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.
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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.
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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Holly~
You are my new best friend! Love your recipes. I’ve been making porcupine meatballs for years from a recipe from here in Maine. It calls for soaking the rice in one cup of cold water for an hour before draining and adding it to the other ingredients. Makes sure the rice plumps up and is tender.
Thanks, Holly;
Joy Lagasse
Thank you for sharing Joy, and thank you for your kind words ❤️
What can u sub for tomatoe soup
You could add extra tomato sauce with a pinch of sugar and a dash of cream.
Easy and wonderful tasting. I made a half recipe for the two of us and every one of them got eaten. Next time I will do the full recipe so we will have another meal. The only item I changed is not adding any salt.
What is the serving size for the meatballs?
The serving size is 5 meatballs.
Porcupine meatballs are easy to make and a hearty meal. I served them with baby reds from the garden. I’m not a huge tomato person, so, I added a teaspoon or so of worcestershire sauce to deepen the flavor. It was a nice addition.
Thanks for sharing this porcupine meatballs recipe. I really like this meatballs recipe. One of the best ever porcupine meatballls recipe i have ever tried.
Family loves this recipe. It has great taste balance and it’s easy to make. My go to for family gatherings.
I made this recipe for my husband today, as it is his favorite. I have been making porcupine balls for him for 51 years and this knocks my old recipe out of the “ball” park! I have never been a big fan of them, but this recipe was delicious. The best part is not having to pre fry them before putting them in the sauce. Just put them in the casserole dish and pour the sauce over. Cooked perfectly in one hour and they were really tender. I used minute rice in mine and the only thing I added was a table spoon of brown sugar to the sauce. Thanks for a great recipe, will make it often!
So glad you and your husband enjoyed this recipe, Kathryn! :)
This recipe reminds me so much of what my Mom made for us when I was a little kid. The meatballs were tender and delicious. The sauce was thick and rich, though I substituted tomato paste for tomato soup since we were out and added a little more juice. Very tasty and I will make it again.
I love when recipes bring back such sweet childhood memories Dawn! Thanks for sharing :)
This was a favorite from my grade school cafeteria. Back then they actually cooked real food.
Easy and delicious! If I were to prepare and freeze the meatballs ahead of time, would I take them out to thaw and then proceed or could I do them from frozen and cook longer? If so, how long?
Hi Deanne, if cooking ahead of time you just need to reheat until heated through. If freezing uncooked, you can bake from frozen, until it reaches an internal temperature of 160°F.
I’m excited to get started!!
Let us know what you think Debra! Have fun cooking!
Have you tried making these in a slow cooker or instant pot? Suggestions please.
We have not tried these ones in the slow cooker yet, but we do have a slow cooker meatball recipe that is delicious!
Kinda disappointed it was not made with actual porcupine.
Now wouldn’t that be something Martin! We prefer these delicious rice “quills” to real ones any day!
Lol
Martin Munson You Rock for this comment! :-D
Just cooked your porcupine meatball recipe for supper and am so pleased with the outcome. They taste even better than I imagined they would and are so easy to prepare. I’m especially
Impressed by the simplicity of your creative baking sauce.
Thank you so much Margie! I am so glad you enjoyed the meatballs!
Such a simple and delicious meal! I remember porcupine meatballs from my elementary school lunch days and this far exceeded my memories! It was a hit with the whole family! I used my cookie scoop to keep the size and shape uniform.
Thanks for the recipe!
I am so glad this recipe was a hit with your family!
This is our favorite recipe for porcupine meatballs!! Sometimes I substitute 2 cups of pasta sauce for the tomato sauce and V-8 juice. I then adjust the seasonings. Love the ease of baking them! Thank you!
So glad you love this recipe Faye!
I made tonight came out wonderful. Next time I will double the sauce for it. I also used raw rice instead of cooked. I will put this into my monthly food rotation.
So glad you loved it!
Did you have to add more time because of using raw rice.
My Dad made these for us in the 60’s is this recipe a northern or southern staple
COOKED rice??
Yes, I use cooked rice.
1/2 cup longrain rice, cooked. Did you measure before or after cooking?
Great question, the rice is cooked and then measured.
Or you can buy the already cooked rice in the packages.