Porcupine meatballs have a hearty flavor and a tender texture.
These tasty meatballs are made with ground beef, rice, onion and seasonings then baked in a rich tomato sauce.
Porcupine Meatballs Are A Family Fave Because…
- These meatballs are savory and tender with lots of flavor.
- They are cooked in a rich sauce for an easy meal.
- Added rice makes them hearty and delicious.
Ingredients for Porcupine Meatballs
These meatballs differ from our usual meatball recipe because there is rice in the meat mixture and no porcupines ;).
- Meat Mixture: I use lean ground beef for these meatballs since a little bit of fat adds flavor and keeps them moist. You can use ground pork or turkey in place.
- Rice: I use long grain rice in these meatballs. They can be made with leftover cooked white rice or raw, uncooked rice. *See recipe notes.
- Sauce: The sauce is easy to make. Tomato juice gives it the right consistency, tomato soup adds a bit of sweetness and a slightly creamy texture, and tomato sauce adds acidity and tang. You can use homemade tomato sauce if you’d like.
Cream Sauce Variation
Swap the tomato based sauce for a creamy mushroom soup sauce and serve it over pasta.
Combine 1 can mushroom soup, 1 cup beef broth, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup sour cream, and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. Mix until smooth and pour over meatballs. Bake as directed.
How to Make Porcupine Meatballs
- Combine meatball ingredients and form into balls (recipe below).
- Place meatballs in a casserole dish.
- Combine sauce ingredients and pour over meatballs.
- Bake for 1 hour.
Serving Suggestions
- I prefer to serve these meatballs over additional rice or pasta. You can also serve them with mashed potatoes or oven-roasted potatoes.
How to Freeze Porcupine Meatballs
These porcupine meatballs will freeze well. Prepare the meatballs as directed, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and freeze. Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag or container.
Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and in the freezer for 3 months.
More Meatballs To Love
Did you enjoy this Porcupine Meatballs Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Porcupine Meatballs
Equipment
Ingredients
For The Meatballs
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- ½ cup cooked white rice see notes for raw rice
- ¼ cup finely diced onion
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 large egg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
For the Sauce
- 10.75 ounces condensed tomato soup 1 can, do not add water/milk
- 1 cup vegetable juice such as V8
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- To make the meatballs, in a large bowl, combine ground beef, rice, onion, garlic powder, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, egg, salt, and pepper. Mix just until combined.
- Divide the meat mixture into 20 meatballs and place them in a baking dish, approximately 2 quarts.
- In a medium bowl, combine tomato soup, tomato sauce, vegetable juice, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Pour the sauce over the meatballs.
- Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
- Garnish with parsle and serve over rice or mashed potatoes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course
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The meatball seasoning was very good. I made 12 meatballs from one pound of hamburger. They were very flavorful. My husband loved the sauce but I thought it tasted more like tomato soup which I thought was ok. I served the sauce over hard dumplings which we enjoyed and corn cut off of the cob.
I also used long grain uncooked rice and added the water to the sauce as you suggested and it worked out well, the rice was perfectly done.
It was an easy dish to make but not sure I’d make it again
Thanks for trying our recipe, Debbie!
I used 1/2lb ground beef and 1/2lb Italian sausage. Although I’m sure the sauce in the recipe is much better, I used jarred spaghetti sauce just to make it easier. Other than that I stuck to the recipe and it was delicious!
Great taste, nice and moist. Quick and easy! Loved them!
I served it over rice but next time I’d like to try it over wide egg noodles. I liked it but I gave it 4 stars because it’s missing SOMETHING and I don’t know what it is.
Thanks for trying our recipe!
These look so good . Can they be done n the Crock Pot ?
I haven’t tried this in the crock pot but I do think it would work. I would suggest using cooked rice and following the cooking times on this meatball recipe. Let us know how it goes!
If I might suggest … when I was growing up, “porcupines” was another name for cabbage rolls stuffed with ground beef and rice in a tomato sauce. For the sake of nostalgia, I would happily add a handful of chopped or shredded cabbage to this recipe, and maybe a pinch of ground cinnamon!
That would be delicious (and stretch the meal a little further)!! Thank you for sharing.
Making this tonight. What about the grease from the meatballs?
I use lean ground beef (80/20) and don’t find it to be greasy.
I had lost my old recipe so I was happy to find this. The dish is in the oven now. I did add chopped green peppers to the sauce which makes it taste like stuffed peppers. And I put it in the microwave for 10 minutes to hurry it up a bit. I just used tomato sauce, no Italian seasoning, and a tbsp of brown sugar with the other seasoning called for. I’ll serve it with corn as a side. Just because I read that the more colorful the plate, the more nourishing the meal.
That sounds delicious, thank you for sharing Lois!
Love porcupine meatballs-my mom used to make them and they were so delicious. So will try your version of this recipe as I don’t have my mom’s recipe.
Found an error in your recipe-hey were all human it’s just a spelling mistake
“Uber easy and super savory, these”
I think you meant “Super” or wonder if you did mean Uber lol
Thanks Germaine! I hope this recipe lived up to the memory for you!
Could I use minute rice? Would measurement and baking time be the same as cooked rice?
If using minute rice, use the same amount (½ cup) of uncooked minute rice. The baking time will remain the same.
Uber was a way of saying “super” before the car rides were around :-)
Hi there, love this recipe and made it for my kids. Thank you! Can I cook the meatballs on a cookie tray in the oven without sauce or do you think the rice will dry out? My son is so picky and he prefers plain meatballs no sauce.
I have only tried the recipe as written so I can’t say for sure Alysia. If you try it, I would love to hear how it turns out!
I was afraid to ruin the meatballs so I cooked the ones for my 3 small children in a seperate dish of Cream of Cheddar soup. They all LOVED them! Picky little eaters. It’s the first time all 3 of them ate the meatballs! I cooked the ones for my husband and I in the mushroom sauce in a seperate dish! It was super easy to split up and we all enjoyed!
I am so happy to hear they loved this recipe and that it all worked out! Thank you for sharing!
The only way to make this sauce is to use tomato soup that is in the original Campbell’s soup book cookbook back that I had in the 60s. tomato sauce does not give it the same taste as tomato soup . The same when you make stuffed cabbage rolls soup instead of sauce and you’d be surprised at the difference in taste. I also make the porcupines and I have a big That’s oven and after I make the meatballs I put those (uncooked )in the soup and then cook them for half a day I also add green peppers and onions to the soup mix just to give it more vegetables which we like then we serve it over boiled potatoes. You don’t need the potatoes I just like them and I always use more of the soup to give me a lot of”so called gravy “
Need one can of tomatoe sauce one cube of beef boulion and 2 5oz cans of V8
Wow! You’ve brought me back to my childhood with this recipe!
I didn’t think anyone else knew about these. Followed your recipe and they turned out great! Just like Mom used to make
That is so great, Laurie! We love when recipes bring such sweet memories.
In your porcupine meatballs recipe ingredients tight call for 1/2 cup COOKED rice. Is that correct???
That is correct, Carol. We measure it after it has been cooked.
There’s enough sauce to support uncooked rice – you know how rice soaks up liquid as it cooks. I used 1/2 C uncooked regular white long grain rice and baked for one hour and 45 minutes. Perfect!
So happy to hear that it worked for you, Mike!
The recipe says makes 20 meatballs, (no matter what number of servings you select) what size are the meatballs? size of a walnut, golfball or tennis ball?
This recipe makes 4 servings. So we divide the meatball mixture made with 1lb of beef, ½ cup of rice, and more into 20 even-sized meatballs. They end up weighing around 1 ounce each.