My Family’s Secret Recipe for Meatballs Uses an Easy Shortcut—I’m Finally Sharing It

Making meatballs always seemed like a big endeavor to me, relegated to special occasions like birthdays, or long winter weekends when there was little else to occupy our time outside of the warm kitchen.

This is probably because I didn’t have a go-to recipe for ease and efficiency. The method I went with involved my own invention of cooking down onion, garlic, red wine vinegar, and herbs (Don’t revoke my Italian heritage when I say this but I am not a fan of raw garlic and onion you see.) Once that flavor bomb cooled, I would mix it into the usual ground beef and bread crumb panade, then continue with the rest of the meatball-making process. It was a daunting task to prep even just the flavoring agents of my meatballs, and it always took too long.

Enter some unknown, unremembered moment of inspiration when I thought to simply swap in Italian pork sausage to my meatball mixture alongside the ground beef—omitting the extra chopped and diced ingredients altogether. Italian sausage is already seasoned with garlic, herbs, fennel seed, and even salt and pepper, after all. It dawned on me: It does half the work for you!

But would the meatballs taste as flavorful and be as tender? I tested to find out. Spoiler: they would and they are. I stumbled upon a new family recipe that we still make to this day.

To further sell this version, it comes together very quickly and easily—with no chopping or sautéing to slow the meatballs down. My kids love to help too, making it a fun, family-friendly cooking activity any time of year. After a few iterations, my son, age 5 at the time, decided he would even claim them as his own, dubbing them “Cruz’s Famous Meatballs.” (Not to be outdone, my daughter Isla claimed my homemade pasta dough recipe.)

How to Make These Easy Italian Sausage and Beef Meatballs

As I mentioned, these meatballs are simple enough to throw together. It’s just a matter of mixing the ingredients, rolling them into balls, and baking them in the oven. I use a baking sheet with a rack so the fat can drip off, resulting in a less greasy meatball in the end. Since I typically use 80 to 85 percent ground beef with the sausage, there is plenty of fat still left during baking to keep the meatballs juicy, tender, and flavorful.

That said, there is definitely a little technique involved for a more successful finished product. Personally, I like to leave the ingredients out for 20 minutes or so before handling—both because everything mixes together easier and because it’s not as uncomfortably cold to handle. 

Tips for Tender Meatballs

And speaking of handling, I combine the ingredients by hand to ensure even distribution, balanced with a light touch. We don’t want to overwork the batch and risk toughening the meatballs. Less is more. 

Soaking the bread crumbs in the milk and egg to make a perfect panade is another key step toward a lighter, more tender bite. This panade will be the binding agent for the meatballs and will keep them moist and in their shape.

Serving Up Your Meatballs

Once the meatballs have been baked, they are fair game, lending themselves to any purpose you may desire. In my family, we leave some plain for my sauce-fearing kiddos (to go alongside their equally plain pasta—I don’t want to talk about it). Then we dump the rest of the cooked meatballs into our favorite tomato sauce to warm them and meld the flavors before serving. This magical combo can be served over spaghetti, tossed into a roll with mozzarella, or even fancied up with creamy polenta and spinach for something a little different. Sans sauce, these meatballs are also great with a green salad, fresh herbs, and tzatziki for a mezze platter or wtih pita.

So here we are, without further ado and with wishes of many happy meatball returns:

Easy Italian Sausage and Beef Meatballs Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 pound bulk sweet Italian pork sausage
• 1-1 1/2 pounds ground beef

Directions:

1. Whisk eggs together with milk in a large mixing bowl. Add in bread crumbs and let soak for about 10 minutes. 
2. Add in grated cheese, salt, and Italian seasoning. 
3. Mix in ground meat and sausage together with the panade, just to combine. 
4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place a baking rack on top of a baking sheet.
5. Form meatballs by scooping out portions of meat mixture and rolling/lightly packing into rounds of your desired size.
6. Place meatballs on the rack on the baking sheet.
7. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown on the outside and cooked through, 30-35 minutes.

Meatball Recipe Tips

This makes 18-20 medium meatballs, about 1 1/2-2 inches in diameter (or 22-24 smaller-sized meatballs).

I often use a combo of sweet and spicy Italian pork sausage to add even more depth of flavor. When I change the amount and types of meat, I just keep in mind the ratio of 1 egg, 1/2 cup bread crumbs, and a 1/2 cup milk per 1 pound of protein (though I know I list up to 2 1/2 pounds in the recipe—for a little extra beef flavor and a sturdier meatball). This recipe is very forgiving! 

I use homemade bread crumbs when I have them on hand. You can also take yet another shortcut here by using Italian-style bread crumbs and omitting the Italian seasoning.

Lastly, make them with love and insert your own name into the title of these “Famous Meatballs.” Cruz won't mind.