It took me a long time to find an Italian Meatball Recipe that I deemed was “The Best”. The search is over! This is definitely The Best Italian Meatball Recipe I’ve ever tasted!
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Now that I finally mastered the art of making Italian Meatballs I needed to make sure I got the recipe posted. The kids have all been asking for it. One of the best parts about having a food blog is they know where to go to find all their favorite recipes!
What’s the secret to making The Best Italian Meatball Recipe?
In my opinion there are a few things that make this the Best Italian Meatball Recipe.
- Using 2 types of meats– Instead of just using beef in your meatballs make sure you add a mixture of at least 2 types of meat. This recipe uses a combination of ground sirloin and ground pork. The addition of the pork will produce a more flavorful and less dry meatball.
- Using soaked bread– Adding some soaked bread will give your meatballs a beautiful soft texture. The soaked bread will puff up as it cooks. This creates nice tender pockets. Just using dry bread crumbs will produce a tougher meatball. I’ve used a little bit of both in this recipe for the perfect combination.
- Use grated onion– Grating your onion is the perfect way to ensure you don’t end up with oversized hunks of onion in your meatballs. Those big hunks of onion tend not to get cooked enough and make it difficult to roll your meatballs. Grating instead of chopping also produces some delicious onion juice. That’s the part that adds the best flavor to you meatballs so make sure you add all of that delicious onion juice into the mix as well!
- Use freshly grated Parmesan Cheese- Make sure you use freshly grated parmesan cheese. The stuff that’s already grated usually has an additive that prevents the cheese from caking.
What’s the best way to cook Italian Meatballs?
There are a few different methods you can use for cooking your Meatballs. You can decide which you like best.
- Just Baking– I usually just bake mine. It’s quick, easy, less messy and a tad healthier. Line your baking sheet with aluminum foil lightly sprayed with a cooking spray for easy clean up. Bake in an oven preheated to 375 Degrees F for 20 minutes.
- Fry and Bake- This method will produce a juicier meatball with a nice crispy outer layer. Browning your meatballs first will trap all of the juices inside once you transfer them to the oven to finish cooking. This method is a bit more time consuming and messy.
- Just Fry- You can also just fry all of your meatballs in batches. It may take a bit longer to cook through though. This method will produce nice juicy meatballs with a crisp outer coating. Cook in olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Make sure to preheat your pan and turn meatballs every couple of minutes to brown all over.
Tips for Freezing Meatballs
Keeping a batch of frozen Meatballs on hand is great for whipping up a quick and easy meal or in soups like my Italian Wedding Soup!
You can freeze your meatballs uncooked or precooked. Just Place meatballs on a lined cookie sheet and freeze for a few hours. Then transfer to a ziplock bag and place back in the freezer until you’re ready to use them. This will help prevent them from sticking together.
Best Italian Meatball Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Pound Ground Sirloin
- 1/2 Pound Ground Pork
- 2 Large Eggs ,whisked
- 4 Slices Italian Bread ,approximately 5 ounces, soaked in water
- 1 Cup Seasoned Dry Bread Crumbs
- 1 Medium Sweet Yellow Onion ,Grated
- 4 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese ,Freshly Grated
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Pepper
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Chopped Parsley
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F.
- In a medium bowl soak Italian Bread in water for 5 minutes.
- While bread is soaking combine remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Squeeze as much water out of your soaked bread as you can. Add it to your meatball mixture and mix together until combined. You don't need to go too crazy mixing your meatball mixture. Once it all looks fairly evenly distributed (no clumps of dried bread crumbs and such) your good. Sometimes less mixing is better.
- Roll into 2 inch sized balls and place on a baking sheet. You should get about 24 meatballs depending on the size you make them.
- Bake for 20 minutes then remove from oven and serve as desired.
Nutrition
Want more delicious Italian inspired recipe ideas? Try some of these!
Italian Eggplant Rollatini Recipe
The best by far!
Thanks Jim! We really love this recipe too.