The Greater Binghamton region of New York takes great pleasure in its spiedies. The greatest party of the year is devoted to celebrating them because they are such an integral part of daily life there. Numerous people visit the area every summer for the Spiedie Festival and Balloon Rally. Chunks of deer, lamb, or my personal favorite, chicken, are skewered, grilled, and served plain on Italian bread. The meat is marinated for one to three days in a mixture of oil, vinegar, and herbs.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 6 hrs 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 6 hrs 30 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 16 meatballs with sauce |
Ingredients
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- ⅔ cup uncooked white rice
- ½ cup milk
- 1 beaten egg
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 (14 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 ½ cups beef broth
- ½ cup red wine
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (16 ounce) package frozen pepper and onion stir fry vegetable blend
Instructions
- Thoroughly combine ground beef, rice, milk, egg, garlic, basil, and salt in a bowl. Form the mixture into about 16 1-1/2 inch meatballs.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and brown the meatballs well on all sides, about 15 minutes.
- Place the spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, beef broth, red wine, basil, cayenne pepper, bay leaves, and 3 minced garlic cloves in slow cooker, and stir to combine. Put the meatballs into the slow cooker, and stir gently to cover with sauce. Shake the frozen vegetables over the sauce, without stirring, and cook on Low, covered, for 6 to 8 hours, until the meatballs are tender and the vegetables are cooked.
- About an hour before serving, gently stir the sauce, being careful not to break the meatballs, and remove the bay leaves. Cook for 1 more hour to blend the flavors and thicken the sauce.
- You can substitute fresh red and green bell peppers and yellow onion, cut into strips, for the frozen pepper mix.
- We are garlic lovers, and slow-cooked garlic is good but subtle. I like to add two additional cloves of garlic to the sauce about 30 minutes before serving to give it a bolder garlic flavor.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 557 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 42 g |
| Cholesterol | 133 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Protein | 37 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Sodium | 1107 mg |
| Sugars | 9 g |
| Fat | 24 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I don’t know what I did wrong but the rice never finished cooking. The sauce was so great that I made more meatballs from another recipe and cooked it in the pressure cooker. It was very good.
Turned out great. Cooked in skillet instead of slow cooker.
Easy to make and my family loved it
If you use a box of Beef flavored Rice-A-Roni, instead of regular rice, they will be much more flavorful. I make them alot. Delicious!
LOVED IT
I baked the meatballs instead and it turned out so well. I took it to the school staff Christmas lunches and it didn’t make it through to the 2nd lunch because it was gone. Very good, will make this again..
Yummy
The meatballs were not as savory as I was expecting, as well as being too crumbly. Next time I think I’ll try using a meatloaf recipe for the balls and maybe instant rice (long grain was not ready at 6 hours on low). We also have lots of fresh veggies, so note to self: Dice the onions, precook/soften before adding to the crock.
My kids loved them over spaghetti, it does make a lot, I will divide them between 2 slow cookers to have one to freeze for later. I added some grated Romano cheese, to give them an extra boost of flavour. Overall s great success!
This meatball recipe was universally received with great cheers! I cooked it exactly as the recipe was written, but I did add a healthy dose of finely grated Romano cheese, which went well with the sauce and the pasta on which it was all served.
Yum!! I used a full cup of uncooked rice, Italian herbs and some grated parmesan cheese in addition to the meat mixture ingredients. After browning , I placed in a slow cooker an topped with diced green peppers, 2 jars of spaghetti sauce and sprinkled some sugar to cut the acidity. I cooked on high 1 hr and on low for 2 hours. Then put it on kept it on warm for another hour before dinner started. I served with garlic bread.. Hubby loved it.
This was very basic and easy to make. It was a little bland, flavor-wise, but not a bad meal.
Hmmm! Friend gave me recipe late 90’s very similar to this one, added bit more dried oregano & some hot sauce, served with garlic bread. Family request @ least twice per week (no leftovers).Recipe from the 50’s friend said. Enjoy & share. keenpetite
Excellent porcupine meatball recipe. I liked the sauce much better than tomato soup. Of course, I used some fresh onions and peppers, some smoked paprika and more garlic. What I did notice in the video was that the pan used to brown the meatballs was not deglazed. All that beautiful fond going to waste! I took some of the beef broth and deglazed the pan and then added it to the sauce ingredients. Can’t say it made a huge difference, but I wasn’t going to let all that flavor go to waste.
Pretty good recipe. I used fresh veggies instead of frozen and added half a can of tomato paste, about 2 table spoons of sugar and twice the cayenne as they call for. Served on hoagie buns and people loved it! I’ll for sure make it again.
The meatballs fell apart and they are very bland. It truly just tastes like watered down tomato sauce. I don’t know why there is rice added to the meatballs either because it makes them mushy. Even adding spiced, I wouldn’t make this again.
Late ’80s a lady friend gave me a recipe for “Porcupine Meatballs” our family enjoyed it so much that I would make it twice a week. The one plus with this recipe is no hot oven in summer & it’s simply “mix it together & forget it”, can also freeze in smaller portions, a +++ meal.Delicous! keenpetite aka Carmen
Recipe was easier than I thought it would be but not as flavorful as I thought it would be. I will try again but maybe add some more spices or try a different pasta sauce. On a good note, I made for a potluck and I didn’t bring any home.
Just…ok
thanks, this was good. i will make it again!
I loved it. I made the meatballs 2″ and browned them in my bella meatball maker. I used my own sauce and cut up fresh red and orange peppers in 1 1/2 inch wide strips. Adjusted the seasonings and it was fantastic. making it again tonight for my husband’s work potluck