Italian Meatballs
Italian meatballs are a timeless favourite and are the ultimate comfort food – this is my go-to recipe for Italian-inspired meatballs that are tender and flavourful with a creamy and velvety tomato passata sauce. Perfect for a weeknight dinner served alongside pasta or on a crusty roll as a sub with a salad and some garlic bread.
I’ve made Italian style meatballs many times over the years, testing and retesting and I’ve finally settled on the perfect way to make them. I’ve learned heaps of tips and tricks over the years that help make meatballs juicy and full of flavour that also gives the sauce a beautiful depth of flavour.
Ingredients
Meatballs
Beef mince, onion, parmesan cheese, parsley, bread, garlic, egg, salt + pepper
Sauce
Passata, beef stock, onion, garlic, Italian herbs, salt + pepper, chilli powder, sugar, tomato paste, vegemite, cream
Do I have to make the sauce?
No, the sauce is optional – for me, making it with the sauce goes well with pasta or making it into a sub for the perfect dinner. You can bake them in the oven or in an pan with some olive oil. They make the perfect side to your dinner if you want to make it without the sauce.
My tip for flavourful and tender Italian meatballs
I do the bread mixture for my meatballs in a food processor because it makes it easier but I do have an alternative if you don’t have one. If you don’t have bread to use, substitute the bread for regular breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs, grate the parmesan and onion with a box grater, chop the parsley finely with knife and crush the garlic with a garlic press or chop finely with a knife.
These are the ingredients for a juicy and tasty meatball, grated finely so they add flavour without being noticed too much in the dish. Soaked breadcrumbs are a double whammy, they act as a binder along with the egg to help meatballs from falling apart while also helping meatballs not become dry while cooking. The breadcrumbs are usually soaked in milk to form a paste, this is called a panade. This is what helps meatballs become tender.
I don’t want to add things to my dishes that don’t bring it flavour, so adding milk seemed unnecessary to me. Don’t get me wrong, it does work, it does make the meatballs tender, but I don’t want to add something I don’t need to when there’s another way. Grate an onion. Onions are usually added to meatball recipes anyway and grating them releases juices that are mixed with the breadcrumbs. The liquid and the flesh help build flavour will also making the meatball tender.
While finely chopping the onion is fine, it can effect how to meatballs hold together, while also having the raw onion taste or texture present with large pieces of onion in the meatball. With grated onion, you get the best of everything, the beautiful savoury flavour onions provides, juicy meatballs, more chance the onion will cook through, and no picky eaters complaining of large chunks of onion.
Ingredient substitutions in Italian Meatballs
Meat – the beef mince can be swapped for pork or lamb or any combination of them. I wouldn’t recommend chicken, I don’t think the flavours of the sauce would suit too well. I plan to release a recipe for chicken meatballs in sauce at a later stage.
Bread – white bread, wholemeal, or gluten-free bread. I’d avoid bread with added seeds, as the seeds can add an unwanted texture. If you’re using a food processor, you may get away with seeded bread in the meatballs, as the food processor will most likely pulverise it.
Vegemite – use marmite or Worcestershire sauce. I buy the big 950g tubs of vegemite from Costco, and it’s not just to spread on my toast. I put it in most of my red meat dishes, I think it gives the sauces are really nice umami and depth of flavour.
My Best Tips
Use an ice cream scoop to portion out your meatballs and then roll them into a ball shape. This ensures that the meatballs are similar sizes.
Sear your meatballs – Do this before putting them in the sauce. They create a fond on the bottom of the pan that gives the sauce a beautiful flavour and gives the meatballs good texture.
Baking them in the oven – use a baking tray with a oven proof rack so that meatballs are evenly cooked throughout without you having to take them out of the oven and flip them around.
Italian Meatballs
Ingredients
Meatballs-Using a food processor – check notes for food processor substitution
- 500 grams beef mince Note 1
- 1/2 brown onion chopped into 4 large pieces
- 3 garlic cloves peel and core removed
- 75 grams parmesan cheese
- 20 grams parsley preferably fresh, leaves with the stems removed
- 2 regular slices of white bread sub for 80 grams of bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Sauce for the Meatballs
- 700 gram bottle of passata
- 1/2 cup beef stock
- 1/2 onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves peeled, core removed, minced
- 1 tbsp Italian herbs Note 2
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp chilli powder optional – Note 3
- 2 tbsp white sugar Note 4
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp vegemite sub available – Note 5
- 100 ml thickened cream optional – Note 6
Instructions
- In a food processor, add in the onion, garlic cloves, parmesan cheese, parsley and bread and turn it on until everything has been shredded into small bits. If you don't have a food processor, check notes for substitution.
- In a large bowl, add the beef mince, salt, pepper, egg and the bread mixture from the food processor and use your hands to mix everything together until combined.
- Shape the meat mixture into medium sized balls, I use an ice cream scooper to make them all the same size but using your hands are absolutely fine. Make sure to roll them into smooth balls.
- In a medium to large fry pan, on medium heat, heat up the olive oil.
- Cook the meatballs in batches, if your pan is big enough, you may be able to do it in two batches. Cook until the meatballs are seared brown on most sides, don't worry if it's not cooked all the way through, they'll cook through in the sauce, just wait to eat them at the end. Don't worry about any stuck bits or colour on the pan, they add flavour to the sauce. Once cooked on the outside, remove from the pan. Note 7
- Turn the heat down to medium low, there should be some fat left in the pan from cooking the meatballs, if it's a bit dry, add some olive oil. Add the diced onion to the pan and cook until the onions are soft and start developing colour, 3-5 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add in the bottle of tomato passata to the pan; pour the beef stock into the bottle of passata and shake it until the leftover tomato passata has mixed with the beef stock and pour it into the pan. Stir to combine.
- Add in the Italian herbs, bay leaves, salt, pepper, chilli powder, sugar, tomato paste and vegemite to the sauce and stir to combine. Add the meatballs back into the pan.
- Leave the sauce to simmer until it thickens to your liking, I usually do it for around 15 minutes.
- Once you have your desired consistency, add in the thickened cream. If it makes your sauce too runny, leave it to simmer a few minutes longer to get it back to your desired consistency.
- This would be the time to test how the sauce tastes and make any adjustments. Maybe you'd like it sweeter or saltier or creamier.
- Serve with your favourite pasta or in a sub with cheese.
Video
Notes
Meat – sub for pork, veal, lamb or a mixture. I plan to release a recipe for chicken meatballs. I use 4 star beef mince, it’s mince with 10% fat. You may choose to get a leaner or less lean mince. Note 2
Italian Herbs – I use a dried Italian herb mix: thyme, rosemary, basil, sage, oregano, marjoram and parsley. Note 3
Chilli Powder – I like spicy food, that includes my meatball sauce. If you don’t like spicy, leave it out. Note 4
Sugar – while I think Mutti tomato products are some of best on the market, I still find passatas and tinned tomatoes acidic so some sugar helps cut down on some of that acidity. I know 2 tablespoons seems like a lot but I like my sauce on the sweeter side, so start off with 1 teaspoon and keep tasting and adding to see how you like it. Note 5
Vegemite – sub with 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce. This gives the sauce good umami and depth of flavour. Note 6
Cream – don’t swap for milk, I’ve tried it and it’s not the same. I do say it’s optional but I really think the cream takes it up a notch. I use full fat cream, I’ve not tried light cream. If you do use light cream, I’d love to know how creamy it ends up being. Note 7
Stop at this step if you don’t want to cook the meatballs in the sauce. Just make sure to cook them for longer and on most sides until it’s got a good sear. Please note – If you’re using a pan that isn’t non-stick and you find the meatballs are sticking, they will unstick when they’re ready. If you use gas to cook with, the middle of the pan, closer to the source of the heat, the meatballs will sear faster than those on the outside of the pan. Minced meat needs to be cooked through. If you’re not sure the centre of the meatballs will be done and all sides of the meatballs are well seared, place them in an oven safe dish and put them into the oven at 160 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes to finish them off.
I have never cooked meatballs with vegetmite. A good tip.
There are a few more add ons than what I do and I look forward to trying out. Your tip about a teaspoon of sugar is a good idea. Cheers
Made these meatballs (minus the cream) and they are delicious. This will definitely be made again in our house. 🙂
Thank you, Carla! I’m glad you enjoyed it. x