Italian Meatball Recipe

Spaghetti and Meatballs

I came across Chef John's Italian Meatballs recipe one day, tried it and loved it. I've only tried one other meatball recipe (I don't remember which one) and didn't like it. I found Chef John's recipe pretty good, and have stuck to it since.

Chef John uses a mixture of ground beef and ground pork. Greg is not a fan of pork, so I use only beef. I also use 93/7 lean ground beef instead of 80/20, which reduces the amount of fat by quite a bit. But the meatballs still turn out good. I say these meatballs are worth a try!

Italian Meatballs in sauce

Italian Meatball Recipe 

Makes 30 meatballs

• INGREDIENTS:

• 1/3 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup milk 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 lbs ground beef
  (I use 93% lean 7% fat for fewer calories.)
• 2 eggs 
• 1/4 bunch fresh Italian parsley, chopped 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
  (I use 1/2 the amount of salt stated in original recipe. Don't like too much sodium in my food!)
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 
  

  

  What you'll need

DIRECTIONS:

STEP 1

In a small bowl, soak bread crumbs in milk for 20 minutes.

STEP 2

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onion until translucent, about 15 minutes. 

STEP 3

Place ground beef in a large bowl. Add onion, bread crumb mixture, eggs, parsley, garlic, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, and Parmesan cheese. Mix everything together with a rubber spatula (or use your hands like I did) until combined. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour.

STEP 4

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line baking sheet with foil, and spray lightly with cooking spray.

STEP 5

Using wet hands, form meat mixture into balls of about 1 1/2 inch in diameter. For uniform size meatballs, I use an ice cream scoop (that's 2 tablespoons of meat mixture per meatball). I use my right hand to scoop and form the meat mixture, and my left hand to help shape the ball.  Place meatballs on prepared baking sheet.

Neatly arranged and ready to go into the oven

STEP 6

Bake meatballs until browned and cooked through, about 15 - 20 minutes.

STEP 7 (OpTIONAL)

In a large skillet or a pot, heat up a jar (or two) of your favorite Italian sauce. Add cooked meatballs, and let them simmer in the sauce for an hour.