Easy Homemade Meatballs Recipe
on Jan 13, 2010, Updated Aug 22, 2024
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Homemade Meatballs made with ground beef, breadcrumbs, and just a few other simple ingredients that come together to make one delicious, flavorful meatball.
This is a straight-forward recipe for meatballs. It takes a little time but the results are just so delicious. Nothing spruces up a plate of spaghetti quite like a good meatball.
They are so good on on top of spaghetti noodles, spaghetti squash or zucchini pasta with some homemade spaghetti sauce. Add some easy bread sticks, a Chef Salad and some Chocolate Mousse and you have a simple three-course meal.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy. This recipe takes some time but every step is pretty easy and the result is so worth it.
- Flexible. You can use any ground meat that you would like.
- Freezer friendly. The finished meatballs freeze well so make a double batch and freeze half for use at a later date.
- Versatile. You can eat them as they are, add them to pasta, turn them into a sandwich or serve them coated in a barbecue or teriyaki sauce.
Recipe Ingredients
- Ground beef: you can use any ground meat in these meatballs
- Breadcrumbs
- Eggs
- Onion
- Seasonings: Italian seasoning, salt, garlic powder, and black pepper
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Popular Substitutions and Variations
- Switch up the type of ground meat you are using or use half and half of two types of meat. Ground beef, pork, chicken, lamb, turkey, or bison could be used.
- You can add 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese to this recipe if you like; it’s delicious.
- Make your own breadcrumbs by toasting some bread and then pulsing it in a food processor until it’s in coarse crumbs.
How to Make Easy Homemade Meatballs
- Step #1. Put all the ingredients in a big bowl and stir well to combine.
- Step #2. Form balls that are about the size of a golf ball.
- Step #3. Brown a few meatballs in a large skillet over medium high heat turning them so each meatball is brown on all sides.
- Step #4. Place the browned meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 30 minutes.
Recipe FAQs
You can make your own at home by toasting some bread and then pulsing it in a food processor until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
No. Any ground meat will work in this recipe. Feel free to use pork, chicken, turkey, lamb, or bison. You can also do half and half of two types of ground meat.
Yes. There is no cheese or milk in this recipe. But you may want to check the breadcrumbs that you use to make sure there is no dairy in them. Also don’t add Parmesan cheese you want these dairy-free.
You can use gluten-free breadcrumbs in these meatballs and they turn out the same. They are readily available at most grocery stores next to the regular breadcrumbs.
Expert Tips
- Using your hands is the best way to combine the ground meat with all the ingredients.
- You can make the meatballs ahead of time and keep them in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for a few months.
- Be sure to chop the onion finely or it makes rolling the meatballs harder (they don’t want to stick together in a ball if there are big pieces of onion in there).
- You can make these with all ground beef or make them with a mix of pork and beef.
Can homemade meatballs be frozen?
Yep! You can even make a double batch and freeze half for another meal. After the meatballs come out of the oven, let them cool and then store them in a single layer in an air tight container. Stick them in the freezer for up to 2 months.
How to Serve Homemade Meatballs
- Serve over pasta with your favorite sauce and serve it with some dinner rolls and a garden salad.
- They are so good on homemade sub bread with some marinara sauce and melted provolone cheese.
- Turn them into Honey Teriyaki Meatballs and serve them with a side of rice and roasted broccoli.
More Easy Dinner Recipes to Consider
Pasta Dishes
Easy Slow Cooker Vegetable Lasagna
Slow Cooker Recipes
Perfect Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Pasta Dishes
Pumpkin Alfredo
Dinner Ideas
One-Pot Sausage, Rice, and Peas Dinner
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Easy Homemade Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper (to make clean up easier).
- Combine all the meatball ingredients into a large bowl and stir well to combine. It works well to use your hands to do the combining if you don’t mind a bit of a mess.
- Make balls out of the meat (slightly smaller than a golf ball, about 2 large tablespoons of meat) and roll them around in your hand to shape them or use a large cookie scoop to scoop the meat into balls.
- Preheat a large skillet over medium to medium high heat. Working in batches, add the meatballs to the skillet so they are close together but not touching.
- When the meatballs start to brown on the bottom, turn them so that they brown on all sides (4 or 5 turns per meatball). Remove from the skillet and place on your lined baking sheet.
- Repeat with any remaining meatballs.
- Place browned meatballs in the hot oven for 20-30 minutes or until the centers are no longer pink and the meat registers 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.
- Serve over noodles with your favorite sauce, add them to a sandwich, or anything else you like to do with meatballs.
Notes
- This recipe is also great when you add 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan to the meatballs when you mix all the ingredients together.
- While this recipe calls for ground beef, you can substitute any ground meat.
- Make a double batch and freeze half of them for a meal on a different day.
- Store these meatballs in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for a few months.
Hi! These meatballs are amazing, and my family loves them! I’ve made them many times for dinner, but I want to make them for a potluck this Sunday, and I was wondering how because I want them in the crock pot to stay warm. Should I cook them completely and freeze, then put them in a crock it with sauce in the morning? Thank you, and merry Christmas!
I think that would work just great!
Delicious recipe. Homemade meatballs make a spaghetti dinner extra special.
In one place you wrote “stick them in the fridge for 2 months.” Should be freezer.
Fixed and thank you 🙂
I mean pictures!