I've Spent Years Studying the Perfect Meatball: This Is My Easy Weeknight Version

Many years ago, I set out to create my vision of the perfect Italian-American meatball. I had a clear idea of the qualities I wanted. My meatballs needed to be supremely tender yet cohesive, deeply flavorful, and so juicy they'd weep literal meaty tears. The result was everything I wanted, but it was also an undertaking to make, involving both a stand mixer and hand mixing, and ingredients like fatty minced pancetta and gelled meat stock (an idea I stole from Chinese soup dumplings). Clearly, those were not weeknight-friendly meatballs.

Some years later, I worked on a spaghetti with meatballs recipe, which I based heavily on my ultimate meatballs, with some careful edits to make them just a bit easier (ahem, no gelled stock this time). Still, I had a clear goal in mind, including a meatball-infused tomato sauce that delivered more flavor in each forkful of pasta, whether a meatball was speared on the tines or not. It was an easier version tailor-made for pasta night, but it still required a little more than what might be described as minimal effort.

Here's what's always been missing: A simplified recipe for weeknight meatballs in tomato sauce that comes together quickly but is still packed with flavor and has a pleasingly tender texture. With this recipe, I'm fixing that.

The good news is that even without the more elaborate tricks of my first two recipes, this one still comes mighty close in the results department thanks to the a handful of core techniques that are essential to the best meatballs.

Choosing the Meat

Different meats offer different qualities to a meatball, which means a blend is generally best. In my prior meatball recipe testing, I found that beef makes for a springier, more flavorful meatball compared to pork, but if you use too much beef, the result is a little too tight and dense. Veal, meanwhile, is the most expensive of the three and the hardest to get, but it's a great contributor of gelatin to meatballs, which can enhance their overall juiciness.

Because these are easy weeknight meatballs, I'm not going to force you in any one direction. If you can only get one kind of ground meat, make it pork. If you can manage to get your hands on pork and beef, get both, using 1 pound pork for every 1/2 pound of beef. And if you want to go all out and get veal as well, just split the three evenly in thirds—so 1/2 pound each.

And look, while I didn't write it into my recipe below because the results just aren't as flavorful and juicy, no one is stopping you from using ground turkey instead, if that's your preference. It'll still work.

The Right Bread for the Job

Meatball recipes fall into two general camps: some made with a filler of soaked fresh bread and others with soaked dried breadcrumbs. In all my tests over many years, a fresh bread filler has always proven itself to be superior to breadcrumbs.

It's important to understand that while we use the term "filler" in English, the bread does more than just act as an economical way to stretch the meat—it fundamentally changes the texture of the meatballs for the better. But fresh bread, I've found, produces a much juicier and more tender meatball than one made from breadcrumbs, which takes the meatballs in a much denser, dried direction (even after soaking the breadcrumbs!).

In my ultimate meatball recipe, I soak the bread with buttermilk for a subtle infusion of more complex, fermented flavor. Here, I keep it simple with plain old milk. You'll hardly notice the difference.

Ingredient Decisions

I made a couple important changes to my ingredient list in this recipe. First, I eliminated the pancetta to help you avoid having to shop for it and mince it by hand, which can add to the prep time. The pancetta adds both fat (for juiciness) and a subtle cured-pork flavor, but these meatballs are just fine without it.

The other alteration to this recipe's ingredients is up to you: The recipe below calls for either fresh onion and garlic or dry onion and garlic powder. The nice thing about using fresh is that you get some more texture in the meatballs—tiny little pops of crisp-tender onion along with a more well-rounded onion and garlic flavor. But switch to the powders and not only do you save time, you still get very good onion and garlic flavor in the meatballs. There are enough other ingredients in the mix, from cheese to spices and parsley, that you're not going to notice a jarring difference in flavor between fresh and dried.

As for me personally, if I'm making these on a weeknight to feed my family, I'm going with onion and garlic powder almost every time.

Simplified Mixing

Another more complicated technique in my ultimate meatballs recipe involves how I mixed all the ingredients together, starting with the high-powered churn of a stand mixer to combine all of the seasonings and soaked bread with a small portion of the meat. This powerful mixing not only incorporates all the elements together efficiently and completely, but also encourages the meat proteins and fats to bond and adhere to each other for a more bouncy, sausage-like texture. Since I didn't want my ultimate meatballs to be too springy, I withheld some ground meat to then be worked in more gently by hand, mixing it well but avoiding that sausage effect.

The results were meatballs with a nice bounce but also a loose and tender structure that could be scooped through easily with the side of a spoon.

In this recipe, I eliminate all of that, opting instead for some good old-fashioned by-hand mixing of everything. You won't get the efficiency of the stand mixer, nor the supreme tenderness of the subsequent gentle hand mixing, but instead something right in the middle—bouncy and tender and perfectly delicious.

Cooking Methods

Once again, I've opted for ease in this recipe, which means broiling the meatballs to quickly brown them and partially cook them, before transferring them to a pot of tomato sauce to simmer until fully done. Could you fry the meatballs in oil instead? Absolutely, it'll just take longer and be messier.

The nice thing about adding this recipe to my stable of meatball recipes is it makes it that much easier for you to choose your own path, whether that means adding the pancetta back in, frying instead of broiling the meatballs, or something else. Just look at my various versions and figure out your own personal take from there.

Preheat broiler and set oven rack about 4 inches from broiler element; line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or foil. In a large mixing bowl, combine bread with milk, tossing to coat. Let stand, tossing occasionally, until bread is completely moist, about 10 minutes. Squeeze bread between your fingers or mash with a spoon to make sure there are no dry spots.

Add onion, garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano, egg yolks, parsley, salt, pepper, oregano, and fennel to bread mixture and, using a clean hand or spoon, stir until very thoroughly incorporated. Add ground meat and, using your hand, continue mixing vigorously, squishing meat and seasonings between your fingers, until very thoroughly combined and meat has taken on a slightly sticky texture.

Using your hands, roll meatballs to your desired size and arrange, evenly spaced, on prepared baking sheet.

Transfer to broiler and cook until browned on top, about 10 minutes (broiling time will vary greatly depending on the strength of your broiler, so keep a close eye). Using tongs, rotate meatballs and broil until well browned on second side.

In a large sauté pan or pot, combine meatballs and any accumulated juices with tomato sauce and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, spooning sauce over meatballs and rotating meatballs occasionally, until meatballs are fully cooked through and register about 145°F (63°C) on an instant-read thermometer, 5 to 10 minutes. Serve, sprinkling additional grated cheese on each plate.

Notes

Try to get fattier ground meat, if possible; around 25% fat is a good rough percentage. This amount of fat will make for juicier and more flavorful meatballs than lean ground meat will.

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