These amazing homemade meatballs are juicy, tender, and made with a simple list of ingredients. This easy recipe works like a charm for stovetop or baked meatballs!
Watch the Video
Consider this my essential meatball recipe. These meatballs are incredibly delicious and versatile. You can cook them in a skillet, bake them in the oven, slow-cook them in a crockpot, or crisp them up in an air fryer.
Serve with your favorite sauce, make meatball subs, add to soups, or enjoy them as a simple meatball appetizer.
Key Ingredients
- Ground meat: This recipe works well with most ground meat. Just keep in mind that ground meat with a bit of fat works best (look for 7% to 10% fat). I love the recipe for beef meatballs, but you can use ground pork, turkey, chicken, or lamb. I also love a combination (my favorite is a mixture of ground pork and turkey).
- Breadcrumbs: I add breadcrumbs for texture. I also love substituting them for crushed saltine crackers like we do for this meatloaf.
- Milk: Adds moisture and tenderizes the meat, making our meatballs juicy and tender once cooked.
- Egg: Adds more moisture and helps the mixture firm up once cooked.
- Parmesan: My secret ingredient for the best meatballs! Parmigiano-Reggiano adds flavor and salt to our mixture. I’m pretty generous with it.
- Oregano, salt, and pepper: Help season our meatballs. I keep the seasoning simple since these are more versatile meatballs.
How to Make Meatballs
To make the meatballs, I stir breadcrumbs and milk in the bottom of a mixing bowl and let them thicken for a few minutes. Then I stir in the egg, parmesan cheese, and spices. Mixing all the ingredients before adding the ground meat helps ensure the seasonings are well distributed.
Next, I mix in the ground meat. Remember that this meatball recipe works well for most ground meat. I give the mixture a good mix so that all the ingredients are combined, and then we can form our meatballs. I love using a cookie scoop to make sure I’m making similar-sized meatballs, then roll them into a ball.
From here, you can cook them or freeze them for another day. I have included tips below for freezing uncooked meatballs.
How to Cook Meatballs
My favorite way to cook meatballs is on the stovetop, which adds a lovely golden-brown crust. I use a hot pan with some oil and then cook my meatballs over medium heat until they are browned on all sides and cooked in the middle.
You can also make baked meatballs with this recipe. It’s easy and helps with cleanup. Add them to a baking sheet, drizzle over some oil, and then bake at 425°F until browned and cooked in the middle (about 20 minutes).
You can also simmer meatballs in sauce, which is how we make these turkey meatballs cooked in a tomato basil sauce. When you cook the meatballs this way, they turn out incredibly tender.
Using a Slow Cooker, Air Fryer, or Instant Pot
You can use a slow cooker, air fryer, or pressure cooker to cook these easy meatballs. Here’s what you need to know:
- Slow cooker: Simmer meatballs in your favorite sauce for 4 hours on LOW or 2 hours on HIGH.
- Air fryer: Preheat to 375°F and air fry the meatballs for 12 to 15 minutes or until cooked.
- Instant Pot: Bring your favorite sauce to a simmer on SAUTE. Add meatballs and cook on HIGH for 8 minutes. Allow the cooker to naturally release pressure for 5 minutes, then manually release the rest.
Storing Meatballs
Cooked meatballs will last up to 3 days in the refrigerator when stored in an airtight container or frozen in an airtight, freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
You can also refrigerate the raw meatball mixture overnight and bake it the next day. Or freeze raw meatballs for up to 3 months. Place the meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze until firm. Then, transfer the frozen meatballs to an airtight, freezer-safe container and freeze. When ready to cook them, bake until lightly browned and cooked through.
What to Serve with Meatballs
Serve these delicious meatballs with your favorite sauce. I love this homemade red pasta sauce. These also make a great appetizer. I’ve served them with barbecue sauce and our buffalo wing sauce with some blue cheese dressing on the side.
You can turn these into meatball subs or stuff them into homemade pita bread with veggies and some hummus. I also love serving these meatballs with veggies. Some favorites are sautéed cabbage, baked sweet potato fries, and roasted broccoli.
More Meatball Recipes
- Big Italian Meatballs
- Swedish Meatballs
- Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Hot Honey Chicken Meatballs
- Slow Cooker Chicken Meatballs
Best Homemade Meatballs
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
This is our essential meatball recipe. It’s quick to make, calls on ingredients we always have, and makes delicious, juicy, tender, and flavorful meatballs. The recipe calls for one pound of ground meat. The meat you choose is up to you. We especially love using a combination of ground pork and ground turkey.
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
1 pound (450g) ground meat, use beef, pork, chicken, turkey or a combination (I love a 50-50 blend pork and turkey)
1/2 cup (35g) breadcrumbs or crushed saltine crackers
1/2 cup (118ml) milk
1 large egg
1/4 cup (1/2 ounce) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons high-heat cooking oil, for cooking, try avocado oil, grape seed oil and vegetable oil
Directions
- Prepare Meatball Mixture
1Stir breadcrumbs and milk in a large bowl, and then let sit for 5 minutes. Add the egg, cheese, oregano, salt and the pepper. Stir until well blended.
2Add the ground meat and use a fork or your fingers to gently mix everything until combined. For the most tender meatballs, try your best not to over mix.
3Wet your hands, and then form the mixture into small balls (1-inch to 1 ¼-inch balls). You should get about 35 meatballs. A small cookie scoop is useful for portioning out the meatballs.
- Baked Meatballs
1Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, foil or a silicone baking mat.
2Place formed meatballs onto the baking sheet, leaving a little space in between each meatball.
3Lightly spray the top of the meatballs with cooking spray or brush with oil.
4Bake until they are cooked through, the outsides are browned, and they register 165°F in the middle on an instant-read thermometer, about 20 minutes.
- Stovetop Meatballs
1Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the bottom of a wide Dutch oven or nonstick pan over medium heat.
2Place the meatballs down into the hot oil and cook until they are cooked through, the outsides are browned, and they register 165°F in the middle on an instant-read thermometer; about 15 minutes. Depending on the shape or size of the pot, this might need to be done in two batches.
- Storing
1Cooked meatballs will last up to 3 days in the refrigerator when stored in an airtight container or frozen for up to 3 months in an airtight, freezer-safe container.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Cooking tips for using a slow cooker, pressure cooker (Instant Pot), and in an air fryer are in the article.
- Dairy-free: Substitute the milk for unsweetened dairy-free milk and the cheese for 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast.
- Gluten-free: Substitute the bread crumbs for crushed gluten-free cereal or crackers
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We included 8 ounces of ground turkey and 8 ounces of ground pork for the calculations.
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This recipe is perfect !! Easy to make.
First time making them I got lots of compliments from my son and husband.
This recipe will always be my go to.
Thank you for sharing.
Wonderful! So glad that your family loved them 🙂
This is our favorite meatball recipe that we have made many times. I like to make them in the oven for easiest cleanup. I think the milk and breadcrumb mixture is key to tender meatballs.
Yes, the milk and breadcrumbs are key here. So happy you loved the recipe 🙂
Fantastic! Flavorful! Moist!
Woohoo! That’s exactly what we aim for.
Followed the recipe exactly. Did not turn out so great. I used chicken and maybe this is not the best meat for this recipe because the mixture was too soft.
Thanks for giving the recipe a try! It sounds like the mixture might have been a bit too wet. Chicken sometimes stays a bit more soft than other proteins, so reducing the milk slightly or increasing the breadcrumbs next time could help tighten things up. Let me know if you try it again and how it goes!
I’m looking for a healthy, interesting and delicious Christmas Eve appetizer, and these meatballs would tick all the boxes. HOWEVER – we follow a ketogenic diet, so we can’t use breadcrumbs or panko. Do you have any suggestions for keto substitutions? Thank you!
Hi Linnea, We have always used bread crumbs or saltine crackers, but I do know that some people sub almond flour for them. I am unsure as to how much, so you might need to do some experimenting yourself.
I want to cook the meatballs and sauce the day before. Is it okay to refrigerate the sauce and meatballs together for reheating the next day?
Yes, definitely!
I am going to make it for the Rugby Eng and Springbokke !! Sounds delicious !!
Let us know how it works out!
I am a good cook but my meat balls always break up when cooking so tomorrow I will use your recipe and hopefully they will not break up
I hope the recipe helps! Let me know how it goes – good luck and I’m rooting for perfectly formed meatballs.
I add spices to make the meatballs more flavorful. Options are allspice, cayenne, Worcestershire sauce, etc.. I also make a sauce that often includes cream, nutmeg and Dijon to taste. Otherwise the result tastes a little bland to me.
So happy I found this recipe. SO GOOD.
Yay! It’s definitely one of our favorites too.
Very easy recipe to follow. Thanks for sharing
You’re so welcome! Glad it was easy for you.
Thanks for letting us know the smell amazing. Wonder what they taste like.
My personal experience says the taste lives up to the smell!
Making these to take to a family gathering. Look and smell amazing.
That’s wonderful, Margie!
Just found your site looking for a great,easy chicken soup recipe.Yours sounds perfect. Love the videos! Makes the cooking look so easy.Thanks
So happy that your found us!