Meatballs With Any Meat
By Melissa Clark
20 minutes 4 servings
These adaptable meatballs use a simple base of one pound of ground meat, half a cup of bread crumbs, one egg and a teaspoon of salt. Choose your preferred meat, or even fish, and customize with spices, herbs and aromatics before broiling or frying.
meatballsmain coursequickweeknight
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground meat (pork, beef, veal, chicken, turkey or a combination)
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
- black pepper and/or ground cumin, curry powder, chile flakes, garam masala or other spices, to taste
- minced garlic, onion, scallions or shallot
- chopped parsley, basil or cilantro
- olive oil, for frying (optional)
Preparation
- 1
Gently mix the meat, panko, egg, salt and chosen spices, aromatics and herbs in a large bowl.
- 2
Shape into 1 1/2-inch balls and arrange on a baking sheet.
- 3
Broil for 7 to 10 minutes, until golden and firm, or fry in oil until deeply browned on all sides.
- 4
Sprinkle with additional salt before serving.
Notes
Saved preferred mixture (recorded twice six months ago): 1/3 pound each veal, pork and beef; 1/2 cup panko; 1 egg; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon each black pepper, cumin, red chile flakes and garam masala; 1 teaspoon minced garlic; 2 teaspoons cilantro; 1 tablespoon ricotta; and 1/4 cup Romano. Earlier notes also recommend the ricotta, Romano and three-meat blend, with the oldest version omitting Romano. Alternative cooking method saved two years ago, attributed to Alton Brown: coat the meatballs in fine bread crumbs, place in a greased muffin tin and bake at 425°F for about 10 minutes, or cook in simmering sauce.