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Healthy Meatball Recipe

This healthy meatball recipe is simple, versatile, and oh so delicious! Your family will love these freezer-friendly meatballs that are easy and tasty!

Easy Meatball Recipe

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This meatball recipe is one of my favorite dishes to make because I can use them in so many ways! I grew up eating these at graduation parties, potlucks, Tuesday night dinner–they work for so many things!

Beneath the actual recipe below I will also show you four ways to use these meatballs for simple and healthy family dinners that your whole family will love! 

You can make one big triple or quadruple batch and be SET for a variety of delicious dinners! Such a smart way to meal prep ahead of time! 

RELATED: MEAL PREP THE EASY WAY

If you are also a fan of easy, healthy, sanity-saving recipes be sure to grab a copy of my Impossibly Easy Meal Planning Bundle!! I made this resource for busy mom’s just like you and I think you’ll love it!!

You’ll get a week’s worth of great recipes, your grocery list planned out for you, a step-by-step meal prep guide, plus leftover ideas, side dish tips and more!

 

My mom got this recipe from a dear friend who passed away almost 10 years ago. She was one of those sweet ladies always serving in the church and especially adept at the ministry of hospitality, aka good food for those who need it. One of those ladies who showed up with thickly frosted cookies for her small group of girls or stayed late in the church kitchen washing pots and pans because it needed to be done.

She was far from flashy, not the kind of person the world notices, but she was generous, kind, open-hearted–a person her people remember well.

Meatball recipe before cooking

She was very like my mom, her friend, in that way.

My mom is often the first to deliver a meal (an amazing homemade meal to boot!) to someone recovering from surgery or having a baby and these meatballs are one of her go-tos. I have been the lucky recipient of a gallon size bucket of meatballs and let me tell you they are a blessing.

RELATED: MINI ITALIAN MEATLOAVES

This “ministry of food” isn’t an “eat your feelings” type of thing.

When people are hurting or sick or at a loss financially or just had a baby one of the kindest ways you can be the literal hands and feet of Jesus is 1. Showing up  and 2. Bringing food. It’s not flashy; few may notice.

But I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been blessed by a friend showing up with soup or lasagna or meatballs. It’s a way of saying “I can’t do everything, but I can do this: I can take dinner tonight off your shoulders and maybe that is just the break you need to keep going.”

So make some meatballs; and then make some more and take it to a friend. It’s a good way to live.

Now that I’m crying I’ll just shut up and share the recipe.

Healthy Meatball Recipe

Easy Meatball Recipe

Easy Meatball Recipe

Yield: 24 meatballs
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

This meatball recipe is simple, versatile, and oh so delicious! Your family will love these freezer-friendly meatballs that are easy and tasty!

Ingredients

  • 1 pound hamburger
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  • 1 Tablespoon dried onion flakes
  • 1 egg
  • 1 Tablespoon dried parsley
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic
  • 1/4 cup milk

Instructions

  1. Mix all ingredients together. Roll into smallish size balls. Bake at 350 degrees on a foil lined cookie sheet for 30 minutes. Rinse and drain if desired (they'll be a little greasy when they come out, depending on the fat in your meat).

Notes

I use a cookie scoop to help make my meatballs uniform in size. To Freeze: Bake, cool, store in airtight container. Thaw in refrigerator overnight and reheat or use in any recipe.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g

Overhead shot of meatballs in bowl

Easy Meatball Meals

  1. Spaghetti and meatballs. Whole wheat pasta (or spaghetti squash) + jar of marinara + meatballs = magical almost-as-fast-as-takeout dinner.
  2. Meatball sub. Take meatballs and marinara you had with your spaghetti and spread on whole wheat sub bun. Top with mozzarella cheese and place under the broiler for a minute until toasty.
  3. Barbecue Meatballs. Your favorite barbecue sauce + meatballs. Cover the meatballs in barbecue sauce heat in saucepan on stove or in a shallow baking dish or in the microwave or in a crockpot.
  4. Swedish meatballs. Combine two cans cream of chicken soup, 2/3 cup milk, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg in a large saucepan. Add meatballs and heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in 1 cup sour cream and heat through. Serve with rice, cauliflower rice or noodles or just plain (but you will have excess sauce!) You can also put this in a crockpot on low. Add the sour cream 1 hour before serving.
  5. Cranberry sauce. 1 can jellied cranberry relish, 1 bottle ketchup (24 ounce, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 T Worcestershire sauce, 1 T minced onion. Blend all ingredients in blender. Cover the meatballs in sauce heat in saucepan on stove or in a shallow baking dish or in the microwave or in a crockpot.

Can you freeze this meatball recipe? 

Darn straight you can! Cook the meatballs and let them cool to room temperature. Flash freeze them on a cookie sheet (this will help the bottom ones not to get smooshed when you freeze them) and then transfer to a freezer bag or freezer container. (<<< I’ve had these for three years and they’ve held up SO well!)

Don’t forget to grab your FREE week of the impossibly easy meal planning toolkit! 

These meatballs are awesome! Seriously add them to your meal rotation ASAP! You need a stash of these meatballs in the freezer for a total sanity saver!

How would you use these yummy meatballs?  Have you ever been blessed with the “ministry of food”?

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