Juicy, tender, and full of flavor, this easy meatball recipe is made with ground beef and pork, a handful of seasonings, parmesan, and breadcrumbs. This is one you’ll want to make again and again!
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Tender and juicy with a rich, savory flavor, a hint of garlic and herbs, and a cheesy parmesan finish.
- Difficulty: This meatball recipe is easy with just 3 steps: mix, shape, and bake!
- Freezing: You can bake these meatballs right away or make a big batch and freeze them for easy weeknight dinners.
Ingredient Tips for Mouthwatering Meatballs
- Meat: Use a combination of beef and pork. A little fat keeps them juicy, so I recommend lean ground beef (80/20). Try them with ground turkey or chicken, or swap in veal, lamb, or even a bit of Italian sausage for extra flavor.
- Egg: Helps hold all the meatball ingredients together so they don’t fall apart while cooking. It also adds a little moisture and helps make the meatballs tender.
- Breadcrumbs: Seasoned breadcrumbs add flavor, but you can use any breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs.
- Milk: Milk gives these meatballs a tender texture, and mixed with the breadcrumbs, it keeps the meat from being too dense.
- Onion: Adds flavor. It can be replaced with frozen diced onions, onion powder, or dehydrated onions if you don’t have fresh onions.
- Seasonings: Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese flavor the meatballs. Add extra seasonings like red pepper flakes or basil.
Tasty Meatball Recipes
Did your family love these easy meatballs? Leave a rating and comment below.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 pound lean ground pork or additional ground beef
- ½ cup seasoned bread crumbs
- ⅓ cup milk
- ¼ cup finely diced onion *see note, or ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning optional
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, add beef, pork, breadcrumbs, milk, onion, parsley, parmesan cheese, egg, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Gently mix until combined.
- Shape the meat mixture into 48 meatballs, approximately 1 ½ tablespoons each, and place on the prepared baking pan.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the meatballs reach 160°F.
- Serve with tomato sauce if desired.
Video
Notes
*Onion: For a milder flavor, soften the onion in a skillet with a little bit of butter before adding it to the meatballs or replace it with ½ teaspoon of onion powder.
Sauce: To serve with pasta sauce, stir the cooked meatballs into the desired amount of sauce and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes on the stovetop.
- To freeze, prepare as directed and freeze on a baking sheet before or after baking. Transfer to a freezer bag for up to 4 months.
- To bake raw frozen meatballs, add 6 to 10 minutes to the cooking time and ensure the meatballs reach 160°F.
- To heat cooked meatballs from frozen, add them to a skillet with ½ cup of water. Cover and simmer until heated through, for 10 to 12 minutes, adding more water as needed.
- To heat cooked meatballs in pasta sauce, add ½ cup of water to the sauce and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the meatballs are heated through.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 4meatballs | Calories: 235 | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 72mg | Sodium: 256mg | Potassium: 259mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 174IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer, Beef, Dinner, Entree, Main Course
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These meatballs were a hit! As with all of your recipes. You have literally taught me how to cook.
I used two pounds (ish) of beef, but otherwise followed recipe to a T. Thank you for sharing. Keeps my future hubby very happy :)
Aww thank you Keiona! I’m so glad you and your future hubby have enjoyed them. Happy cooking!
My 5 year old and I had fun making these for dinner. Thanks, for sharing this low fuss recipe! They held up to a lengthy simmer in tomato sauce.
I’m making this a second night in a row. Also gluten-free and dairy-free for my son (using coconut milk and a good non-dairy cheese, Miyoko’s – expensive but delicious). This is a surprisingly very tasty recipe and the meatballs even taste good by themselves.
Hi. I’m looking forward to making these meatballs as an appetizer for an upcoming dinner party. Wondering if you have suggestions for a dip so people can dip them or have them plain?
You can dip them in a jarred pasta sauce or a homemade marinara sauce.
Great recepie, basic ingredients and easy to follow.
My family don’t like parmesan cheese but even without it was super tasty.
Perfect! We all loved these. Thanks for the recipe
I gave always just browned ground beef and onions then added sauce and simmered. My husband has begged me for 30 years to make meatballs. I found your recipe and it was a big hit. I only used beef. He likes spicy foods so I added crushed red peppers. Once done I simmer them in spaghetti sauce and serve over spaghetti. Made him one happy hubby!
I need to make these dairy-free–what can I sub for the parmesan?
I am not sure if there is a dairy-free version of parmesan but you can also leave it out if you need Naomi.
Perfection! These are great in sauce, gravy, hot, cold, and as a snack. I made a batch for my freezer & one for my dad. I did not change the recipe, except that I could not use pork since it gives me a migraine so my meatballs were all beef. I will make this again and recommend to friends.
Just as it states, easy and tasty. The ingredients are what you’d normally have around the house, which is a big plus for me. Thanks for sharing this.
This recipe was amazing! Will definitely make them again.
The only change I made was caramelizing a whole onion and it definitely made them extra tasty.
Love the recipes.
Thanks for the instructions. I will make very delicious meat balls
Hi! Could you half the recipe for beef only? I have ground beef (a little over a pound) and was wondering if it would work well without the pork. Thank you!
Absolutely, I’ve made these with just beef many times.
I only have 1 lb. of ground beef and 1/2 lb. of sausage, should I make adjustments to any of the other ingredients?
Hi Brooke, you may want to reduce the amount of breadcrumbs slightly in this recipe so you still end up with moist meatballs. You can watch the video above the recipe for an idea on the texture you are looking for. Hope that helps!
I am a lousy cook. But I made these and they were FANTASTIC!
This is the only meatball recipe I make now! I use only beef (we don’t eat pork), GF breadcrumbs and fresh herbs and they are great every time. I will mention ‘prep time 10 minutes’ is tight for me, I don’t seem to get them all rolled out in 10 minutes buts it’s worth the time I do spend!
So happy you enjoyed these meatballs Renee!
Awesome. I made this for our Shabbat lunch and all the kids gobbled it up! Thanks for the inspiration.
Ii used mild italian sausage and ground chicken.little extra garlic.its good.
Nest meatballs I ever had thank you very much I love all your recipes