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.
Okay, 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.
Thanks Lena! I am so excited to try authentic Italian Meatballs.
Oh you will love these meatballs BobbiJo!! I had them again today in a sandwich… OMG it was incredible.
Lena:
This is very close to mom’s recipe — she was the from Umbria. Great!
Ahhh!!! Confirmation from a real nonna, I love it !
I want some now! And the recipe looks relatively simple too – can’t wait to try it out :-)
Oh it was so easy!! You’ll love it!!!
Thanks Lena – will try this over the weeked.
Please do! You’ll love it!
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!
You’re welcome Anne. I think you’ll love it, and so will your daughter!
I’m craving this right now, yum!
Oh Helene, you would love it!
Mmmm, those pictures make this recipe look SO good!
Ha! Thanks. I took it with my husband growling at me for stealing his plate.
Thanks for sharing your recipe Lena , it sounds and looks delish ,i will be trying them out :)
Please do Treen!!
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?
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 :)
Thanks Lena! Lol to you husband. Never mess with a hungry man’s meal.
Truth!!!
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 ;)
You have excellent taste Flora! Ye gods I love these meatballs!
Ohhh these look so good!! I’m going to have to try them.
Please do Athena!
Looks delicious!
I hope you try it Yuen!
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.
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!
This recipe looks SO good!!! This is definitely on the meal plan for next week.
I hope so!! Enjoy!
looks delish – thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome Nicky!
With the hot sauce and pepper flakes, are they a spicy meatball?
Honestly, it’s not crazy spicy – more like a nice kick – but you can half it to begin :)
looks good, sounds good and seems easy to make. i like the subject line it made me lol what part did you tweak
I cut down on the Worcestershire and milk and added an egg for binding. Enjoy!
Yummm. It looks and sounds delicious! I’ll definitely try it out! Thanks! Awesome shot as well!
Thanks a bunch!
Yum yum yum, I love all your recipes that you post, they always look wso great
Aw, thank you Jaime!
Looks really tasty, thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome Eldon!
Looks delicious!
Thanks Shirley :)
Mmmmm I love a delicious meatballs recipe. Looking forward to checking it out.
Thanks Melinda, let me know what you think!
now that’s a spicy meatball
Mama mia!!
Must give this a try… it looks so good… :-)
Please give it a try! I think you’ll love it!
These sound so amazing I have to try them ,We love meatballs here:)
So awesome to hear that!
I will definately have to give these a try next time my grandson comes to visit!
We all love meatballs in our house,I love them with mashed potato and peas
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 .
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
I love meatballs and your ingredients sound great and the picture makes them look delicious
These meatballs are totally delicious and are quickly becoming a favorite with family and friends