How to Make Oven Baked Meatballs
The ingredients you'll need for Oven Baked Meatballs include:
- Beef & pork - I love using a combo of beef and pork in meatball recipes as well as meatloaf. The combo creates a great flavor and keeps the meatballs moist.
- Veggies - carrot, celery & onion. These veggies are ground up in a food processor making them indistinguishable to little eyes. The veggies add great flavor and also help keep the meatballs moist.
- Seasonings - salt, pepper & garlic powder. I don't add any other special seasonings as I want these meatballs to be versatile for a variety of dishes.
- Binders - eggs & plain bread crumbs help hold the meatball mixture together.
- Want to make Italian meatballs? Use Italian seasoned bread crumbs instead of plain!
- Milk - for extra moisture
Making the meatballs is simple. Just combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. I've found the best kitchen tool for mixing the meatball mixture is a pair of clean hands. This allows to you get everything combined really well. There is such a thing as overmixing meatballs, so you want to mix them just until everything is combined.
Form meatballs into 1-½ inch balls and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet (makes clean up a cinch!). Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes until meatballs reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
What To Serve With Oven Baked Meatballs
Almost any recipe that you'd use a meatball in will work perfectly with these Oven Baked Meatballs! Some ideas include:
- Spaghetti & meatballs
- Meatball subs
- Swedish meatballs
- BBQ meatballs
- Sweet & Sour meatballs
I just love the versatility of these meatballs!
How To Freeze
This Oven Baked Meatball recipe yields 48 meatballs, which unless you have a large family, will be more than enough for one meal. I love freezing any extras to use at a another time. I also like to make a full batch to freeze in portions for a great freezer staple.
To freeze the meatballs, make sure they cooled completely. Then place the meatballs on a new parchment lined baking sheet and pop it in the freezer. Once the meatballs are frozen solid, remove them from the baking sheet and portion them into freezer bags for storage. They will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To reheat, place meatballs in a baking dish, cover with foil and bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the batch. You want to just heat the meatballs through (to 165 degrees) without drying them out so keep an eye on them. If you are using the meatballs in a sauce of gravy, it works best to reheat them on the stovetop in a saucepan along with the sauce. This ensures they stay nice and moist.
Other freezer-friendly recipes:
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Oven Baked Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 # ground beef
- 1 # ground pork
- 1 carrot
- 1 celery stalk
- ½ onion
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup plain bread crumbs
- 2 eggs beaten
- ⅓ cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grind carrot, celery and onion in a food processor. Add to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the remaining meatball ingredients using a wooden spoon or your clean hands. Mix until just combined.
- Form meatballs into 1-½ inch balls (a #30 scoop works great) and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake meatballs 18-20 minutes until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
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