Juicy Meatballs

Juicy Meatballs are one of the most satisfying recipes to make. A foolproof dish that’s super quick and easy to make. All you need is to prepare the meatballs by mixing ground pork, onion, spring onion, garlic powder, carrots, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper. Dusted in flour before being fried then simmered in a very savory and creamy sauce made of butter, garlic, onion, mushrooms, soy sauce, pork broth cube, water, and all purpose cream. Topped with spring onions for garnish and you have a delectable 20 minute meal!

Juicy Meatballs Recipe :

Ingredients :

For the Meatballs

• ½ kilo ground pork
• 1 medium onion ( chopped )
• 2 tablespoons spring onions ( chopped )
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ cup carrots ( minced )
• ½ cup breadcrumbs
• 1 medium egg
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• Oil for frying

For the Sauce

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 cloves garlic ( minced )
• 1 medium onion ( chopped )
• ½ cup mushrooms ( halved )
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• ½ pork broth cube
• ½ cup water
• 250 ml all purpose cream
• Spring onions for garnish

Steps :

1. In a bowl; mix together ground pork, onions, spring onions, salt, pepper, garlic powder, carrots, breadcrumbs, and egg. Until it looks sticky.

2. Take a spoonful and form these into balls. Dredge in flour. Place in a pan with hot oil and fry until lightly browned. Repeat until all the balls are fried then set aside.

3. In another pan, melt the butter before sauteeing the garlic and onions until aromatic. Add in the mushrooms and saute for a minute. Then place the meatballs in.

4. Add in soy sauce, pork broth cube, and water. Cover and simmer for 5 – 10 minutes at medium heat. Then turn the heat to low before pouring in the all purpose cream.

5. Mix well. Let this cook for a few more minutes or until the sauce thickens. Garnish with spring onions before serving.

A short History on meatballs

When one thinks of meatballs the first thing on their mind might be ‘Oh it’s an Italian dish’ or ‘Are you talking about meatballs and spaghetti?’ or ‘ Are you looking for a meatballs in tomato sauce recipe?’. The dish, “Meatballs” actually originated in Ancient Rome and were called ‘Isicia Omentata’ made of minced meats, bread soaked in wine, seasonings, and breadcrumbs. These have then been in many other country’s cuisine. Such examples are from Spain where these are called ‘albòndigas’ and are cooked in tomato sauce. China, where meatballs rose to popularity during the Han dynasty and were made with a mix of ground meat, vegetables, millet, rice, soy sauce, herbs, and ginger. Italy, with the traditional meatballs called ‘Polpette’ made of soft bread, milk, herbs, cheese, lemon, eggs, a mix of ground beef and pork, also served with tomato sauce. It’s also popularly connected to Swedish cuisine, not just because it’s associated with IKEA meatballs. But these ‘köttbullar’ or ‘meat buns’ as they are called in Sweden is their national dish and are usually a mix of beef and ground pork. Another popular dish are ‘spaghetti and meatballs’ and the meaty and very saucy sandwich dubbed as ‘meatball sub’ which was introduced in the United States by Italian immigrants.

How to cook meatballs in sauce

To make this juicy meatball recipe. All you need to do is prepare your meatball mixture. Mix ground pork, chopped onions, spring onions, salt and pepper to taste, a nice helping of garlic powder for more flavor, carrots, breadcrumbs and eggs to help ‘glue’ and form the balls better. The mixture is mixed until it looks sticky like paste. Take a big scoop or depending on how big you want the meatballs to be, 2 tablespoons will be enough for a medium sized ball. Once all the meatball mixture have now been formed into balls, dredge these in flour. Coating these before frying the meatballs will give them that nice lightly crisp outer edges. Fry in a pan with hot oil at medium heat until all the meatballs have turned lightly browned. Make sure to do these in batches to keep the balls from sticking to one another or for their juices to come out. Set aside to cool before making the creamy mushroom sauce.

To make the deliciously addicting savory cream sauce. Melt butter in a pan, saute chopped garlic and onions until aromatic and the onions have softened slightly. Add in your choice of mushrooms-mushrooms help bring out the richness and umami flavors of the dish, saute these for a few minutes before adding the meatballs back in. Season these with soy sauce and a pork broth cube to really enhance the flavors. Pour in water to help simmer the meatballs and cook them further, it also helps keep the bottom of the pan from burning. After a few minutes, pour in the all purpose cream and mix well. Let these simmer all together until the sauce thickens, give it a taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Take the pan off the heat and garnish the dish with some chopped up spring onions and these Juicy Meatballs are ready to be served.

Questions

• How to fix dry meatballs?
  • Add 2 -3 tablespoons of milk, buttermilk or broth.
  • You can also add 1 more eff into the mixture. 
  • You can also use a mixture of 50% lean meat and 50% fatty meat.

• How to make meatballs the same size

Use an ice cream scooper or weigh the balls using a scale to make sure everything is even.

• How to make juicy meatballs in the oven ?

How to cook meatballs in the oven? Simply place the meatballs in a shallow bowl, bake at a 350°F or 175°C preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes just until it’s lightly browned. Then pour in the sauce, mix well. Bake for another 10 – 15 minutes. Serve while it’s still hot.

• Making cast iron skillet meatballs

How to cook meatballs on the stove using an iron skillet? Iron skillets give the meatballs a nice charred look and taste. Similar to using a regular non-stick pan, when using an iron skillet make sure to oil this well before cooking for 5 – 7 minutes just until it’s lightly cooked and the middle is still slightly pink. Pour in the sauce and let this simmer over the stove until the sauce thickens or top it with cheese and place this in the oven to cook until the cheese has fully melted.

• Additional Ingredients or Replacements

• Buttermilk meatballs – adding buttermilk makes the meatballs more tender and keeps it moist inside. Add ⅓ to ½ cup of buttermilk into the recipe below if you have it on hand and want to make sure it turns out juicy in the end.
• If you want a cheesy surprise, add a cube of cheese in the middle of the meatballs when molding these.
• Juicy Turkey Meatballs – replace the ground pork with ground turkey, or make it 50% lean pork and 50% turkey, following the recipe below.
•  Baked Italian Meatballs – Just add Italian seasoning. Add 2 teaspoons to ½ tablespoon of italian seasoning into the meatball mixture, as well as 1 – 2 teaspoons in the sauce if you’d like. 

Try our other Yummy Meatball Recipes :

• Homemade Sweet and Sour Meatballs with Pineapple  
• Misua Soup with Meatballs
• Microwave Meatballs
• Vegetable Balls
• Beef Nuggets  

Juicy Meatballs Resipi ( Tagalog ) :

Mga Sangkap :

Para sa Meatballs

• ½ kilo giniling na baboy
• 1 sibuyas ( tinadtad )
• 2 kutsarang dahon ng sibuyas ( tinadtad )
• Asin panlasa
• Paminta panlasa
• ½ kutsaritang garlic powder
• ¼ tasa ng karot ( tinadtad )
• ½ tasa breadcrumbs
• 1 katamtamang laking itlog
• ½ tasa all purpose flour
• Mantika pang prito

Para sa Sarsa

• 1 kutsarang mantikilya
• 3 butil ng bawang ( tinadtad )
• 1 sibuyas ( tinadtad )
• ½ tasa kabute ( kinalahati )
• 1 kutsarang soy sauce
• ½ pork broth cube
• ½ tasa tubig
• 250 ml all purpose cream
• Dahon ng sibuyas pang dekorasyon

Paano Lutuin :

1. Sa mangkok, haluin ang giniling na baboy, sibuyas, dahon ng sibuyas, asin, paminta, garlic powder, karots, breadcrumbs, at itlog. Haluin hanggang mukhang malagkit.
2. Kumuha ng 1 kutsara nito at i-hugis ng pabilog. Takpan ang mga ito ng harina. Iprito sa kawali na may mainit na mantika hanggang mag kayumanggi. Ulitin hanggang na prito ang lahat ng mga bola at itabi.
3. Sa ibang kawali, tunawin ang mantikilya bago lutuin ang mga bawang at sibuyas hanggang bumango. Dagdagan ng kabute at lutuin ng 1 minuto. Ihalo dito ang mga meatballs.
4. Haluan ng soy sauce, pork broth cube, at tubig. Takpan at pakuluan ng 5 – 10 minuto sa katamtamang init. Pagkatapos, ilagay ito sa mababang init at buhusin dito ang all purpose cream.
5. Haluan ng mabuti. Lutuin ng ilang minuto o hanggang kumapal ang sarsa. Dekorasyonan ng dahon ng sibuyas bago ihanda.