Looking for the best ground beef for meatballs? I know this might sound crazy, but when you’re trying to find the perfect ground beef for meatballs, recipe and quality are just as important as the ground beef you purchase. Beef is what we’ll be using to make our favorite recipe for beef meatballs. That’s why I feel it’s so important to find the very best beef for our recipe.
What Ground Meat Ratio is Best for What Dish?
If you’ve ever wondered why your homemade burgers or bolognese sauce aren’t nearly as good as the recipe your friend makes or that you’ve enjoyed at your favorite restaurant, you might think it’s the seasoning that’s off or the cooking method. But in fact, it could simply be a matter of the lean-to-fat ratio in the ground meat.
The Meat-to-Fat Ratio of Ground Meat
Not all ground meat is created equal, and understanding this is the key to successful dishes, whether it’s simple burgers on the grill or the most tender meatballs to serve over spaghetti. You’ll usually see some numbers on a package of ground meat at the grocery store, like 80/20 or 90/10. Those numbers refer to the ratio of lean meat to fat. So when you see 80/20, that means it’s 80 percent lean meat and 20 percent fat.
Burgers
You’re looking for beef with a pretty high fat content, but nothing too extreme. So for burgers, go 80/20 beef. While picking up a package with this marked on it is fine, if you can get the butcher to grind the beef for you, that’s even better. Fernald calls out a few specific cuts to request that she loves. “I always like brisket, short rib, and chuck mix because of the lean-to-fat ratio and the flavor in these cuts,” she says.
Meatloaf
Go for ground beef with even more fat for the best meatloaf. This is because it cooks for a longer time than, say, meatballs, so you don’t want to risk it drying out and resulting in a crumbly, unpalatable mess. Fernald recommends trying 70/30 beef. You could also try using a mix of ground beef and ground pork, using pork for a third of the recipe. Pork is generally fattier than beef, so you can use 90/10 beef or even 100 percent lean beef and get the fatty boost (and extra flavor!) from the pork.
Meatballs
“I like to use 50 percent ground pork and 50 percent ground beef for any tomato-based sauce meatballs because of the way pork flavor works so well with tomato,” says Fernald. “The beef can be lean in that case — 100 percent lean or 90/10, since the pork is always going to have more fat, about 60/40 to 50/50.”
If the meatballs are being served in a broth or other sauce that’s not tomato-based, try using 100 percent beef, or veal that’s 70/30. “I think the beef flavor performs better in that flavor context,” says Fernald.
Meat Ragu
Again, Fernald likes to choose ground meat that accentuates the tomato sauce. “I always use 50 percent ground pork and 50 percent ground beef because of the sweet tomato flavor working so well with the naturally sweet flavor of pork,” says Fernald. The beef can again, in this case, be lean — 100 percent lean or 90/10 is perfect when mixed with the fatty pork.
The Best Ground Beef Meatballs
These homemade ground beef meatballs are everything you need, the best dish ever. They are tender and crispy and made with green bell pepper, red pepper, thin pepper, a pinch of salt, and black pepper. You can eat them with any meal.
Meatballs are perfect with any meat. When you check on the internet, you can see people prefer ground beef meatballs. You can use pork, beef, veal, goat, Italian sausage, and more.
I remember back home, when we are going to school, we enjoy having meatballs with fried plantain for breakfast. Street foods were cheap and easy to find at that time. For someone with a small budget, it was the best dinner you can have.
For this recipe, I used the Haitian’s method by combining all the ingredients and fry them. There is no breadcrumb. As I said above, the meat base it’s up to you. You can have them with every meal you want.
Ground Meat
With meat, you have a lot of variety. Which meat used to have the perfect meatballs. You can use any meat, not only ground beef, pork but also turkey, chicken, lamb, and buffalo. They are all great. I recommend you buy your ground meat, but if you can make your own, that’s perfect.
WHAT INGREDIENTS ARE IN GROUND BEEF MEATBALLS
The recipe is fast and simple. I am going to explain to you each step from mixing the meatballs until shaping them. Also, the meat should be tender. You can check it while mixing with your hands.
For most tender beef meatballs you need:
- 400g ground beef
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 green onion
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp thin pepper, spicy
- 2 tbsp parsley
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp cajun powder
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
Combine ground beef, lemon juice, cajun powder, black pepper, and salt. Mix them with your hands until tender.
Add green and red pepper, garlic, green onion, flour, and egg. Mix the meat and the ingredients just until they’re combined. As I mentioned above, I recommend using your hands for this step; since you can actually feel when things are mixed. If you prefer, you can use a spoon or spatula.
In a medium heat oiling pan, add the meatballs. Let them fried until cook al dente or, you can check by inserting a fork. The meat should be tender. You can serve them with pasta or any dish of your choice.
The Best Ground Beef Meatballs
Tender ground beef meatballs
PREP TIME10 minutes
COOK TIME20 minutes
TOTAL TIME30 minutes
Ingredients
- 400g ground beef
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 green onion
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp thin pepper, spicy
- 2 tbsp parsley
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp cajun powder
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
How to make ground beef meatballs?
This ground beef meatballs recipe is based on the Haitian method.
- Combine ground beef, lemon juice, cajun powder, black pepper, and salt. Mix them with your hands until tender.
- Add green and red pepper, garlic, green onion, flour, and egg. Mix the meat and other ingredients just until they’re combined.
- I also recommend using your hands for this step; since you can actually feel when things are mixed. If you prefer, you can use a spoon or spatula.
- In a medium heat oiling pan, add the meatballs. Let them fried until cook al dente or, you can check by inserting a fork. The meat should be tender. You can serve them with pasta or any dish of your choice.
- Enjoy!
Notes
-For this recipe, I used the Haitian method by combining all the ingredients and fry them. There is no breadcrumb.
-You can use any meat, not only ground beef, pork but also turkey, chicken, lamb, and buffalo. They are all great. I recommend you buy your ground meat, but if you can make your own, that’s perfect.
4 Tips for the Best Damn Meatballs Ever
There are a lot of great recipes for tomato sauce out there and a lot of great recipes for meatballs out there. But marrying the two together into the iconic dish that is spaghetti and meatballs is not as easy as it seems. Our test kitchen tried multiple versions for this epic Sunday supper menu and found this to be the best one for several reasons. First, the sauce needs to cook for a while on its own (in this recipe we recommend about an hour, but you can absolutely let it go for longer). This ensures that once you add in the meatballs, you’ll only need to keep the two together for as long as it takes the meatballs to impart some of their, you know, meatiness, and cook all the way through. The key is that it shouldn’t be so long that they begin to lose their perfect flavor and texture from that hot liquid. And how do you get that perfect flavor and texture? By caring for each individual element.
The Bread
People tend to gravitate towards breadcrumbs, but for meatballs that are super tender you should use actual bread, no boxed stuff. We soak white sandwich bread in water, then wring it out. And by the way, when we say soak, we mean really soak, and when we say wring, we mean really wring (like a sponge, guys). Don’t freak it out if it feels like the bread is almost disintegrating in your hands–that’s what you’re going for. Then you’ll mix the bread with eggs, garlic, ricotta, prosciutto, parsley, and Parmesan.
The Meat
What makes these meatballs so juicy? Fat. Specifically 80% lean ground beef for the ideal meat-to-fat ratio. Some people like to use blends, and if you’re getting nice beef, pork, and veal from your butcher, by all means, go for it. If you’re buying ingredients at the grocery store, where the ground pork and veal can vary in flavor and texture, we’d stick to beef. The addition of chopped prosciutto adds a delicious, rich dimension that those meats would otherwise.
The Sear
The truth is that you can poach your meatballs by putting them directly in the sauce. But browning them before they braise caramelizes the exterior, resulting in rich aromas, a deeper hue, and a more complex flavor. The trick is to make sure your meatballs aren’t too big; we really thought about size when developing this recipe. If there’s a large surface area, it’ll take too long to get the sides evenly browned. You want to be able to hit them in the pan quickly, and then get them out (and on your plate full of pasta!).
The Spices
We kept the spices classic; there’s a reason people have been turning to them forever and ever. Fennel, oregano, nutmeg, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and salt. But you can use what you want here. It’s the most subjective part of the recipe. Don’t like too much heat? Leave out the red pepper flakes. Don’t adore the taste of nutmeg? Swap it out for something else. The most important thing is that you season aggressively–even if that’s with a lot of salt and pepper. The meatballs need to be able to stand up to their simmer in the sauce without losing their flavor.