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Baked Italian Meatballs
Everybody loves a good meatball! These delicious, moist ones may get eaten before they ever make it atop spaghetti or a sub sandwich. You’ll want to make this baked version of meatballs again and again.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef (This is where we get our favorite grass-fed ground beef.)
- 1/2 cup whole wheat Panko breadcrumbs (or sub gluten-free breadcrumbs)
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or sub more breadcrumbs)
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 tablespoons milk (your choice)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
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Instructions
Make It Now:
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or foil.
- Combine: Using clean hands, gently combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.
- Roll: Use a medium dough scooper or a spoon to scoop and then roll about 1 1/2 inch meatballs. Line up meatballs on the sheet pan, leaving room between each.
- Bake: Bake for about 20 minutes or until no longer pink inside (160°F internal temperature).
- Serve: Optional: Serve with warm Marinara Sauce on the side for dipping, over spaghetti with marinara, or on a Meatball Sub.
Freeze For Later:
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or foil. Then, complete Steps 2 and 3. At this point, flash-freeze uncooked meatballs by placing on the sheet pan (or in a baking dish) in the freezer for about an hour or so. Once frozen, dump meatballs in a gallon-sized freezer bag, seal, and place in freezer.
Prepare From Frozen:
Thaw meatballs using one of these safe thawing methods. Cook according to instructions, beginning with Step 4.
Notes/Tips
Gluten-Free Version: Use almond meal or gluten-free bread crumbs in place of the whole wheat bread crumbs. (Tip: I make my own bread crumbs by toasted gluten-free bread and then tosses pieces into my high-powered blender or food processor. Blend until they are fairly fine bread crumbs.)
Dairy-Free Version: Use more bread crumbs in place of the Parmesan cheese, plus add 1/4 teaspoon more of salt.
Where We Get Our Beef: We get our beef from ButcherBox. The beef is grass-fed and curated from trusted farms. We highly recommend this service to source healthy meat–like uncured bacon, chicken, and wild salmon–and have used it for years ourselves.