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Italian-Style Meatballs - A Family Feast

Italian-Style Meatballs

★★★★★ 4.9 /5
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Italian-Style Meatballs - A Family Feast

Here’s a great, classic recipe for Italian-Style Meatballs that my husband Jack has really perfected over the years. In fact, we originally shared this recipe here on A Family Feast back in January 2013 – and in addition to updating the photos, Jack made some additional tweaks to the recipe before sharing it again today!

These moist, tender Italian-Style Meatballs are a savory combination of ground beef, ground pork and ground veal, and they are perfectly seasoned with onions, garlic, Parmesan cheese and other herbs and seasonings. (If you can’t find the veal ground, buy veal stew meat and process in a food processor or meat grinder. Veal is an important part of this recipe).

We’re also sharing our trick to making these Italian-Style Meatballs so tender and moist! Slices of white bread soaked in milk are used to help bind the meat together, rather than dry bread crumbs which we’ve seen used in so many other Italian-style meatball recipes.

Italian-Style Meatballs - A Family Feast

This recipe makes a generous amount of meatballs so you’ll have lots of options for how to use them – and they freeze quite well!  Whether you are making spaghetti and meatballs with your favorite tomato sauce, or a classic Italian Meatball Soup, or eating them as is, this is a great go-to meatball recipe for you to have in your recipe collection.

We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!

recipe
Italian-Style Meatballs - A Family Feast
★★★★★ 4.9 from 21 reviews

Italian-Style Meatballs

Yield: 28 meatballs (approximately 2 1/2 ounces each) 1x
Prep: 15 minsCook: 45 minsTotal: 1 hour
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Ingredients

  • 3 ounces (in weight) Italian or French bread, crusts removed
  • 1/3 cup whole milk
  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup finely minced onions
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh garlic finely minced
  • 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
  • 1 pound ground pork (not sausage meat)
  • 1/2 pound ground veal
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

  1. Soak bread in milk in a large bowl.
  2. After the bread soaks for 4-5 minutes, add eggs and beat with the wet bread.
  3. Add onions, garlic, Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
  4. Add the beef, pork and veal and gently work the mixture to combine the ingredients but do not over mix.
  5. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out meatballs to about 2 ½ ounces each (would roughly fit into a ¼ cup measuring cup). However you can make them any size you want, just adjust cooking times.
  6. Wet your hands and roll out the meatballs into a round shape. Place in the refrigerator to firm up if the mixture gets too warm. They will keep their shape better when cooking if not too soft.
  7. In a large 12”–14” skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
  8. Working in two batches, gently place the meatballs in the pan and cook a few minutes on each side (top, bottom, and all sides), using a few soup spoons to roll the meatballs over as they cook. The meatballs will flatten just a bit and not stay exactly round but as you keep turning and browning, they will form back into a round shape. (strain out oil between batches with a slotted spoon to get rid of any burned bits). Total cooking time for each batch should be about 10-12 minutes. Use a probe thermometer and remove from pan at 150 degrees F.
  9. The meatballs are fully cooked and can be used in a variety of recipes. For spaghetti and meatballs, put the meatballs directly into a pot of your favorite tomato sauce and continue to cook in the sauce for another five to ten minutes. Or place them into hot stock for an Italian Meatball soup.
  10. These meatballs freeze well. Freeze on a single layer in a dish or pan. Once frozen, place in zip lock bags and place back into the freezer.

Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.


© Author: A Family Feast
Cuisine: Italian Method: stovetop

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A classic recipe for Italian-Style Meatballs - moist and delicious on their own or served with your favorite Italian sauce. A recipe everyone should have in their collection!

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Martha

Martha is part of the husband-wife team that creates A Family Feast. She loves to cook and entertain for family and friends, and she believes that serving a great meal is one of the best ways to show someone that you care. Martha is a self-taught home cook, who loves to read cookbooks and try new recipes. After a decades-long career in business and online marketing, she now runs A Family Feast full-time. Her specialties are baking, desserts, vegetables and pasta dishes.

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Updated: 1/22/23

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  1. Rob says

    Posted on 7/22/18 at 3:33 pm

    This is how I have made meatballs for 40 years. The key is soaking bread in milk or water. No bread crumbs. You will have perfect results every time.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
    • Martha says

      Posted on 7/22/18 at 7:44 pm

      Thanks Rob!

      Reply
  2. Elaine Kallio says

    Posted on 4/15/18 at 12:57 pm

    I had had a recipe for meatballs made with wet fresh bread years ago and lost it somewhere along our many moves in the military. I am so happy to have found this recipe. I had used water in the old recipe, but this recipe was even better. I used a large cookie scoop to measure these and got 52 meatballs from a batch. My husband would’ve eaten all 52 right there if I’d have let him. They are DELICIOUS!!! Thanks for bringing back an old favorite of ours but making it even better than ever!

    Reply
    • Martha says

      Posted on 4/16/18 at 9:28 am

      You’re very welcome Elaine! So glad you both enjoyed the recipe!

      Reply
    • Elly says

      Posted on 8/25/22 at 8:45 pm

      How much bread and milk in cups please.

      Reply
      • Martha says

        Posted on 8/26/22 at 7:04 am

        Hi Elly – the milk is already in cups (1/3rd). We will have to do an approximate volume measurement for you the next time we make the meatballs – but weight is a more accurate measurement because the texture of your bread will impact the weight and a cup measurement doesn’t reflect that.

        Reply
  3. Michelle says

    Posted on 12/21/17 at 12:00 pm

    Love the way you cook I do the same an a pleasure to read

    Reply
    • Martha says

      Posted on 12/21/17 at 12:19 pm

      Thank you so much Michelle!

      Reply
  4. Patti says

    Posted on 8/5/15 at 1:01 pm

    thank you for sharing

    Reply
  5. Lendsi Paubel says

    Posted on 4/1/15 at 5:48 pm

    HI! I have a Sicilian husband and have been trying to find new recipes to cook for him, your home made speghetti sauce and pork and beef meatballs sound awesome and I look forward to trying them for him, I’m not sure if you guys have one posted but a recipe I found I really wanted to try for him was eggs in purgatory. Thank you guys for the recipes! Makes me happy to see families still cooking at home instead of always going out.

    Reply
    • Martha says

      Posted on 4/1/15 at 8:10 pm

      Hi – We don’t have a recipe for eggs in purgatory – but it sounds delicious! I hope you enjoy the recipes and thank you so much for taking the time to write to us! (We love sharing our recipes!) 🙂

      Reply
      • Maria says

        Posted on 8/15/17 at 9:02 am

        I am Italian (Sicilian) and I looked at your recipes for meat balls and sauce. First off, there is no fresh basil in your meatballs, or in your sauce!!! this is an essential ingredient to good Italian meat balls and sauce!!! Second, no Italian I know puts mint in their sauce!!! This is not the way meatballs and sauce are made. Hurts me to see authentic recipes done wrong

        Reply
        • Martha says

          Posted on 8/19/17 at 5:13 pm

          Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback Maria. I’m sorry you are disappointed with our recipes.

          Reply
        • Julie G says

          Posted on 5/25/18 at 9:35 pm

          My Italian (Sicilian) husband puts a little mint in his ravioli because that’s the way his mother made them. You don’t taste the mint persay, but it does make them extra special! We do put fresh basil in the sauce. It’s nice to try ways other people make it too! Thanks for sharing Martha!

          Reply
          • Martha says

            Posted on 5/26/18 at 11:46 am

            You’re very welcome Julie – We agree – the mint adds something special (without being a very distinctive flavor). Thanks for taking the time to write to us!

        • Felicia says

          Posted on 10/19/22 at 9:23 am

          I agree we ever use mint and I see no basil in them

          ★★★★★

          Reply
  6. Walter Christie says

    Posted on 9/28/14 at 4:31 pm

    Hi Guys:
    Got a question. I have been trying to find a recipe for good “old fashion” German Potato Salad. An old German lady used to make it for us when I was a child (my brother Fred Flintstone love it also) and in the past 35 to 40 years I’ve been searching for the recipe, or a similar one. If I remember correctly, it contained (ready?) real bacon bits and their drippings. I was too young to remember what the green leave pieces were and I remember it was best served warm. My next question will address Wilted Lettuce…can’t wait for that one, eh?

    Reply
    • Martha says

      Posted on 9/28/14 at 5:15 pm

      Hi Walter – No – I’m sorry – we don’t have a good German Potato Salad recipe of our own. (We always make my husband’s potato salad recipe which you can find on our blog.) But doing a quick online search – we usually have good luck with Alton Brown’s recipes…have you tried this one? http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/german-potato-salad-recipe.html (Hope that helps!) Thanks for writing to us! Martha

      Reply
  7. chris barnes says

    Posted on 7/7/14 at 3:28 pm

    Read the review and discovered the ideas very useful, since my personal meatballs are generally always difficult and dried out. Another great effective dishes maybe a uncomplicated parmesan cheese cake?

    Reply
    • Martha says

      Posted on 7/7/14 at 6:53 pm

      Great suggestion Chris!

      Reply
  8. Marlene says

    Posted on 6/30/14 at 7:57 am

    Martha, thank you so much for sharing your recipes! I can’t wait to try them. You are now one of my go-to sites for great ideas!
    Sincerely, Marlene

    Reply
    • Martha says

      Posted on 6/30/14 at 9:05 am

      Thank you so much Marlene! We’re glad you found us!

      Reply
  9. Jennifer Yuille says

    Posted on 2/25/14 at 6:13 am

    Read your comment and found your tips very helpful,as my meatballs are always hard and dry.Any other nice successful recipes maybe a easy cheese cake?
    Thank you once again.

    Reply
    • Martha says

      Posted on 2/25/14 at 9:31 am

      Thanks Jennifer – we hope you have better luck making meatballs with our recipe! Our very first recipe we ever posted was a classic cheesecake recipe (forgive the very amateurish photo here: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/classic-cheesecake/) and there is a pumpkin cheesecake on our site as well. With any cheesecake recipe – we recommend using the water bath method for baking which helps prevent the top of the cheesecake from cracking as it bakes and cools. You can read more about water baths here: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/how-to-bake-using-a-water-bath/ I hope this helps! Thanks for visiting our site! Martha

      Reply
  10. Gloria Natale says

    Posted on 1/6/13 at 3:26 pm

    I’d not use milk…I’d use water…I think milk makes hard meatballs…I always put my bread, crusts and all , under the faucet and squeeze excess water out…them beat bread w/ my eggs and cheese to break it up well….a great cook from Atlantic City taught me years ago to bake my meatballs…much easier…no hard outside ….I’ve been doing them in the over for 65 years.

    Reply
    • Martha says

      Posted on 1/6/13 at 7:05 pm

      Thanks Gloria! We’re going to give that a try the next time!! Thank you so much for your advice! Martha

      Reply
    • Sherrill MacMillan says

      Posted on 10/6/14 at 11:53 am

      What would be the time and baking temperature for the meatballs?

      Reply
      • Martha says

        Posted on 10/6/14 at 12:10 pm

        Hi Sherrill – Step 6 outlines a few cooking options for the meatballs – for baking it would be 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees (F) or until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees. Hope that helps!

        Reply
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