This recipe is the best meatball recipe I’ve ever tried, so learn how to make them with it! Although I’ve made these with a mixture of beef, pig, and veal, you can also make them with just ground beef and they’ll still be delicious. Instead of using the canned variety, use homemade bread crumbs and freshly grated cheese… There is a noticeable difference!
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ pound ground veal
- ½ pound ground pork
- 1 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
- 2 eggs
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ tablespoons chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 2 cups stale Italian bread, crumbled
- 1 ½ cups lukewarm water
- 1 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Combine beef, veal, and pork in a large bowl. Mix in cheese, eggs, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper.
- Add bread crumbs and slowly mix in water, 1/2 cup at a time, until mixture is moist but still holds its shape (I usually use about 1 1/4 cups of water); shape into meatballs.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet; add meatballs in batches and cook until browned on all sides, slightly crisp, and cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
- If your mixture is too wet, cover the meatballs while they are cooking so that they hold their shape better.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 613 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 7 g |
| Cholesterol | 149 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 27 g |
| Saturated Fat | 15 g |
| Sodium | 333 mg |
| Sugars | 0 g |
| Fat | 53 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I made these today! I did do a few things differently. I used all ground beef. I only added 1 c of milk and no cheese. I read a lot of reviews and several said when frying in olive oil on the stovetop they wanted to fall apart. I liked the idea of cooking in olive oil but didnt want them falling apart so here is my idea…. I put about 1/4 c of olive oil on my baking sheet. Put in the oven to heat the oil then placed the meatballs on the pan and baked! They were wonderful!!! Did not fall apart and were delicious! I then drained them on paper towels and added to my sauce and let simmer for about an hour! Everyone loved them!
This is a great recipe. The only thing I did different is I baked them for a half hour first just so they don’t fall apart. Then I fried them just enough for a crisp outside. They are less mushy this way and they don’t crumble. Delishous!
I really like it !!
They were great–but just a tad too mushy maybe!
So easy to put together. Baked to perfection. I gotta “good dinner” from DH. That doesn’t happen often. Thanks for making me look good.
I’vw been using this receipe for ages. It’s sooooo good! My family loves it!
Delicious! I adapted the recipe a little bit but taste was still spot on, approved by the entire family!
Half sausage, half beef and baked in oven. Froze most of them and have enjoyed them for months 🙂
JIMBOLYA nailed it . Without even making them – More garlic (if you are going to call them Italian!). And some onions and peppers. Just a bit. AND – not so much water. Bread crumbs are there to absorb water from veggies. Ad some onions, peppers, more garlic and there you go! Makes the crumbs absorb the flavors all through the balls. And ALWAYS bake if you can. Frying is hard to gauge even cooking and you get dice flat areas. And yes – always sauce after the outside is cooked… these are not dumplings. (Dumpling is what I was called in 8th grade. Always getting dumped.) JIMBOLYA is humble with his chef-ness.
I made these and they were delicious!! I used ground pork and veal (I hade no ground beef) and they were moist and delicious. I also baked them, not fried, and then added them to my sauce and they were perfect! I will definitely make these again.
I’ve been using this recipe for years. Literally. It’s fantastic! And shared it many times over. I too use whatever meat combo that’s good, never the veal or pork. I also air fry them on high for 12 minutes. Makes a nice crust on the outside and pink in the middle. I finish cooking the inside in the sauce. I double it up and give a few batches to family. Big day for them! They love it!!! There’s enough leftover for meatball samiches a few days later too. Another big day for us haha. My tip – you need to be heavy handed with the seasoning. There’s a lot of meat in that bowl so hit it generously! Under seasoned = bland.
Very nice. I used an air fryer at 400 for 12 minutes instead of the frying pan. Nice and crispy on the outside.
Best meatballs there are. Mine were a little on the large size so it took slightly more oil in the pan. Ground veal can be a challenge to find. Found some at Publix. This recipe is very much like Raos. It’s worth the time. Btw, I used bagged bread crumbs.
I loved this recipe ,I omitted the veal only. I didn’t have any available I did not use bread crumb’s also. I did broil the meatballs and finished them in a homemade sauce . Plated the dish with fresh grated parmigiana & fresh Parsley. It came out great.
These turned out so good; I will use in Marinara sauce as a meatball bake with mozzarella cheese melted on top. Recommend!
I took others advice and baked my meatballs. I also only used ground beef and Italian sausage and they still turned out fantastic!
Excellent. Made it twice the first time 4 stars. The second time I substituted, breadcrumbs for stale bread, Italian pork sausage for ground pork and used an air fryer. Labor & cleanup much less, taste improved. TRY YOUR AIR FRYER!
I used 1 lb ground beef, 1 lb of sweet ground italian sausage. I didn’t the water and it urned out awesome! Scooped meat balls with ice cream scooper. To make same size.
Loved this recipe. Used beef and pork – no veal. Added fresh basil and to one batch I added a small handful of mozzarella cheese and those were delicious!!!!!!
Rating this recipe was hard. If I was to go by the actual recipe, I would give it a 1 at best. Frying the meatballs was a huge mistake. The cheese melts and makes a big gooey mess in the pan. If you make your meatballs too big, they are not going to get all way way done. With all the moisture in them, they are going to have a nasty tendency to fall apart. And worst of all is they come out looking and tasting very greasy. Luckily I did half the batch in the oven at 400 and those turned out way better. The ones in the oven warrant a 4 or 5. They were really good. So I split the difference and gave the recipe a 3. So do yourself a huge favor and dont try to fry them. You will regret it.
I couldn’t find ground veal so I used 1 lb each of ground beef and pork. I used panko crumbs and Milk instead of water, and baked them at 375 for 30 minutes. Excellent.