Juicy Pork Meatballs - Healthy Recipes Blog (2024)

FAQs

What can I use in meatballs instead of breadcrumbs? ›

Rolled Oats

Oats are the perfect substitutes for breadcrumbs in meatballs or meatloaf. While they aren't ideal for a crispy coating, they add the right amount of texture to bind meat, eggs and flavorings together into a delicious Italian-inspired feast.

Filler ingredients like breadcrumbs or flour are important too because they stop the meatballs becoming dry. The breadcrumbs absorb the juices from the meat as it cooks, trapping them within the meatball. Again quantity is important here; too much and your meatball will be more like stuffing or a dumpling.

Baking them at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes should do it. I bake turkey meatballs for 15 minutes, and bake beef/pork ones for 20–25 minutes to ensure they're cooked through. If you need the drippings to make your sauce, you can scraped them out of the broiler pan bottom.

An egg is usually a good start, as that can help with the tenderness and texture, but the king of meatball binders is breadcrumbs soaked in milk (also known as a panade). Soaking the breadcrumbs first makes them pliable and soggy, which allows them to easily and evenly mix into the ground meat.

Add a lightly beaten egg, but not too much. Egg acts as a binder for the ingredients, but you only need a small amount. One small egg will do for one pound of minced meat. Alternatively, if you're following an egg-free diet, you could soak fresh bread in milk, squeezing out any excess milk, to use as a binder.

Egg and breadcrumbs are common mix-ins to add moisture and tenderness. Another binder option that people swear by is a panade, which is fresh or dry breadcrumbs that have been soaked in milk. “The soaked breadcrumbs help keep the proteins in the meat from shrinking,” as food writer Tara Holland explained in the Kitchn.

Add Moisture-Retaining Ingredients:Breadcrumbs: Mix breadcrumbs with milk or broth before adding them to the meat mixture. The breadcrumbs will absorb the liquid, keeping the meatballs tender. Eggs: Incorporate beaten eggs into the meat mixture.

In an oven preheated to 350 degrees F, these meatballs should be fully cooked through and evenly browned in about 30 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the meatball should read at least 165 degrees F.

Baking will result in meatballs with a crunchy exterior, though the caramelisation achieved from frying will be superior.

Should meatballs be covered when baking? ›

Baked Meatball Recipe FAQ

You can check the internal temperature of your meat with an instant-read thermometer. Ground beef is cooked when it reaches an internal temp of 155°F. Should you cover meatballs with foil when baking? We recommend leaving the pan uncovered.

Ground meat needs no assistance in holding its form when cooked. Bread crumbs are there to keep the fat in the meatballs. Yes, you heard me right, we want the fat to stay in our meatballs and not leach out.

Nope. Use cracker crumbs or oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs. Flour would yield a gummy weird textured meatball. Or add other items that can act as filler, minced garlic, onions, mushrooms, peppers, even potatoes, grated cheese, along with beaten egg.

These are my idea of "perfect" meatballs. I make them extra soft and juicy by using bread instead of breadcrumbs, and the grated onion is my secret tip for adding extra flavour into this. Plus, no need to sauté diced onion before mixing it in!

If you're out, there are a number of easy substitutions from your pantry. Try toasted shredded bread, cracker crumbs, crushed melba toasts, matzo meal, crushed tortilla chips, crushed dry stuffing mix, crushed pretzels, crushed cornflakes, or crushed potato chips.