Meatballs

I took down 2 pounds of hamburger thinking I would use it while Saylor and Josh were here this weekend and didn’t use it, so now I have to do something with it so I’m making meatballs and freezing some for a later date and using a few for supper.  I like extending beef any way I can to cut the cost of beef.  It is also much cheaper than the store bought frozen meatballs and you know what is in them.

So today I’m sharing my super simple meatball recipe with you.  You can goose it up a little more with additional seasoning if you like.  I have doubled the recipe because I had 2 pounds of ground beef unthawed and wanted to refreeze it in a cooked form and save myself some time and mess later.  You may cut it in half if you don’t want to freeze any.

2 lb. lean ground beef

2 eggs

¼ cup milk

1 cup plain bread crumbs (Made my own with 4 old crusty pieces of bread)

½ cup minced onion

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

¼ tsp. of red pepper flakes (optional - crumble in hand to break up)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the bread crumbs you may use store bought or I cut up 4 pieces of old white bread and with my hands broke it up into a finer crumbs.   I put the crumbs into the oven a bit to dry and toast the bread a bit.  Do not over toast them.  You just really want them dried out.  You can season them if you like, but I left them plain.

In a large bowl combine beef, eggs, milk, bread crumbs, onion, salt, pepper and pepper flakes and mix with your hands. Form into meatballs the size of walnuts and place on a broiler pan so they do not sit in grease. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until meatballs are no longer pink in center. Cool, take what you want and freeze the rest.   The recipe should make almost 3 dozen meatballs depending on how big you make them.

There is a little bite to the meatballs with the pepper flakes, but you can leave it out if you don’t like the little heat.  I think it makes it a better meatball.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

1 dozen frozen meatballs

¼  cup soy sauce

½  cup ketchup

¼ cup light brown sugar

¼ cup maple syrup

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. onion powder

4 shakes of hot sauce (optional)

Black pepper to taste (Soy Sauce has a lot of salt so do not add salt)

Heat your sauce ingredients and add your frozen meatballs and cook until meatballs are heated through.

Serve it with baked beans and coleslaw. It is what is for supper tonight.

Variations - You can also put aluminum foil on the grill and pock holes in the foil and make these on the grill.   Turn them over after they have cooked on one side. 

I also like to take a can of cream of mushroom soup and a can of water and pour over the frozen meatballs to reheat them.  I make some buttered noodles and put the creamed meatballs on top of the noodles.  Each variation is super simple, but a wonderful filling meal.

Want to make it gluten/dairy free?  Add water in place of milk and use gluten free bread.

Have a super day, be happy and may God bless you and yours.