# Italian Meatball ingredients/ratio questions



## larry_stewart (Feb 21, 2018)

I know this is a strange question coming from a vegetarian, but Im curious what you put in your meatballs, and approximate amounts.

I found a new product that I may be able to make " meatballs" with.

type of meat used is not really important to me , as the only option i have is the product that I am using.  More importantly is how much and everything else that goes into the meatball.

Ive done a quick recipe search and have seen choice of meat, eggs, bread crumbs ( or bread moistened with milk), various dried spices, fresh garlic, fresh parsley , parmesan cheese.

Ive seen the fried method, baked method and the toss it in the sauce method ( first two methods usually wind up in the sauce.

Anyway, if you guys could give me an Idea of proportions, that would be great.  I will take that info and attempt meatballs tonight to see if I come up with acceptable results.

I will be starting with 1 pound of ' meat ' so all ratios and measurements will be based off of that.

Thanks


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## caseydog (Feb 21, 2018)

I know how I make them, but plan to experiment more in the future. I use two meats (beef and pork) in even amounts, I use bread crumbs and eggs as my binders. I use two eggs per pound of meet. I use typical Italian herbs and black pepper. Go easy on salt, it is easy to use too much. I don't use any in my mix. I either salt the meatballs before cooking, or salt my sauce, as needed.

CD


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## blissful (Feb 21, 2018)

When I make that 'chewy' slice-able meatloaf, I use 1/4 cup oatmeal, 1/4 cup finely chopped onions, 1 egg, per 1 lb of meat. If I use too much onion/or vegetable or too much liquid (tomato sauce or milk), the meat doesn't hold together well and can't be sliced. While meatloaf is not meat balls, I would use the same amount of onion and crumbs/oatmeal and egg per pound of meat.


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## larry_stewart (Feb 21, 2018)

blissful said:


> When I make that 'chewy' slice-able meatloaf, I use 1/4 cup oatmeal, 1/4 cup finely chopped onions, 1 egg, per 1 lb of meat. If I use too much onion/or vegetable or too much liquid (tomato sauce or milk), the meat doesn't hold together well and can't be sliced. While meatloaf is not meat balls, I would use the same amount of onion and crumbs/oatmeal and egg per pound of meat.



If the meatballs work out, Meatloaf with be my next attempt.  
Biggest problems with any kind of vegetarian/ vegan meat produces used for meatballs or meatloaf  is the consistency .  Always too mushy.  

When I used to eat meat ( way back in the day), it was the meatballs, meatloaf, taco's , chili ...  These are the things I miss ( not the steak or chicken, never liked them much).  The veggie products available for taco, chili are not bad.  But for anything that has to stick together ( like meatballs and meatloaf), not as successful.   Im hoping tonights experiment will be a winner.


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## GotGarlic (Feb 21, 2018)

This is my basic recipe for meatballs. I add other ingredients depending on the flavor profile I want. This is also a pretty thorough thread on how different people make their meatballs. 

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1376673

And a while back, I posted a couple of sites that list meatball recipes from around the world.

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96634


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## blissful (Feb 21, 2018)

Larry, if you could find some successful 'bean burger' recipes, that don't turn to mush, you might be able to adapt them to meat-a-balls.


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## caseydog (Feb 21, 2018)

I'm thinking for veggie-balls, you would want to keep them small, so when you cook them, you get a good crust to "meat" ratio. 

CD


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## msmofet (Feb 21, 2018)

I'm sorry I don't have exact amounts of the herbs and spices. 


3 lbs. Ground Beef
2-3 Eggs
1/2 cup Bread Crumbs - or just enough to bind and hold shape
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Grated Romano cheese
 
ALL HERBS AND SPICES (dry and fresh) to personal taste
 
*Dry Herbs and spices:*
Oregano
Granulated Garlic powder 
Onion powder 
Goya Adobo seasoning
Accent (or MSG) - optional
Ground Sea Salt 
Ground peppercorn blend
Ground red pepper flakes
Cayenne 
Hungarian Paprika (sweet, hot or both)
Rosemary
Thyme
 
*Fresh herbs and spices:*
Fresh garlic - minced fine  or grated on microplane (I sometimes use Trader Joe's frozen garlic cubes)
Onion - minced fine
Fresh basil - chopped fine
Fresh oregano - chopped fine
Fresh parsley - chopped fine


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## Aunt Bea (Feb 21, 2018)

I cook my meatballs in the sauce, in a covered roasting pan, in the oven at 350 for about an hour.  Some people do them on the stove top by placing the raw meatballs into a pot of barely simmering sauce and letting them cook for about 30 minutes without stirring, just a gentle shake of the pan.

If you try to use another cooking method for these meatballs you will have a mess on your hands.  These meatballs are too tender to stir until they have had a chance to set up in the sauce.

For every pound of lean ground beef or meatball mix add the following.

4 large eggs
1 cup commercial seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste

Some of the old timers added a handful of raisins to the mixture.

I portion the mixture with a 1.63oz number 20 yellow handled disher.  Each pound of the meat and additions makes approx one dozen nice sized tender meatballs.


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## Roll_Bones (Feb 21, 2018)

caseydog said:


> I know how I make them, but plan to experiment more in the future. I use two meats (beef and pork) in even amounts, I use bread crumbs and eggs as my binders. I use two eggs per pound of meet. I use typical Italian herbs and black pepper. Go easy on salt, it is easy to use too much. I don't use any in my mix. I either salt the meatballs before cooking, or salt my sauce, as needed.CD



I always am concerned about not enough salt.
I have found that not using enough, makes great meatballs just fair.
To me salt is very important in the meat mixture. Very important.
So important we tasted the raw meat mixture growing up.
Today I fry a little to see if there is enough salt.  After all, we are checking for salt when we do this.


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## tenspeed (Feb 21, 2018)

The ratio I use is 1 lb. 85% ground beef - 3/4 cup bread crumbs - 1/4 cup milk - 1 egg.

  I bake them at 375F for 30 minutes, then put them in a slow cooker and cover with BBQ sauce.  The meatballs develop a bit of a crust while baking.  I don't turn them while baking, but they would develop a more uniform crust if I did.  You might want to turn half of your batch and see what the results are.


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## Whiskadoodle (Feb 21, 2018)

This is the recipe i use.  I'm sure it's cobbled together from others.

1 1/2 pounds ground beef 80/20 or 85/15
2 Sweet Italian Sausage links, casing removed 
1 medium onion, very finely chopped 
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs 
2 eggs, slightly beaten 
1/4 cup tomato sauce 
1 teaspoon dry mustard 
1 teaspoon dried oregano 
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning 
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper or red pepper flakes 
2 garlic cloves, crushed 
A little cooking oil 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine all ingredients except cooking oil in a bowl. Stir well without compacting the mix too much.   Shape mixture into about 30 meatballs. Place on a sheet pan coated with a little oil. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until done.  Remove from pan and drain before placing in a sauce. 

You can freeze these cooked meatballs in a ziplock bag and remove as many as you need at a time. Or, you can freeze them in the sauce.


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## CraigC (Feb 21, 2018)

This is my go to meatball recipe. You have to play the eggs and bread crumbs by judgement.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/grandma-maronis-meatballs-100-year-old-recipe-recipe-1950417


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## buckytom (Feb 23, 2018)

I was taught how to make Italian style meataballs by an old Sicilian coworker when I got my first apartment many years ago.

He said it was his mama's recipe, and that everything was done in trees and tirds. 

He meant that you need three pounds on meat: 1 lb each of ground pork, ground, beef, and ground veal. Tree pounds.

Next, add tree huge eggs, and by eye, add one tird (1/3rd) of the volume of the meat in seasoned breadcrumbs, one tird of the volume in dried parsley, and a little less than one tird of the volume in grated parmesan cheese.

You can add tree tablespoons of toasted garlic in evoo if you want, but it's not necessary.

Mix everything together, adding whole milk as you go to get the right consistency, and to add moisture so you don't end up with dry balls.  (He thought that was really funny, that even his mama used to laugh)

Finally, scoop and form into balls bigger than a golf ball but not too big, and pan fry until well browned on at least tree sides in olive oil before adding to a pot of sauce.


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## di reston (Feb 25, 2018)

Aldo Fabrizio's recipe is:

for 4 people: 600 ground best quality veal ( I find that half ground pork and half sausage meat works very well also). A handful fresh white breadcrumbs moistened in a little milk, 1/2 handful fresh breadcrumbs, together with a handful of parmigiano moisended a little milk, 1 egg, flour, 1/2 onioned, olive oil, and salt. A little ground nutmeg.

Grind the meat twice through the mincer, add the breadcrumbs, add the finely chopped parsley and the nutmeg, the Parmigiano and finally the egg. Work well until your mix is easy to work into meatballs. Roll into the flour, and then fry until the meatballs are nicely browned.

The tomato sauce:

2 cans of tomato polpa, and 1 glass white wine. chop the onions, and cook until the sauce is ready, roughly, much at the same time as the meatballs. Origano, parsley, origano and basil are good with this sauce. We don't usually add any Parmesan once the dish is cooked. This is very similar to the above recipe!

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast     Oscar Wilde


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## Cheryl J (Feb 25, 2018)

buckytom said:


> I was taught how to make Italian style meataballs by an old Sicilian coworker when I got my first apartment many years ago.
> 
> He said it was his mama's recipe, and that everything was done in trees and tirds.
> 
> ...


 
Thank you, Bucky!  This sounds like a good and easy to remember method to get consistent meatballs. Copied and saved....since my meatball 'recipe' tends to not be consistent...

Finding ground veal here might be an issue...I'll have to ask the in-store butcher about that.  I don't think I've ever seen it in our local grocery store. I know I could always omit it and go halves on the meat instead of 'tirds', but it would be interesting to make up a big batch as written here.


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## Aunt Bea (Feb 25, 2018)

Cheryl J said:


> Thank you, Bucky!  This sounds like a good and easy to remember method to get consistent meatballs. Copied and saved....since my meatball 'recipe' tends to not be consistent...
> 
> Finding ground veal here might be an issue...I'll have to ask the in-store butcher about that.  I don't think I've ever seen it in our local grocery store. I know I could always omit it and go halves on the meat instead of 'tirds', but it would be interesting to make up a big batch as written here.



If you can't find veal or don't want to pay that much try substituting a pound of ground turkey.


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## buckytom (Feb 25, 2018)

I've made them without veal many times, and you could barely tell the difference.

Subbing turkey is a good idea. Thanks, B.


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## Cheryl J (Feb 25, 2018)

Aunt Bea said:


> If you can't find veal or don't want to pay that much try substituting a pound of ground turkey.


 
Good suggestion AB, thank you.


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## strmanglr scott (Dec 20, 2019)

1 # of ground beef
1/2 # ground Italian sausage
Tbsp ketchup, mustard
3/4 sleeve of saltine crackers
S&P
Italian seasonings 
Minced fresh parsley
1-2 eggs

Bake and then add to sauce. Keeps a lot oil/fat out of the sauce.


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