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Meatballs

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My favorite baked meatball recipe — it’s easy to make, full of great flavor, and incredibly versatile. Serve it with Italian marinara sauce, Swedish cream sauce, American bbq sauce and beyond!

The BEST Meatball Recipe

Friends, do you have a go-to recipe for amazing homemade meatballs in your repertoire?

If not, bookmark this one. Like, seriously. ♡

After having made who knows how many millions of meatballs in my life, I’ve officially landed on this easy meatball recipe as my forever favorite. And I love it for so many reasons.

Mainly, I’m partial to this particular meatball recipe because it is BIG on flavor. I’ve always considered it such a missed opportunity when I’m served meatballs that are bland and boring because, quite frankly, it’s so easy to make them delicious! We shouldn’t have to rely on a sauce to make meatballs interesting. So this recipe goes big on all of my favorite flavors, including a base mix of ground beef and pork (win-win), classic garlic and onion (grated to avoid chunks), lots of Parmesan (adds amazing flavor), and a generous helping of zesty herbs and seasonings.

I also love these homemade meatballs because they are baked instead of fried, which makes them a touch healthier and also considerably easier to cook. They can easily be made gluten-free if you would like. They freeze beautifully for later, if you would like. And while I often love to just eat these meatballs on their own, the flavors here are versatile enough to pair with any of your favorite sauces, from Italian marinara sauce, to American bbq sauce, to a Swedish cream sauce, to a spicy Thai curry and so much more.

Basically, this is the meatball recipe that I use for pretty much everything and it is always, always a winner. So be sure to bookmark this one, and let’s make a batch together!

The BEST Meatball Recipe | 1-Minute Video

Easy Meatball Recipe Ingredients

Homemade Meatballs Ingredients:

Alright let’s talk about the ingredients you will need make this easy baked meatball recipe. (Full amounts included in the recipe below!)

  • Panko breadcrumbs: I’ve found that Panko breadcrumbs work best in baked meatballs, but you are welcome to use any type of breadcrumbs (seasoned or not) that you have on hand.
  • Milk: We will mix a bit of milk with the breadcrumbs to form a panade, which will help to keep our meatballs nice and moist.
  • Ground beef and pork: I like to use a 50/50 mix of the two to make meatballs, but you can also make all-beef or all-pork meatballs if you prefer.
  • Fresh garlic: Minced or pressed.
  • Eggs: Which will help to bind all of our meatball ingredients together.
  • Parmesan: As always, I highly recommend using freshly-grated Parmesan (instead of the pre-grated stuff) for maximum flavor and freshness. And if you have a kitchen scale, I recommend weighing the Parmesan to be sure that you have the correct amount — 1.5 ounces.
  • Fresh Italian herbs: I always love the taste and extra color that fresh herbs add to a batch of meatballs. So I used a mixture of basil and parsley here. But if you don’t have fresh herbs on hand, no worries, just read my substitution options below.
  • Grated yellow onion: Yes, grated. Even as someone who really loves onions, I always get a little weirded out by diced onion chunks in my meatballs. So I recommend using a box grater (or the grating attachment on a food processor) to grate the onion into smaller pieces before adding it to the mix.
  • Worcestershire sauce: Adds such great flavor!
  • Dry seasonings: A simple mix of dried oregano, sea salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes.

How To Make Meatballs

How To Make Meatballs:

To make these homemade meatballs, simply…

  1. Make the panade. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the Panko and milk until combined. Set mixture aside to soak for 5 to 10 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients. Then use a fork to briefly mash the mixture into a paste.
  2. Combine remaining ingredients.  Add the ground beef, ground pork, garlic, eggs, Parmesan, fresh herbs, onion and Worcestershire sauce to the (same) mixing bowl. Sprinkle the oregano, salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes evenly on top. Use your hands to mix the ingredients until evenly combined, being careful not to over-mix the ingredients.
  3. Chill (optional step). To make the meatballs easier to form, I recommend covering and chilling the mixture in the refrigerator for 1 hour. But if you’re pressed for time, you can skip this step.
  4. Prep oven and baking sheet. Heat the oven to 425°F and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
  5. Form the meatballs. Using a medium cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop and roll the mixture into 2-tablespoon balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet. (I recommend greasing your hands with a bit of olive oil to prevent the mixture from sticking.)
  6. Bake.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer measures the internal temperature of the meatballs to be 160°F. Remove pan and transfer to a wire cooling rack.
  7. Serve.  Serve meatballs immediately and enjoy!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Possible Meatball Recipe Variations:

There are countless ways that you could customize this homemade meatball recipe, so please don’t hesitate to experiment and get creative! For example, feel free to…

  • Use ground turkey or chicken: For a lighter option, feel free to use ground turkey/chicken to make turkey meatballs or chicken meatballs. Just note that they will need to be cooked to 165°F instead of 160°F, and will be a bit less moist than the beef and/or pork meatballs.
  • Use all dried herbs: If you don’t have access to fresh basil and parsley, I recommend adding in an extra 1 tablespoon of dried Italian seasoning instead.
  • Make them gluten-free: Just use gluten-free Panko (or other gluten-free breadcrumbs), and double-check to be sure that the brand of Worcestershire that you are using is also gluten-free. (French’s, Heinz and Lea and Perrins’ Original are all gluten-free in the United States.)
  • Make them spicier. Feel free to double or triple the amount of crushed red pepper flakes used to give the meatballs more of a kick.
  • Make them more garlicky. Also feel free to double the amount of garlic if you like extra-garlicky meatballs.

Homemade Meatball Recipe (Baked Not Fried)

Ways To Serve Meatballs:

This baked meatballs recipe is incredibly versatile and can be served a number of ways! You could use it to make…

  • Spaghetti and meatballs: Pair the meatballs with a 1-pound package of spaghetti (cooked until al dente) and a batch of my favorite marinara sauce recipe to make Italian meatballs.
  • Swedish meatballs: Pair with your favorite Swedish cream sauce recipe to make Swedish meatballs.
  • Alfredo meatballs: Pair with a batch of my favorite Alfredo sauce recipe to make Alfredo meatballs.
  • BBQ meatballs: Pair with a batch of my favorite homemade BBQ sauce recipe to make BBQ meatballs.
  • Grape jelly meatballs: Pair with a grape jelly sauce (just simmer together 1.5 cups ketchup and 1 cup grape jelly) to make retro grape jelly meatballs.
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Best Meatball Recipe

Meatballs

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 238 reviews
  • Author: Ali
  • Prep Time: 35 mins
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 45 mins
  • Yield: 24-30 meatballs 1x

Description

This classic baked meatball recipe is easy to make, full of great flavor, and totally versatile.  Pair it with your favorite Italian marinara sauce, BBQ sauce, Swedish cream sauce…and beyond!


Ingredients

Scale

Instructions

  1. Make the panade.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together the panko and milk until combined.  Set mixture aside to soak for 5 to 10 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.
  2. Combine remaining ingredients.  Add the ground beef, ground pork, garlic, eggs, Parmesan, fresh herbs, onion and Worcestershire sauce to the (same) mixing bowl.  Sprinkle the oregano, salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes evenly on top.  Use your hands to mix the ingredients until evenly combined, being careful not to over-mix the ingredients.
  3. Chill (optional step). To make the meatballs easier to form, I recommend covering and chilling the mixture in the refrigerator for 1 hour.  But if you’re pressed for time, you can skip this step.
  4. Prep oven and baking sheet.  Heat the oven to 425°F and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
  5. Form the meatballs.  Using a medium cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop and roll the mixture into 2-tablespoon balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet.  (I recommend greasing your hands with a bit of olive oil to prevent the mixture from sticking.)
  6. Bake.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer measures the internal temperature of the meatballs to be 160°F.  Remove pan and transfer to a wire cooling rack.
  7. Serve.  Serve meatballs immediately and enjoy!


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371 comments on “Meatballs”

1 5 6 7
  1. I’m never satisfied with the meatballs I make and I’ve used many different recipes. Made this today and I have found the keeper recipe. Perfectly tender and juicy. Really nice flavor.
    Thank you






  2. These are the best meatballs I’ve ever had. Seriously!






  3. It came out pretty good even t ho this is the first time im making it. I added 1.5 tsps of salt instead of 1, 3 tsps of worchestister sauce instead of 2, 1 tsp red chilli flakes instead of 1/4. Also, 12 min was NOT enough to cook. I kept adding 4 more minutes every time! So total time of baking was about 40 min. I still kept it on 425 but that was certainly not enough time to cook it. Otherwise it was pretty good considering i had to make these changes.






  4. These came out absolutely amazing! The best meatballs. Juicy, flavorful and addictive ;) I cut the recipe in half for my small family. The fresh herbs make such a difference! I used Fresh Oregano and Parsley. I added milk to my bread crumbs and set aside while I prepped everything. 1/2 breadcrumbs.. 1/2 milk. Thank you for the recipe. I wish I could post the pic of these bad boys! Lol. 🤤

  5. I made this recipe without basil. No red pepper flakes. No fine sea salt. Used regular salt. Used dried parsley. . Included 1l2 ground pork and 1l2 ground beef. I finally found a good use for those Panko crumbs! We liked this recipe. I know I changed it up a bit. ;). I had the meatballs with mixed vegetables, no sauce.

  6. A most excellent recipe with the most delicious flavor !!! … an awesome appetizer with a dipping bowl of hot marinara sauce !!!






  7. Delicious meatballs! I used all beef and they came out perfectly seasoned. The only recipe we will use from now on!






  8. We loved these meatballs better than any other! I had to use only ground beef since my family can’t eat pork. I made smaller balls as an appetizer for a party and it came out to 52 meatballs which was a lot more than stated on the recipe so that was a nice surprise. I’m gluten free so I took others comments to heart and added GF crumbs to the mix and added milk very last and mixed it all in. I was very generous with the Parmesan and packed it in the measuring cup pretty tight. I believe I should’ve measured it loosely because I feel the extra Parmesan made the meatballs a bit salty and cheesy for my taste but still very yummy. I’m trying to decide what sauce to use. They are so good even without sauce in my opinion.






  9. mixing pancos with milk was definitely a mistake. the mixture clummed up and took forever to break down

  10. Fantastic even with all ground beef!






  11. These are the best meatballs I have ever made!
    I used half and half instead of milk, no milk in the house and dried herbs and they still turned out amazing. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

  12. READ IF YOU’RE GLUTEN FREE!!

    Excellent all around. Have made it several times. Easy to sub whatever is necessary. We make ours with beef, pork and chicken. I increase everything else by 50% to accommodate the extra pound of meat.

    PLEASE update your Gluten Free footnotes, though. The breadcrumbs soaking in milk will congeal into a rice-dough that will be gluey and completely inseparable and un-mixable. Add GF breadcrumbs last, just before mixing, do NOT soak. Otherwise it’s delicious!






  13. These are delicious. I made some with ground chicken and they were so good. The beef ones are delicious too






  14. This recipe works great for ground chicken






  15. These came out amazingballs!!! I used my Meatball Maker from Bakenfry and made them perfectly shaped. Also we ate them and I stuck the other half in the freezer. It was a big hit!

  16. This is the most fantastic meatball recipe ever!!!!!!!!!!! I made a batch and cooked them and froze some. I can’t stop making meatball subs!! I will definitely triple the recipe next time!!! Thank you so much!!

  17. My husband and I agree ; delicious!!!
    the best meatballs that we ever had!!!






  18. Yummy