a simple real food recipe :: versatile meatballs for any meal

This meatball recipe can be doctored up to match any meal!My usual uses are for either spaghetti squash “spaghetti” and meatballs, or a meatball and creamy sauce or gravy over noodles.You could use Thai spices and give them a kick or warm seasonings like nutmeg and make them more Swedish meatball like!

Double batch and freeze them up and you will have a quick yummy dinner! Just freeze them on a baking sheet and then store in freezer bags.

a simple real food recipe :: versatile meatballs for any meal

 

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Author: Renee - www.thesimplemoms.com

Ingredients

• 3 TB friendly fat to cook in (butter, coconut oil, lard)
• ½ green pepper, chopped
• ½ onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup bread crumbs (I just dry out the ends of my soaked bread or bakery sourdough and blend up fine. Store in the fridge)
• ⅓ cup cream
• 1 lb grassfed ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1 ½ tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• Seasoning depending on flavor you are going for. For spaghetti and meatballs I use a couple tsp of Italian seasoning, for meatballs and gravy I use thyme.

Instructions

1. Sauté the onions and green pepper in the friendly fat with a pinch of salt to bring out their juices and sweeten.
2. Add the garlic, seasoning and salt/pepper, and stir in for a minute.
3. Put the sautéed veggies in a mixing bowl to cool off a little.
4. Put the bread crumbs and cream in a separate bowl to soak in well.
5. In the mixing bowl with the sautéed veggies, add the beef, eggs, and soaked bread crumbs and combine well with your hands.
6. Roll into balls and drop into a hot pan with friendly fat and brown the sides a little – don’t cook all the way through.
7. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with silpat or parchment paper.
8. Bake through at 350 for 20 minutes.

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Kitchen Tips:

1. You can make these up ahead of time and just drop them in your heated sauce to heat through right before dinner. When I do spaghetti it usually with spaghetti squash vs noodles so I get the meatballs done before I roast off the squash. Then while I’m making my sauce I’ll throw the meatballs in to heat through before serving.
2. Double or triple up and freeze!
3. Don’t forget the babies! Just cut them up smaller – both of my girls first “spaghetti” was with spaghetti squash “noodles” with meatballs right around 1 year 😉
4. Ground beef is so nice for sneaking in nourishing organ meats like liver or heart. Ask your pastured farmer for some organ meat – they will have some and it’s cheap if not free. You can’t get a better source of iron and other nourishment than from organ meat. And you can’t taste it or even know it’s there when you mix it with the ground beef. You could use ¼ lb or a little less in this recipe.
5. I LOVE using THIS big electric fry pan to get the meatballs all browned off at the same time. Otherwise you have to do batches in a fry pan. Grab up some Silpat for yourself as well – it makes life so much easier with clean-up!

YOUR TURN!

What recipe would you use these meatballs in? Let me know how they turn out if you try them!

This post was shared at Real Food Forager’s Fat Tuesday and The Polivka Family’s Family Table Tuesday!