Bren’s Italian Meatballs

  4.7 – 24 reviews  • Beef

To any tomato sauce, these baked meatballs are the ideal accompaniment.

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Servings: 5
Yield: 25 meatballs

Ingredients

  1. ½ cup fresh bread crumbs
  2. ½ cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
  3. 1 large egg
  4. 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  5. 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  6. ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  7. 1 pinch red pepper flakes
  8. 1 pound lean ground beef

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Toss together bread crumbs, Romano cheese, egg, garlic, parsley, black pepper, and red pepper flakes in a bowl; mix in beef gently with your hands until combined. Form mixture into meatballs about 1 1/4-inches in diameter; place on the prepared baking sheet.
  3. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes; turn meatballs and continue baking until no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes more. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

Nutrition Facts

Calories 258 kcal
Carbohydrate 4 g
Cholesterol 103 mg
Dietary Fiber 0 g
Protein 22 g
Saturated Fat 7 g
Sodium 226 mg
Sugars 0 g
Fat 17 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Diana Cervantes MD
Very good, try using 1/2 lb ground beef and 1/2 lb ground pork
William Wagner
First time making meatballs and they were easy to make and delicious. I followed the recipe but I did add 1/4 cup finely chopped onion and 1 teas each of fennel seed and dried basil and salt. Will definitely make again!
Joel Reed
Very simple yet the results are delicious. Italian herb bread crumbs are used. I toss them in a skillet and brown them on 2 sides, then I add them to my red sauce to finish cooking for about 15 minutes with the lid on.
Alejandra Ramos
I didn’t want dairy, so I used 1 cop bread crumbs instead of adding cheese. Still a 5! So I’m sure with the cheese they’d be over the top!
Alexander Hughes
Easy preparation – tasted great. I’d add some fennel next time, that’s my taste.
Nancy Pollard
I cooked 350 F for 20 mins. Rest for few min inside oven. Taste good and texture is fine . I prefer to use higher heat like 400 F for 15 mins next time.
Joshua Marquez
Easy & fast 🙂 I had to make some changes because I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand. The meatballs still worked out great and were tasty. If I had the pecorino, I expect they would have been extra tasty. I liked that they were a fast recipe and sometime when I have more time I’ll try one of the more intricate recipes with long simmer times. Yum!
Robert Hill
I made these to put in my tomatoe sauce, i ate one before i put them in. They are very good, nice and moist and the flavors are delicious.I did not add the cheese and they were still tasty. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Kayla Miller
My Go to recipe for Italian meatballs. Made it several times with consistent results. Generally, I add some Tuscan seasoning in place of parsley and 1/2 t. Fennel seed. Delightful meatballs and very simple recipe.
Vincent Cortez
I doubled the ground beef but kept all the other ingredients the same as we like a beefier and more firm meatball. I put them in my tomato sauce raw and simmered for an hour. A hit with my family, very flavourful. #AllrecipesAllstarsCanada #RecipeDetective
Natalie Richardson
These turned out great. I added a bit of Worchestershire and used parmesan cheese.
Michael Douglas
I made those using regular bread crumbs and parmesan. I aslo added some salt and pepper and italian seasoning. They turned out great! They are tender and moist but don’t fall apart. This was my first time makung meatballs… And I consider this a success!
Megan Scott
These meatballs were very tasty and easy to make. Everyone liked them. I didn’t have romano cheese though, so I used parmesan and I added some italian seasoning. I found that some of them fell apart easily.
Andrew Martin
We are used to a more firm meatball so my family wasn’t sold on the texture, but the flavour was very good. Thanks for the recipe!
Michael Brooks
Loved this straightforward great meat ball recipe! Easy to make and delicious by keeping it simple! We will be making these again!
Nichole Sexton
Excellent recipe for all beef meatballs! We really enjoyed the flavor of these! Very simple ingredients, yet so flavorful and moist. I used Gluten Free plain bread crumbs (Aleia’s brand). I made these to freeze them, but my husband stole extra and I will have to make more to have enough for a future dinner. Can’t wait to try these in a tomato based pasta sauce! Thanks for sharing the recipe, Bren!
Daniel Mcfarland
My family really liked these meatballs. The meat stays tender and moist. I used fine bread crumbs made from day old bread instead of fresh. Thank you for the recipe.
Madison Andrade
I’ve made this twice and both times have turned out amazing! My husband and children loves these soo much! They just melt in your mouth! I used aluminum foil on my pan so no messy pan to wash. Pecorino Romano cheese is a must! I had some leftover from another recipe from here and glad I tried this meatball recipe. I will never buy frozen meatballs ever again! This deserves more than 5 stars! Thank you for sharing such a simple but amazingly tasty recipe!
Justin Atkinson
Made these with the ingredients as written. Cooked at a higher temp. (400 for 15 mins) They turned out wonderful.
Tracey Stevens
This is very goo beef only only meatball. I followed the recipe, except I used Romano in place of Pecorino Romano. Everyone enjoyed them
Lisa Hernandez
I made these exactly by the recipe. The only change I made was to add a teaspoon of salt. I baked them for 20 minutes until they were 160 degrees internally. Then I added them to my tomato sauce while the pasta cooked, about 11 minutes. Delicious and very easy to make. My husband really enjoyed these meatballs.

 

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