These meatballs are delicious and versatile. I change up the spices depending on the recipe I will use them in. I’ll add oregano for Spaghetti and Meatballs or basil for Tomato and Meatball Soup.
I made these yesterday and my kids would not stop eating them. I had big plans to add these meatballs to a yummy soup and serve it for dinner. Then my kids munched on them for a snack, for lunch, and for their after-lunch snack (you know what I mean, right? Twenty minutes after lunch I hear, “Mom, I’m kinda hungry. Could I have a snack? Puh-leeeease?”). Finally, I had to concede the loss. I served the rest of them to my husband for his lunch and informed everyone they were getting PB&J’s for dinner. The kids cheered.
(Okay, I’ll be honest. We didn’t really have PB&J’s, but I was really, really tempted to throw the jar of peanut butter on the table and call it a meal!)
A quick and easy way to form the meatballs: After mixing all of the ingredients, spread the meat mixture out on a large piece of waxed paper. Pat the mixture into a rectangle of uniform thickness. Cut into squares and form each square into a meatball.
The egg whites and bread crumbs hold these meatballs together well, so feel free to use the super lean ground beef, if you want.
Basic Beef Meatballsadapted from The Healthy Beef Cookbook
1 pound ground beef (95% lean)1/2 cup soft bread crumbs (I used wheat bread, it’s all I had in the house!)2 egg whites, slightly beaten2 tablespoons finely chopped onion1 teaspoon minced garlic1/2 teaspoon salt1/8 teaspoon pepper
Heat oven to 400 F. Combine all ingredients in large bowl, mixing lightly but thoroughly. Shape into twelve 2-inch meatballs. Place on rack in broiler pan. Bake in 400 F oven about 17-19 minutes, until 160 degrees on meat thermometer.
Serves four, which isn’t enough for my family of six, so I always double this recipe.
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