Simple and Delicious Ground Beef Meatballs

Flavorful and flexible, these are sure to become your go-to basic ground beef meatballs!

Meatballs have been a comfort food staple in my kitchen since I first became interested in cooking. They’re relatively easy to make and to prep in advance, and they make for a cozy, nourishing protein source.

These basic ground beef meatballs are very frequently requested in my house. Lately, we’ve been using them to make meatball subs, with marinara and mozzarella-but the possibilities for these are endless!

Tools you may need:

• baking sheet
• parchment paper
• large mixing bowl
• measuring cups and spoons
• potato masher
• liquid measuring cup
• cookie scoop

How to make simple and delicious ground beef meatballs:

In a large mixing bowl, stir together bread crumbs, milk, broth, eggs, garlic, salt and pepper.

Add the ground beef and mix thoroughly (I use a potato masher)

Use a medium cookie scoop and a spoon to portion into balls; place on parchment paper-lined cookie sheet

Cover bottom of baking sheet with 1 cup beef broth

Bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes.

Notes

I use unseasoned panko bread crumbs in this recipe. I find they work beautifully here for structure, texture and moisture. Fresh bread crumbs work too. I’ve also used gluten free panko or almond flour; you can substitute these 1:1 and they’ll still be delicious, though I find the texture isn’t quite the same.

I use whole milk here, raw or conventional, depending what I have. I imagine you could swap this out for your milk of choice, though I’ve not tested it.

Either fresh minced garlic, garlic powder, or jarred minced garlic will work.

I use a size 40/1.5T cookie scoop for these and I wind up with 36 meatballs (give or take 1-2). You can use larger or smaller per your preference, you’ll just need to adjust baking time accordingly.

Suggestions

Simmer with marinara and serve with parmesan over spaghetti.

Simmer with marinara, place on an open sub roll, smother with mozzarella and broil for the perfect meatball sub.

Mix with brown gravy and serve over noodles or mashed potatoes for Swedish meatballs. For an authentic Swedish meatball taste, add 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp cardamom to the meatballs with the other spices.

For “Greek” meatballs, add 2tsp each dried oregano and paprika with other spices. These have a mild, smoky heat that pairs so well with the cool flavors of feta, cucumbers and tzatziki! If you want them actually spicy, add 1/2tsp cayenne as well.

Questions? Give them a try? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!