Lyndsey This is the meatball recipe that you never knew you needed. Once you have these, you won’t make them any other way!
There is something about a good home made meatball recipe that really takes spaghetti up a notch. It can turn a regular or overused weeknight meal into a new delicious dinner. The key is having a home made meatball recipe that really packs a punch of flavor, while still staying juicy and easy to cut. This recipe is what I grew up eating, minus the actual recipe. Luckily, I have a recipe with measurements that I can now share with you all!
You can use these meatballs in your favorite spaghetti dish, such as my recipe Mom’s Quick and Easy Cheater Spaghetti. You can also use these in practically any other recipe that calls for meatballs. Also, you can freeze these and save them for a quick meal later!
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Ingredients
- Ground beef
- Sweet Italian sausage
- Italian bread crumbs
- Milk
- Egg
- Salt
- Pepper
- Oregano
- Brown Sugar
- Parsley
- Basil
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Grated carrot
- Minced celery or celery seed
- Large frying pan
- Large mixing bowl
- Cookie scoop (optional)
- Paper towel lined plate
About Dad’s Famous Home Made Meatball Recipe
Ground Beef
I highly suggest using 80/20 ground beef. Using 80/20 allows for more juices to be held within the meatballs, and for them to hold together better when rolling.
Sweet Italian Sausage
This is a key portion to the flavor and texture of these meatballs. You don’t want to substitute this sausage, but if you cannot find sweet Italian sausage, or can only find ground pork, you can use fennel seed (about 1 tsp) and a little extra sugar to try and accommodate.
Italian Bread Crumbs
Again, I highly suggest using Italian seasoned bread crumbs for this recipe. The flavor using these is absolutely amazing! You can substitute for regular bread crumbs, or panko bread crumbs. This won’t have a lot of effect on the meat balls themselves, but they may not contain as much flavor.
Garlic
Using fresh garlic in this recipe is the way to go. You could substitute garlic powder instead, but the flavors won’t be as fresh.
Grated Carrot
It only takes an extra minute to use a cheese grater or zester to quickly grate a carrot. For the little extra time, it’s definitely worth it. The texture is much better when you grate this versus mincing or using matchstick carrots.
Minced Celery vs Celery Seed
You can use these interchangeably. The minced celery does provide a fresh flavor, but it doesn’t make too much of a difference using celery seed. I usually don’t have celery on hand, so the celery seed is a very convenient alternative.
Olive Oil
I strongly urge using a lite taste olive oil for this recipe, and not extra virgin. The lite taste olive oil gives the moisture without changing the flavor. Make sure to have extra for frying as well.
Check out the recipe below. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions in the comments below!
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Dad’s Famous Home Made Meatball Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Large Mixing Bowl
- 1 Large Frying Pan
- 1 Cookie Scoop optional
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground Beef 80/20 preferred
- 1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage
- 1 Cup Italian Bread Crumbs
- 1/2 Cup Milk
- 1 Egg
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Oregano
- 1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Parsley
- 1/2 tsp Basil
- 1 clove Fresh Garlic large clove
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil lite test recommended, plus additional for frying
- 1 Onion Vidalia recommended
- 1/2 Cup Grated Carrot
- 1/2 Cup Minced Celery or use 1/2 tsp Celery Seed
Instructions
- Prepare ingredients by grating the carrot, mincing the celery, chopping the onion, preparing a pan with about 1/8" to 1/4" olive oil in the bottom, and lining a plate with paper towel.
- Add bread crumbs, salt, pepper, oregano, sugar, parsley, and basil to a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
- Add milk and egg to a small bowl and whisk until well combined.
- Pour the milk and egg mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir to combine. Allow this mixture to sit for about 5 minutes.
- Once the mixture has finished sitting, add the ground beef, sausage, onion, carrot, and celery. Mix until well combined, without over mixing. My best suggestion is using your hands to mix this. You can use disposable cloves to keep the mixture from getting your hands too messy.
- Start dividing the mixture into 1" to 1 1/2" sections. I use a cookie scoop for sizing consistency for easier frying, but this is optional. I will say, it does make the process much easier. The meat sticks to the cookie scoop, but I don't remove all of the stuck on mixture until after I am done diving into sections. I suggest using parchment paper, foil, or paper plates to put these on, as there will be a lot of them.
- Once your mixture has been entirely divided, start rolling the sections into round balls. It's easiest to get this part out of the way all at once. That way you can move on to frying these meatballs without having to stop in between batches.
- Heat your prepared frying pan with olive oil on medium heat until the oil sizzles when dropping a couple bread crumbs in. Once the oil is heated, start adding your meatballs in batches. You don't want to over crowd the pan or they won't cook evenly. Allow some space in between each meatball. Cook over medium to medium-low heat for about 3-5 minutes on each side. If your meatballs are browning too quickly, turn the heat down slightly. Note: I usually let the first side go for 5 minutes, flip and let it go for 2-3 minutes, and then finish off the outside edges for 1-2 minutes each to get an even crust all over the meatball.
- Once a batch has finished cooking, place them on a paper towel line plate or cookie sheet to allow the paper towel to absorb any extra oil on the outside of the meatball. Continue repeating the step above in batches until all meatballs are cooked.
- This recipe will make enough meatballs for 2 to 3 regular meals of spaghetti. You can also use these for other meatball recipes. If you wish to save these for later, freeze them prior to cooking, once they have been rolled into balls. You can place them in layers between parchment paper in a freezer safe Ziploc bag. Make sure to fully thaw them prior to frying.
Other Recipes You May Enjoy
Mom’s Quick and Easy Cheater Spaghetti Recipe
Easy and Delicious Smoked Burgers
Chorizo and Egg Breakfast Burritos
Lyndsey,
I mix hamburg and sausage in my lasagna but I never thought of doing it together in meatballs…I will definitely try this…My MIL used to added grated carrots to her meatballs….Thanks so much for stopping by!! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving Day weekend!!
Hugs,
Deb
They are very good, give it a try!
We love meatballs recipe and home made one’s are just the best. These look and sound delicious!
They are super good, I hope you give them a try!
These sound so super delicious. Thanks for sharing on SSPS, I hope to see you again next week!
Thanks, they are very delicious!
Your awesome post is featured on Full Plate Thursday, 671. Thanks so much for sharing with us and hope you will come back soon!
Miz Helen
We appreciate you dropping by and linking up at SSPS 290. I think that the Italian sausage will be awesome, will have to try it
Take care and best wishes.
This post is one of my features for SSPS #291, thank you for sharing with us!
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