Homemade meatballs are fantastic, cheap, and easy comfort food. Frozen meatballs have always confused me; it’s meat in a ball. You don’t have to be a professional to make a passable meatball. Though there’s not that much to it, there are a few important steps that can level up meatballs if you’re lost in the sauce.
When forming the meatballs, it’s important to not overwork the meat. Before seasoning, try to touch the meat as little as possible. You can pull it apart so it’s not a brick in your bowl as you sprinkle seasonings over it. Try to distribute the seasonings by moving the meat away from the sides of the bowl and folding it over. Most of the seasonings will be distributed while forming, so don’t spend more than a few turns at this stage. A good size for a meatball is small enough to mostly close your fingers around. I like to form them one-handed, to keep the other hand clean, but another good technique is to toss it between two hands. This technique creates a smooth, uniform shape without overworking.
Use 80/20 ground beef. Leaner cuts will do the job, but this lean/fat ratio is really ideal for consistency. If you’re set on leaner meat, I would recommend using a combination of ground beef and ground turkey. You can also play with flavors of ground pork or veal to level up the flavor. When thinking about what seasonings you want to add to your meatballs, consider what sauce you’ll be serving it with. I’ve experimented with adding bacon to my recipe, and it did not play well into the sweet acidity of tomato sauce.
I like to bake my meatballs until they are mostly or entirely cooked through, and then fry them in olive oil to add a little crispiness on the outside. If I’m not sure, I slice into the largest meatball and see if there’s any pinkness. Honestly, as long as they aren’t raw, it’s gonna be a success, and way better than frozen.
