and either allow to cool. Freeze or simmer in your favorite marinara sauce.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was!
These were fantastic! I have been searching for a tender, almost creamy texture, meatball forever. This is it! I processed the onion, garlic, and parsley in a food processor and then I pulsed in the eggs and seasonings. After adding in the bread mixture and the meats, I put the whole bowl in the refrigerator to firm up a bit while I cleaned up my dishes. I cooked these in a Cuisinart tray style air fryer at 375° for seven minutes. (I used a medium sized scoop to form the meatballs, about the size of a ping-pong ball). The air fryer gets them perfectly browned without a flat spot and they stay super moist. I was making them ahead of time for tomorrow, but we ate five or six apiece with just grated fresh Parmesan on top and we couldn’t stop!
Thank you for the feedback, Linda. Happy cooking!
I do add some fresh grated pecorino Romano , great recipe btw yummm
Vinnie
Yay!!! Thanks for coming back to let us know, Vinny!
I’ll never make meatballs another way again. These were the BEST homemade meatballs ever and I even made a second batch to freeze.
These were simply delicious! Perfectly seasoned. Loved micrograting the onion and garlic, although I cheated with my food processor. Nice moisture along with soaked bread. The meatballs were not heavy balls. Nice and light just like I like them. Baked a little shorter of a time to let them simmer in a yummy red sauce to finish cooking. Thank you for teaching me a few nice tricks! I will be sure to browse the rest of your site.
Awesome! Thank you for the detailed feedback, Diane. We really appriciate that you took the time to come back and let us know. Have a fabulous day!
I live in an Italian community and adopted my huge Italian family almost 50 years ago. Not Italian myself, but a pretty good cook, I’ve been chasing the elusive perfect meatball for a long time now-and I found it! My husband and friends rave about these meatballs. I did add a tablespoon of tomato paste and 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. I’ll be passing this recipe down to future generations. Good job, girl!
Aw, THANK YOU! And thank you for such kind words. Have a fabulous day!
You didn’t mention when to add the eggs
Hi Eric, step #2 is to add parsley THROUGH beef bouillon, which would include the eggs. Enjoy!
You recipe looks amazing . Going to make for Christmas . I’m confused as to what you mean by add parsley through ground boulion . And when do you add the eggs ?
We hope you like it- it means to add all of the ingredients listed from parsley through bouillon, including the eggs.
My girls love these meatballs and would rather have these than noodles with them! So rich and flavorful!
we do tend to buy frozen more than make them at home but tried this out and it was amazing!