Italian Meatballs Perfect for Weeknight Pasta or Your Next Cocktail Party

I normally just make ground italian sausage with pasta because that's what my husband likes best. I don't particularly love ground beef or turkey in my pasta sauce. Honestly, it just tastes boring to me. Sometimes I buy frozen meatballs to add to pasta sauce for a little variety.

But, this time, I made homemade meatballs. Utilizing three different meats. So, what motivated me? My 9 month old. Yes, a baby. Why? Because she eats what she likes. And I care a lot about her eating habits. And she likes meatloaf, so why wouldn't she like meatballs? So that's what I did. I made meatballs. 🙄🤦🤷

This recipe was a combo of two different ones and a couple tweaks and edits by me. I pulled a few ideas from other blogs and pulled out my grandma's meatball recipe. As you may already know, I can't have dairy and neither can the babe, so I had to take out the parmesan cheese in this recipe. But, PLEASE add parmesan cheese if you make these. I just know they would be so much better. So, here it is. Enjoy!

Homemade Italian Meatballs
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Makes 40 1" meatballs

1 lb. ground beef (use 80/20)
1 lb. ground turkey (85/15)
1/2-3/4 lb. ground mild italian sausage
2 Tbsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp dried parsley
1.5-2 cups panko (or italian) breadcrumbs
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs
4 gloves garlic, minced
3/4-1 cup yellow onion, minced
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper

1. Mince garlic & onions.
2. Add meats to a large mixing bowl. Dump all other ingredients on top. Mix together with your hands. DO NOT over mix your meat. This will result is tough meatballs. You just want to mix enough that you can see that all the meats and ingredients are well distributed. Preheat oven to 400°.
3. Roll into 1-1.5" balls and place on a greased baking sheet. You'll need two large baking sheets for this; 20 per sheet.
4. If you can fit both baking sheets side by side in the middle rack of the oven, great! Otherwise, stagger them a bit....one pushed furthest back on the top rack and one closer to the front of the oven on the bottom rack. Cook 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn meatballs over.
5. Place back in the oven but reverse the location of your baking sheets. What was on top should not be on the bottom rack and vice versa. Cook another 10-12 minutes.

This is how the meatballs looked after the first 8-10 minutes in the oven

The meatballs had a nice, crispy bottom when they were finished cooking. Don't worry about this, even if some parts appear to have gotten just a tad bit dark. Once you add your meatballs to some sauce, some of this crispiness will soften and will add flavor to your sauce. 

Tips, Tidbits, and Ideas! -- 

• This makes a lot of meatballs, so let them cool and lay flat in a freezer bag. Now you've got meatballs for at least a few meals! 
• Here are a few ideas for what you can do with all these yummy meatballs!
• Defrost and add them to pasta sauce for another meal. Once you let them simmer in your sauce for a little, they will heat right back up and impart some of their flavors to the sauce. Simple, fast, easy!
• Defrost, cut in half, and layer them in your next lasagna. 
• Defrost, dump in the crockpot with a few jars of marinara, and serve at your next cocktail party. Just place some toothpicks in a shot glass next to the crockpot with some little plates and you've now got yourself a cocktail party appetizer. 
• You don't have to add all three of these meats. At minimum, though, you need the italian sausage with either the ground beef or ground turkey. 
• I use panko breadcrumbs because a lot of store bought italian breadcrumbs contain dairy ingredients. But, use italian breadcrumbs if you have them. They'll just add more flavor into your meatballs. The panko worked out just fine, but when all the goodness of dairy comes back into my life (so long as the little one can have it, too), I will be using italian breadcrumbs.