Homemade Italian Meatballs
Printable Recipe (click to expand)
Ingredients
Method
- In large dutch oven warm olive oil and sauté onions until they are translucent, then add a 1/4 cup of sauce to pan and continue to fry for about 5 minutes, then remove onions from heat and set aside in cool bowl.
- In small bowl add oats to milk and let soak for 15 minutes.
- In large bowl, combine parsley, parmesan, egg, garlic, basil, and chilli pepper flakes. Then add oats, milk, and onions once oats have soaked for 15 minutes and onions are cool enough to touch. Gently combine all ingredients until all ingredients are combined.
- Layer the bottom of your dutch oven with tomato sauce and roll meatballs into walnut size balls then place them in dutch oven.
- Once all meat has been rolled, cover your dutch oven and transfer to stove and cook meatballs on low heat for 2 hours.
- Periodically check on meatballs throughout cook time and remove from heat if the done. Let cool and serve over pasta or on their own.
Hey there Honey's and New-Bees!
With the holidays right around the corner I thought it would be a great time to share one of the very first recipes I ever learned – homemade Italian Meatballs! When I was first learning how to cook I spent a lot of time learning from Romeo’s grandmother (Nonna). I probably learned more about cooking from her than anyone else, which I will be forever grateful for and I’ll always cherish that time❤️. Out of all the recipes she’s taught me, meatballs were probably one of my favorite (also the first recipe) she taught me, and although I’ve slightly adjusted and modified the recipe over the years I still think of her every time I make these.
I’ve always loved Italian cuisine growing up but never made it myself, now after my time with Nonna I am able to make the food I love, and more importantly share the food I love to eat and make with others.
Step 1 – Fry your Onions
Pre-heat your dutch oven and add a good amount of olive oil. Remember, it’s really important that you let your oil heat up before adding your onions, otherwise the onions will stick to the pot and burn 😞. Once your oil is warm, sauté your onions for about 5 minutes or until they are translucent, then add a 1/4 cup of tomato sauce, sauté for another 3 minutes then remove from heat, and transfer the onions into a cool bowl and set aside.
Step 2 – Combine your Ingredients
While your onions are cooling, combine your oats with your dairy and let the oats to soak in the milk to soften. In the meantime you can combine your meat, garlic,egg, parsley, basil, chill flakes, parmesan and egg in a large mixing bowl. After your oats have been soaking for about 15 minutes, your onions should also be cool enough to touch so add the oats, milk and onions into the meat and mix everything together by hand. When mixing meat be mindful not to overwork the meat, you just want to mix everything until it’s combined, the more you work your meat the more your meatballs with loose their tenderness. Once your ingredients are combined let start rolling them into meatballs!
Step 3 – Cook your Meatballs
Using the same dutch oven that you fried your onions in, coat the bottom on your dutch oven with a layer of tomato sauce, then start rolling your meat into walnut size balls (or whatever size you like)and place them in the dutch oven. If you want to make sure all your meat balls are the same size you can use a meat baller to portion them out. However, if you do choose to use a meat baller, learn from my mistake and know that the meat baller is there to help you evenly portion out the size and you’ll still need to do the messy work and hand roll them a bit😉.
Regardless if you use a meat baller or not once all your meat has been rolled, pour your remaining tomato sauce over your meatballs, cover and let the meatballs simmer on low for about 2-3 hours.
To avoid overcooking and ending up with rubbery meatballs, periodically check on them and if you notice their done before the suggested cook time remove them from the heat, as they will become rubbery if you overcook them.
Once your meatballs are ready you can serve them right away with pasta, eat them on their own or serve them on a platter as an appetizer. Alternatively, you can set them aside away from the heat and eat them once you’re ready!
Buon Appetito!
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These look sooo amazing. I miss my nana’s meatballs so much since going vegan and this totally reminded me of that! Thanks for the share!
Aww I’m glad it brought back those good memories!
This looks so tempting!!! I am going to try this out next week. I love meatballs.
They are delicious! Enjoy!
These look so yummy! I will definitely try these out next time I want meatballs.
Wonderful! Enjoy Melanie!
I love meatballs. This recipe looks so tempting and its lunch time — making me so hungry.
hahaha they don’t take long to make 😉 Have a good lunch!
I love meatballs and I’m definitely going to try this recipe! Looks good!
oooohhh yummy!!! I’ve been wanting to cook pasta with meatballs. I might try this one in this coming festive season 😋
Meatballs are always a welcome addition to pasta! Hope you get a chance to try these out over the holidays!
And now I’m starving! Thanks for sharing, I can’t wait to make these for my family!
Enjoy and happy cooking!
I love meat balls but watching people eat them , I can’t stand eggs and that’s why it not my kinda good. Great article.
just like you, i love Italian cuisine and I think what makes it very special is it is homemade! And as much as I like Swedish meatballs, Italians do it better lol! Very good tip about the onion, dunno how many times I’ve done that mistake! Happy Holidays!
Homemade with love makes is always the best! Glad you like the tip about the onions!
My mom always adds lots of onions to her meatballs. She says it makes all of the difference in flavor.
The onions really do add a nice flavour, I tried making them without and they just weren’t the same.
I love that you cook your meatballs directly in the sauce. That’s the best way!
I think so too😉!
Ahh Delicious! I have never made meatballs before because I thought they were super difficult but from what I just read it’s pretty easy! Do you simmer them in the tomato sauce for a particular reason? My one friend fries them but that seems a little unhealthy. In any case… Now I have something to make over the holidays, woohoo!