These easy homemade meatballs are tender, flavourful and super simple and quick to make. Oats and egg help bind everything together, while tomato sauce and fruit chutney add a lovely little bit of sweetness and flavour. If you are looking for an easy meatball recipe – as in it takes 5 minutes to prep ingredients, 1 minute to mix and a couple minutes to roll – then this is that recipe!
All you need are some very basic pantry ingredients to add to the mince and then you just roll em up into little balls. I use these meatballs for lots of different meals – meatballs and spaghetti sauce, meatballs, mash and gravy as well and my meatball pasta bake which is absolutely delicious and a tried-and-tested family favourite.
Yes, you can buy meatballs these days at the shops but these homemade meatballs taste SO much better and can be made in just a couple of minutes! Guys, you can even eat them cold the next day, add them to lunchboxes and even make double and freeze them.
This is the same recipe I use (excluding the red wine) for burger patties, except the burger patties recipe is doubled up.
Ingredients Needed to Make Homemade Meatballs
- beef mince
- onion
- oats
- tomato sauce
- fruit chutney, such as pear, apple or apricot
- egg
- salt
- black pepper
- Italian herbs
Just look at these delicious little things! I like to fry them so they get a little charred, you know just enough for flavour but not enough to say “arrrrgh let’s toss em in the bin”
Notes on Makaing Homemade Meatballs
- I mix everything in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment – not for long, just to combine everything.
- Use your hands to roll about 20 or so small balls, just bigger than a golf ball. The great thing about the small meatballs is that they cook quicker! Hooray!
- Pop the meatballs into the fridge for 15–30 minutes. This isn’t essential, but it does help them hold their shape while cooking.
- When frying the meatballs, don’t overcrowd the pan. You may need to cook them in two batches.
- Cook the meatballs for approximately 8–10 minutes, turning them regularly so that they brown nicely on all sides and are cooked through in the centre.
Can you freeze these meatballs?
Yes, you can freeze them uncooked or cooked – both are fine!
Rolled meatballs ready for the frying pan.
They are small – just bigger than a golf ball. Below is my Meatball Pasta Bake which is amaze-balls (hah hah couldn’t help it!!), especially if you make your own meatballs.
If you like making food from scratch, you will also like these homemade Chicken Schnitzels as well as the double batch burger patty recipe which has the addition of red wine! (see patties below)
Easy Homemade Meatballs
Prep Time: 10 minutes- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 20 small meatballs 1x
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Pin RecipeDescription
These easy homemade meatballs are tender, flavourful and super simple to make. Oats and egg help bind everything together, while tomato sauce and fruit chutney add a lovely little bit of sweetness and flavour.
Ingredients
- 500 g beef mince
- ½ onion, finely chopped
- ½ cup oats
- 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
- 1½ tablespoons fruit chutney, such as pear, apple or apricot
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ tablespoon Italian herbs
For frying
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil, such as sunflower oil
- ½ tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Add the mince, onion, oats, tomato sauce, fruit chutney, egg, salt, pepper and Italian herbs to a large bowl. Mix everything together really well using a fork or your hands.
- Using your hands, roll the mixture into approximately 20 small meatballs, trying to keep them roughly the same size so that they cook evenly.
- If you have time, pop the meatballs into the fridge for 15–30 minutes. This isn’t essential, but it does help them hold their shape while cooking.
- Heat the cooking oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Once hot, add the meatballs, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. You may need to cook them in two batches.
- Cook the meatballs for approximately 8–10 minutes, turning them regularly so that they brown nicely on all sides and are cooked through in the centre.
- Serve straight away with your favourite sauce, pasta, mashed potatoes, veggies or salad.
Notes
You can use any combination of dried Italian herbs you have on hand, such as oregano, rosemary, thyme, parsley or marjoram.
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