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Mangia Meatballs!

September 23, 2014 By Lena

Once in a while, I stumble upon a recipe so ridiculously good that I literally leave the table in the middle of dinner to go blog about it. (My family hates me right now.) I mean, how could I not share this Italian goodness with y’all? After going on and on about how difficult it was to find the perfect meatball recipe, POOF! It fell in my lap this afternoon.

MeatballsOkay, it didn’t really fall in my lap; my husband emailed me this recipe for Meatball Nirvana with the subject line “Woman. Kitchen. Cook.” He’s very persuasive.

Nevertheless, I tweaked the recipe slightly, and O-M-G it’s like I’m in Florence all over again. (Or for the first time, since I’ve never actually been.) I didn’t really have a chance to properly photograph the meal (the angry family was glaring at me as I snapped the picture above), but if you’re into tasty balls of beef, you’re in for a treat! 

1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 small onion, finely diced
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 dash hot pepper sauce, or to taste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Place beef into a mixing bowl, and season with salt, onion, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, oregano, red pepper flakes, hot pepper sauce, and Worcestershire sauce; mix well. Add the egg, milk, Parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs. Mix until evenly blended, then form into 1 1/2-inch meatballs, and place onto a baking sheet.

Bake in preheated oven until no longer pink in the center, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve with your favourite tomato sauce.

This one’s a keeper, folks. Probably the best homemade meatballs I’ve tried in a long time! Pretty sure you’ll love them too.

Filed Under: Food Tagged With: easy meal ideas, Italian meatballs, recipe

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. BobbiJo Pentney

    September 23, 2014 at 10:24 pm

    Thanks Lena! I am so excited to try authentic Italian Meatballs.

    • Lena

      September 24, 2014 at 5:28 pm

      Oh you will love these meatballs BobbiJo!! I had them again today in a sandwich… OMG it was incredible.

  2. Vanda

    September 24, 2014 at 12:02 am

    Lena:

    This is very close to mom’s recipe — she was the from Umbria. Great!

    • Lena

      September 24, 2014 at 5:34 pm

      Ahhh!!! Confirmation from a real nonna, I love it !

  3. Ella Pretty Blog

    September 24, 2014 at 12:28 am

    I want some now! And the recipe looks relatively simple too – can’t wait to try it out :-)

    • Lena

      September 24, 2014 at 5:36 pm

      Oh it was so easy!! You’ll love it!!!

  4. marissa

    September 24, 2014 at 9:06 am

    Thanks Lena – will try this over the weeked.

    • Lena

      September 24, 2014 at 5:37 pm

      Please do! You’ll love it!

  5. Anne Taylor

    September 24, 2014 at 12:10 pm

    We all love meatballs in our house and my daughter has been told to eat lots of it to gain weight as she’s expecting her first baby.

    Thanks for this recipe, it sounds amazing!

    • Lena

      September 24, 2014 at 6:33 pm

      You’re welcome Anne. I think you’ll love it, and so will your daughter!

  6. La Cuisine d'Helene

    September 24, 2014 at 12:24 pm

    I’m craving this right now, yum!

    • Lena

      September 24, 2014 at 6:33 pm

      Oh Helene, you would love it!

  7. JaimeeM

    September 24, 2014 at 1:19 pm

    Mmmm, those pictures make this recipe look SO good!

    • Lena

      September 24, 2014 at 6:34 pm

      Ha! Thanks. I took it with my husband growling at me for stealing his plate.

  8. Treen Goodwin

    September 24, 2014 at 1:45 pm

    Thanks for sharing your recipe Lena , it sounds and looks delish ,i will be trying them out :)

    • Lena

      September 24, 2014 at 6:34 pm

      Please do Treen!!

  9. Tricha

    September 24, 2014 at 2:33 pm

    Stupid question, but is the picture shown the actual meatballs that you made? It looks so yummy and I must try! Best part, I have the most of the ingredients already in my cupboard. Could you recommend a good pasta sauce, please?

    • Lena

      September 24, 2014 at 6:40 pm

      LOL. Not a stupid question, and yes, that was my husband’s meal I stole and put on his chair to photograph. He’s still angry.

      I have a no-fail pasta sauce: 1 can crushed tomatoes, half an onion finely diced, 2 gloves garlic minced, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese, fresh basil leaves, salt and pepper to taste.

      Saute the onion and garlic, add the spices, crushed tomatoes, cheese and basil. Heat through. It’s rich and thick and perfect with Italian meatballs :)

      • Tricha

        September 25, 2014 at 10:36 am

        Thanks Lena! Lol to you husband. Never mess with a hungry man’s meal.

        • Lena

          October 12, 2014 at 7:01 pm

          Truth!!!

  10. Flora M

    September 24, 2014 at 6:45 pm

    Aside from the hot pepper flakes and the dash of hot sauce, this looks like my own recipe ;) I am scooping the pasta sauce recipe though ;)

    • Lena

      September 24, 2014 at 6:51 pm

      You have excellent taste Flora! Ye gods I love these meatballs!

  11. Athena

    September 24, 2014 at 7:06 pm

    Ohhh these look so good!! I’m going to have to try them.

    • Lena

      September 24, 2014 at 7:35 pm

      Please do Athena!

  12. Yuen C

    September 24, 2014 at 10:35 pm

    Looks delicious!

    • Lena

      October 12, 2014 at 7:03 pm

      I hope you try it Yuen!

  13. Judy Cowan

    September 25, 2014 at 10:09 am

    Is it wrong to now want meatballs for breakfast? These look amazing I am definitely going to have to try these out and soon! Do you not have a pin feature on your site, tried to find it to pin it so I could find it again later.

    • Lena

      October 12, 2014 at 7:03 pm

      Hey Judy! I find most people have the PIN it toolbar, so I passed on the PIN feature to speed up the loading time of my site :) Thanks for pinning!

  14. Victoria Ess

    September 25, 2014 at 10:28 am

    This recipe looks SO good!!! This is definitely on the meal plan for next week.

    • Lena

      October 12, 2014 at 7:06 pm

      I hope so!! Enjoy!

  15. Nicky

    September 25, 2014 at 11:48 am

    looks delish – thanks for the recipe!

    • Lena

      October 12, 2014 at 7:06 pm

      You’re welcome Nicky!

  16. Haylie Langwald

    September 25, 2014 at 4:09 pm

    With the hot sauce and pepper flakes, are they a spicy meatball?

    • Lena

      October 12, 2014 at 7:07 pm

      Honestly, it’s not crazy spicy – more like a nice kick – but you can half it to begin :)

  17. Chandra Christine O'Connor

    September 25, 2014 at 6:19 pm

    looks good, sounds good and seems easy to make. i like the subject line it made me lol what part did you tweak

    • Lena

      October 12, 2014 at 7:09 pm

      I cut down on the Worcestershire and milk and added an egg for binding. Enjoy!

  18. Hibbat

    September 25, 2014 at 10:55 pm

    Yummm. It looks and sounds delicious! I’ll definitely try it out! Thanks! Awesome shot as well!

    • Lena

      October 12, 2014 at 7:09 pm

      Thanks a bunch!

  19. JaimeeM

    September 26, 2014 at 1:25 pm

    Yum yum yum, I love all your recipes that you post, they always look wso great

    • Lena

      October 12, 2014 at 7:10 pm

      Aw, thank you Jaime!

  20. Eldon L

    September 26, 2014 at 3:13 pm

    Looks really tasty, thanks for sharing!

    • Lena

      October 12, 2014 at 7:10 pm

      You’re welcome Eldon!

  21. Shirley OFlynn

    September 26, 2014 at 7:35 pm

    Looks delicious!

    • Lena

      October 12, 2014 at 7:10 pm

      Thanks Shirley :)

  22. Melinda L.

    September 27, 2014 at 10:20 am

    Mmmmm I love a delicious meatballs recipe. Looking forward to checking it out.

    • Lena

      October 12, 2014 at 7:11 pm

      Thanks Melinda, let me know what you think!

  23. MrDisco

    September 27, 2014 at 10:45 pm

    now that’s a spicy meatball

    • Lena

      October 12, 2014 at 7:12 pm

      Mama mia!!

  24. Barb

    September 30, 2014 at 10:54 am

    Must give this a try… it looks so good… :-)

    • Lena

      October 12, 2014 at 7:13 pm

      Please give it a try! I think you’ll love it!

  25. Michelle

    October 3, 2014 at 6:16 pm

    These sound so amazing I have to try them ,We love meatballs here:)

    • Lena

      October 12, 2014 at 7:14 pm

      So awesome to hear that!

  26. Roz Irvine

    January 14, 2015 at 3:46 am

    I will definately have to give these a try next time my grandson comes to visit!

  27. kathy downey

    March 2, 2015 at 11:29 am

    We all love meatballs in our house,I love them with mashed potato and peas

    • Kathy downey

      December 19, 2015 at 4:04 pm

      We just go to enjoy these last week,never again will i make any other meatball they were excellent very tasty maybe because this way the first time i used Italian seasoning or oregano .

  28. kathy downey

    February 18, 2016 at 1:32 pm

    Last weekend we need our fix of these delicious meatballs but being so busy painting and reflooring the spare room hubby mixed it was and make Meatloaf….now we get to eat this delicious mix twice 2x week once in meatloaf and balls….we love this

  29. Debbie White Beattie

    June 21, 2016 at 10:04 pm

    I love meatballs and your ingredients sound great and the picture makes them look delicious

  30. kathy downey

    August 24, 2016 at 9:25 am

    These meatballs are totally delicious and are quickly becoming a favorite with family and friends

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Toronto Blogger, Social Media Strategist for Listen to Lena Inc. Television & Radio Personality, Columnist and Speaker. Family Travel Expert. Star Wars Fanatic. Perfecting the Art of Conversuasion. Read More…

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