Italian Meatballs

I’ve made A LOT of meatballs. And I mean a lot. But I never seemed to get a soft meatball. After tasting meatballs at my favorite local Italian restaurant, I asked the chef how he gets his meatballs so soft and delicious? His were the perfect texture and flavor. He asked what I used for binder and I said bread crumbs. He said that’s what I use, but I add milk to the bread crumbs. 
So, I made meatballs and added milk to the bread crumbs. He didn’t say how much, but I Google’d and most recipes said equal amounts of milk and bread crumbs. So, that’s where I started. 

I added all the ingredients I usually do and mixed well. I will say it is harder to incorporate the bread crumbs soaked in milk than the dry bread crumbs. 

I used only ground beef instead of the mixture of beef/pork. I did use half 80% and half 85% ground beef. 

I always cook my meatballs in my Nesco Roaster Oven. I find that it is easier to control the heat and the risk of burning the meatballs on the bottom. I never fry or bake meatballs ahead of time. I don’t like the texture of the outside and don’t like the flavor the sauce gets with browned meatballs. 

These meatballs were a lot softer than the meatballs made with dry bread crumbs! Exactly what I was looking for. 

Equipment I used: 


Nesco Roaster Oven


2″ Spring style Scoop to make meatballs the same size


11″ x 8″ bowl for mixing 2-1/2 pounds meat mixture


Alligator for dicing onions

Ingredients: 

Ground Beef
Italian style Bread Crumbs
Milk
Eggs 
Salt & Pepper
Minced Garlic
Minced Onion
Fennel Pollen
Dried Italian Seasoning 
Dried Basil
Fresh Parsley
Dried Oregano
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Canned Crushed Tomatoes
Sugar



The Recipe:

You can make your own recipe for red sauce, jarred sauce or my version. Everyone has their preference for sauce. Some like it cooked all day, some like it cooked for 30 minutes. I happen to be the latter. If I was just making sauce for pasta, I would cook for 30 minutes. For making meatballs it would cook for about an hour. I cook the least amount of time possible. I don’t like acidic tomato sauce. 



For the sauce, I sauteed some chopped onion in olive oil until starting to get soft and translucent. Then I add the minced garlic and saute just until it starts getting fragrant, about a minute. 



Then add the crushed tomatoes, the herbs and sugar. Heat until sauce is very hot. You want to put the meatballs into hot sauce. 

That’s it!



To make the meatballs, in a separate bowl add the bread crumbs and milk.



Let sit for a couple minutes until the milk is absorbed by the bread crumbs. 



In a very large bowl, add the ground beef, the bread crumbs, eggs, Parmesan cheese, herbs, garlic and minced onion. Mix together until fully incorporated. 



Using a spring ice cream or cookie scoop, scoop meatball mixture and place on a parchment sheet. Roll out meatballs. Put meatballs into the hot sauce. 

Cook approx 1 hour or until an instant read thermometer reads 160 to 165 degrees F. 

These meatballs are soft so be very careful taking them out of the sauce. 

 Super delicious, super comforting, super satisfying. 

Makes approx. 20 meatballs. 



I use Fennel Pollen, which is fennel ground to a powder. I love the taste of fennel but hate the seeds in my meatballs. If you don’t have it, or don’t like the taste of fennel, you can omit it.