My favorite baked meatball recipe — it’s easy to make, full of great flavor, and incredibly versatile. Serve it with Italian marinara sauce, Swedish cream sauce, American bbq sauce and beyond!
Friends, do you have a go-to recipe for amazing homemade meatballs in your repertoire?
If not, bookmark this one. Like, seriously. ♡
After having made who knows how many millions of meatballs in my life, I’ve officially landed on this easy meatball recipe as my forever favorite. And I love it for so many reasons.
Mainly, I’m partial to this particular meatball recipe because it is BIG on flavor. I’ve always considered it such a missed opportunity when I’m served meatballs that are bland and boring because, quite frankly, it’s so easy to make them delicious! We shouldn’t have to rely on a sauce to make meatballs interesting. So this recipe goes big on all of my favorite flavors, including a base mix of ground beef and pork (win-win), classic garlic and onion (grated to avoid chunks), lots of Parmesan (adds amazing flavor), and a generous helping of zesty herbs and seasonings.
I also love these homemade meatballs because they are baked instead of fried, which makes them a touch healthier and also considerably easier to cook. They can easily be made gluten-free if you would like. They freeze beautifully for later, if you would like. And while I often love to just eat these meatballs on their own, the flavors here are versatile enough to pair with any of your favorite sauces, from Italian marinara sauce, to American bbq sauce, to a Swedish cream sauce, to a spicy Thai curry and so much more.
Basically, this is the meatball recipe that I use for pretty much everything and it is always, always a winner. So be sure to bookmark this one, and let’s make a batch together!
The BEST Meatball Recipe | 1-Minute Video
Homemade Meatballs Ingredients:
Alright let’s talk about the ingredients you will need make this easy baked meatball recipe. (Full amounts included in the recipe below!)
- Panko breadcrumbs: I’ve found that Panko breadcrumbs work best in baked meatballs, but you are welcome to use any type of breadcrumbs (seasoned or not) that you have on hand.
- Milk: We will mix a bit of milk with the breadcrumbs to form a panade, which will help to keep our meatballs nice and moist.
- Ground beef and pork: I like to use a 50/50 mix of the two to make meatballs, but you can also make all-beef or all-pork meatballs if you prefer.
- Fresh garlic: Minced or pressed.
- Eggs: Which will help to bind all of our meatball ingredients together.
- Parmesan: As always, I highly recommend using freshly-grated Parmesan (instead of the pre-grated stuff) for maximum flavor and freshness. And if you have a kitchen scale, I recommend weighing the Parmesan to be sure that you have the correct amount — 1.5 ounces.
- Fresh Italian herbs: I always love the taste and extra color that fresh herbs add to a batch of meatballs. So I used a mixture of basil and parsley here. But if you don’t have fresh herbs on hand, no worries, just read my substitution options below.
- Grated yellow onion: Yes, grated. Even as someone who really loves onions, I always get a little weirded out by diced onion chunks in my meatballs. So I recommend using a box grater (or the grating attachment on a food processor) to grate the onion into smaller pieces before adding it to the mix.
- Worcestershire sauce: Adds such great flavor!
- Dry seasonings: A simple mix of dried oregano, sea salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes.
How To Make Meatballs:
To make these homemade meatballs, simply…
- Make the panade. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the Panko and milk until combined. Set mixture aside to soak for 5 to 10 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients. Then use a fork to briefly mash the mixture into a paste.
- Combine remaining ingredients. Add the ground beef, ground pork, garlic, eggs, Parmesan, fresh herbs, onion and Worcestershire sauce to the (same) mixing bowl. Sprinkle the oregano, salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes evenly on top. Use your hands to mix the ingredients until evenly combined, being careful not to over-mix the ingredients.
- Chill (optional step). To make the meatballs easier to form, I recommend covering and chilling the mixture in the refrigerator for 1 hour. But if you’re pressed for time, you can skip this step.
- Prep oven and baking sheet. Heat the oven to 425°F and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Form the meatballs. Using a medium cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop and roll the mixture into 2-tablespoon balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet. (I recommend greasing your hands with a bit of olive oil to prevent the mixture from sticking.)
- Bake. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer measures the internal temperature of the meatballs to be 160°F. Remove pan and transfer to a wire cooling rack.
- Serve. Serve meatballs immediately and enjoy!
Possible Meatball Recipe Variations:
There are countless ways that you could customize this homemade meatball recipe, so please don’t hesitate to experiment and get creative! For example, feel free to…
- Use ground turkey or chicken: For a lighter option, feel free to use ground turkey/chicken to make turkey meatballs or chicken meatballs. Just note that they will need to be cooked to 165°F instead of 160°F, and will be a bit less moist than the beef and/or pork meatballs.
- Use all dried herbs: If you don’t have access to fresh basil and parsley, I recommend adding in an extra 1 tablespoon of dried Italian seasoning instead.
- Make them gluten-free: Just use gluten-free Panko (or other gluten-free breadcrumbs), and double-check to be sure that the brand of Worcestershire that you are using is also gluten-free. (French’s, Heinz and Lea and Perrins’ Original are all gluten-free in the United States.)
- Make them spicier. Feel free to double or triple the amount of crushed red pepper flakes used to give the meatballs more of a kick.
- Make them more garlicky. Also feel free to double the amount of garlic if you like extra-garlicky meatballs.
Ways To Serve Meatballs:
This baked meatballs recipe is incredibly versatile and can be served a number of ways! You could use it to make…
- Spaghetti and meatballs: Pair the meatballs with a 1-pound package of spaghetti (cooked until al dente) and a batch of my favorite marinara sauce recipe to make Italian meatballs.
- Swedish meatballs: Pair with your favorite Swedish cream sauce recipe to make Swedish meatballs.
- Alfredo meatballs: Pair with a batch of my favorite Alfredo sauce recipe to make Alfredo meatballs.
- BBQ meatballs: Pair with a batch of my favorite homemade BBQ sauce recipe to make BBQ meatballs.
- Grape jelly meatballs: Pair with a grape jelly sauce (just simmer together 1.5 cups ketchup and 1 cup grape jelly) to make retro grape jelly meatballs.
Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup (1 1/2 ounces) finely-grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup finely-chopped fresh Italian herbs (I used half parsley, half basil)
- 1/4 cup grated yellow onion
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Make the panade. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the panko and milk until combined. Set mixture aside to soak for 5 to 10 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Combine remaining ingredients. Add the ground beef, ground pork, garlic, eggs, Parmesan, fresh herbs, onion and Worcestershire sauce to the (same) mixing bowl with the panade. Sprinkle the oregano, salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes evenly on top. Use your hands to mix the ingredients until evenly combined, being careful not to over-mix the ingredients.
- Chill (optional step). To make the meatballs easier to form, I recommend covering and chilling the mixture in the refrigerator for 1 hour. But if you're pressed for time, you can skip this step.
- Prep oven and baking sheet. Heat the oven to 425°F and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Form the meatballs. Using a medium cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop and roll the mixture into 2-tablespoon balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet. (I recommend greasing your hands with a bit of olive oil to prevent the mixture from sticking.)
- Bake. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer measures the internal temperature of the meatballs to be 160°F. Remove pan and transfer to a wire cooling rack.
- Serve. Serve meatballs immediately and enjoy!
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
I have been making meatballs for many years, have tried many variations with some success. This recipe is by far the best I have ever made. I remember having meatballs in an Italian restaurant in New Orleans and thinking damn if I could only make meatballs that were as could as these I would be thrilled. These did it. When I read the recipe it called for grating the onion, I thought it seemed ridiculous but I decided to do it as suggested. Believe it was well worth the effort, also the fresh herbs kicked it up. Could be my oven is off but had to bake for longer than suggested.
These were delicious. I made them with gluten-free bread crumbs and they turned out perfect!
Bloody great and tasty meatballs!
Shame I can’t eat them every day!
Hands down the best meatball recipe I’ve tried so far. Baking them pushed out all the fat so it’s a much healthier option.
Mmmm absolutely delicious meatballs, served with your Marinara sauce recipe and spaghetti. Used the mix of beef/pork/veal available at my market, made them a little bigger than recommended and so baked them an extra 3 minutes to hit 160 degrees. Grated quality Parmesan Reggiano for cheese. Fresh basil + italian parsley for herbs. This is my new standard – A KEEPER!
This is, by far, the best recipe for homemade meatballs. They came out absolutely perfect and we had plenty of leftovers for meatball subs! Every single member of my family RAVED about the flavor. Thank you!
These meatball may be good when soaked in a marinara sauce, but without a strong sauce they are really bland. I even added extra garlic, onion and parmesan cheese, and none of the flavors registered. There was no brightness to the taste. Just flat.
Instead of panko break crumbs, use Alessi Premium seasoned bread crumbs. They are so zesty with that in it. I chose that bc all the other bread crumbs in the store were GMO. I also used 2lbs of beef, vs pork. They were delish!
These meatballs are fantastic. I’ve made them with marina, BBQ and grape jelly sauce….they are versatile and yummy. I make a huge batch while watching cooking shows on a Sunday morning and then freeze them in batches. Delicious, healthy and easy to prepare a weeknight meal. Pair with a salad, garlic bread or pasta……..
80% or 90% for the beef?
The ratio of 1 egg and 1/2c panko and 1/8c milk per pound of meat is about perfect. 1/2 low fat burger and 1/2 ground pork is best too. 1/3c milk might be a little much for 2lb meat so have extra panko to add if it’s too wet that way.