Mom is the cook in the family so when I moved out the first time in my mid twenties I realized that although I spent lots of time helping in the kitchen, I didn’t know how to make any of her meals myself. When I called her to ask for a recipe she would do her best to let me know how she made this or that but she never really did have a recipe. I can’t tell you how many great meals we have had and then never had again because she forgot how she made it. Now I make her write down the recipes whenever I can so I can cook it in my own kitchen.
This recipe was one we made up together out of necessity. I would go over to my parents place on the weekends and do meal prep with my Mom. This worked out great because Mom got help with meals, and I got a variety of meals to take home with me. We would buy large amounts of ground beef and then make a couple different meals out of it like meatloaf, cottage pie, or meatballs.
I did grow up with Mom making meatballs, but they were never her favourite to make because she didn’t like to fry them. Neither do I so one time, when I was brave enough to try making turkey meatballs at home I baked them in the oven and it worked great. So I thought why not do regular meatballs in the oven. I told Mom about it; she did a little research and we have been baking our meatballs ever since. When I moved back in with my parents over the pandemic Mom and I set out to perfect a few recipes, like the many we have posted previously. This is one of those recipes and we finally have what we think is the perfect meatball recipe. Even I can make it on my own in my new home.
The great thing about making meatballs like this is how versatile they are. Sometimes we have them with spaghetti, other times with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes. Occasionally we will have them with perogies. Or like this time, Mom made a mushroom stroganoff sauce to go with homemade pasta. Next Mom wants to try making a sweet and sour sauce. The options are endless. Not only that but they freeze well. We often make a batch and freeze half to have for another meal and now that I know how to make them myself I freeze them for multiple meals.
We hope you give this recipe a try whether you are making them for your family, or just for yourself. Stay tuned for the mushroom stroganoff sauce. I made Mom write it down, and boy am I glad she did. It was delicious and once we have workshopped it a bit, we will make sure to post it!
1000 grams extra lean ground beef
90 grams fresh bread crumbs approx. 2½ slices of bread.
1 tbsp dried parsley
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried mustard
½ tsp garlic powder
2 large eggs
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Prepare your breadcrumbs. We like to take the heals of our loaves, throw them in the food processor and then freeze the crumbs we don’t use. To ensure an equal distribution of spices we like to mix them in with our breadcrumbs.
Lightly whisk the two eggs and Worcestershire sauce, set aside.
Gently break up the ground beef into small pieces into a large bowl.
Add the breadcrumbs and spices to the ground beef tossing everything together gently. I will often continue to break down the ground beef as I toss it. The smaller the pieces the more area there is to get coated in spices and breadcrumbs.
Once the crumbs and spices are evenly distributed I add the eggs mixing until combined. You want to be careful not to overwork the ground beef so you don’t have tough meatballs.
Line a pan with tinfoil. Measure out two tablespoons of the meatball mixture gently rolling into a bowl. Place on your prepared pan.
Bake in a 350℉ oven for 20-22 minutes.
Allow to cool slightly, then place on a wired rack to keep the meatballs from becoming soggy. We like to place a pan underneath to catch any drippings.
Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1000 grams extra lean ground beef
- 90 grams fresh bread crumbs approx. 2½ slices of bread.
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp dried mustard
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
- Prepare your breadcrumbs. We like to take the heals of our loaves, throw them in the food processor and then freeze the crumbs we don’t use. To ensure an equal distribution of spices we like to mix them in with our breadcrumbs.
- Lightly whisk the two eggs and Worcestershire sauce, set aside.
- Gently break up the ground beef into small pieces into a large bowl.
- Add the breadcrumbs and spices to the ground beef tossing everything together gently. I will often continue to break down the ground beef as I toss it. The smaller the pieces the more area there is to get coated in spices and breadcrumbs.
- Once the crumbs and spices are evenly distributed I add the eggs mixing until combined. You want to be careful not to overwork the ground beef so you don’t have tough meatballs.
- Line a pan with tinfoil. Measure out two tablespoons of the meatball mixture gently rolling into a bowl. Place on your prepared pan.
- Bake in a 350℉ oven for 20-22 minutes.
- Allow to cool slightly, then place on a wired rack to keep the meatballs from becoming soggy. We like to place a pan underneath to catch any drippings.
