Homemade Italian Meatballs

I commonly buy frozen, precooked meatballs, but every once in a while I like to go all out and make some good ol' Italian Meatballs from scratch.  My hubby loves meatballs and while he'll eat the frozen ones, he gets really excited when homemade ones make an appearance!

Just like with so many other things, there are probably 100 (or more) different ways to make meatballs.  This is MY favorite recipe.  

The Stars of the Show: ground beef, Italian sausage (I use mild), eggs, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, minced onions, parsley, basil, garlic, salt and pepper.

Mix up the meatball mixture and scoop onto a baking pan.  I like to use my broiler pan for this because the grease drips down to the bottom of the pan (which I line with foil).  See this post for my thoughts on meat cooking in its own grease :-).  I use my large cookie scoop to scoop my meatballs so they are all the same size.  All the same size means they not only look great, but they all cook at the same rate.

Once I scoop them all onto the pan I use my hands to roll them into nice round balls.

Throw them into the oven and bake!  

Now you have some options here.  If I am going to be using these meatballs right away I only bake them for about 15 minutes and then finish cooking them in the sauce.  If I'm going to freeze them for later I cook them for about 25 minutes (or until they are cooked all the way through).

This recipe makes a lot of meatballs which makes for a great freezer meal later on!  I just take half the meatballs (fully cooked) and put them in a ziplock bag.  Label and toss into the freezer.  When you are ready to use them just thaw them in the fridge or you can even cook them frozen in a crockpot with your favorite pasta sauce.

Homemade Italian Meatballs

Source: My recipe

½ cup breadcrumbs
3 eggs
½ cup Parmesan cheese
3-4 garlic cloves
1 ½ tsp. basil
1 ½ tsp. parsley
3 tbs dried minced onion
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. Italian sausage

In a large bowl, mix together the first nine ingredients until well combined.  Add the ground beef and sausage and mix gently just until everything is well mixed.  

Scoop meatballs onto a baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

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