There’s something to “special occasion” food that creates this need to agonize over it. It’s once-in-a-while food—so you need to make it perfect! That’s how I would make meatballs. I would use the same recipe every time, make sure the seasonings were perfect and diverse, and doubt myself every time I added more onions or breadcrumbs. It was a good meatball. I got tired of that meatball.
As with most foods, I needed to free myself from the tethers of one specific recipe. To do that, I had to narrow down the meatball ingredients to the most important components—ground meat, seasonings, and moistened bread crumbs. Other ingredients, like chopped onions, garlic, or egg can add flavor and change the texture, but they are also completely optional. Prepping fresh ingredients can suck up your time and their flavor is subtle for the work they require, so I took those out. You know what other step I took out? Measuring a laundry list of dry seasonings. Instead, I let taco seasoning take the wheel.
That doesn’t mean my meatballs are one-note. Quite the opposite, actually. I can swap in fajita mix. Powdered French onion dip mix. Ranch seasoning pouches. These premixed pouches are fully loaded with robust flavor, so you don’t need to measure out seven different powdered ingredients, and they’re cheap as heck; often a dollar or less. Plus, I didn't even use a whole pouch because I don’t actually want my meatballs to taste fully like taco night. The kick of garlic, cumin, spice, and a little sweetness in the Taco Bell pouch I used actually complemented the tomato sauce I finished the dish with. It didn't read as "taco"; it tasted nuanced and balanced—acidity and a hint of smoke.
To make every-day-worthy meatballs, start by hydrating the dry ingredients. Add one to two tablespoons of your dry seasoning pouch of choice to the breadcrumbs in a bowl. Mix them with a few tablespoons of liquid.
Bread crumbs might seem like “filler” but they meet an integral requirement for good meatballs—shortening protein strands. If you don’t use breadcrumbs, or something like them, the meat’s proteins will make long, rubbery connections and result in a tough meatball. Not cute. As a bonus, dry breadcrumbs hold added moisture within the ball, so you can add milk, chicken broth, or tomato juice to them, making for a juicier meatball and added flavor.
Add a pound of ground meat to the bowl. I used ground turkey, but you can substitute in beef, pork, chicken, or any mixture you like. Mix everything together with a rubber spatula or gloved hands.
I will alway recommend that you scoop meatballs with a small or medium ice-cream scoop. You can use these to scoop many things, but they’re absolutely essential for meatballs. Not only do they keep the size uniform, but you’ll be done in no time. Scoop with one hand, eject the meatball into your opposite hand to give it a half-hearted roll, and place it on a lightly oiled sheet tray. Five minutes is all you need for this step.
This is entirely up to your preference. Pan fry them, bake them in the oven, air fry ‘em, or poach them in a sauce. There’s no bad meatball but a dry meatball, so do keep an eye on them, especially if they’re poultry. Lately I’ve been baking them in the oven because it's fast and completely hands-off. I bake them for 15 minutes in a 350°F oven, test them with a meat thermometer, and they’re usually perfectly cooked.
The whole point is to free yourself from the bonds of specific recipes, but if you need a starting point, here’s my taco seasoning meatball recipe. These are incredibly tender, juicy (surprising for turkey meat), and gently flavored with smoky spices. They taste like I concocted a special combination straight from my spice cabinet. Taco seasoning has such range. I had them in the oven in less than ten minutes.
Ingredients:
¼ cup breadcrumbs
1 ½ tablespoons store-bought seasoning mix (I used Taco seasoning)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup milk
1 pound ground turkey meat
Oil for spraying
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cover a sheet tray with foil. Lightly coat the pan with cooking oil.
2. Add the breadcrumbs, seasoning mix, and salt to a mixing bowl. Mix them together. Add the milk and mix again until the dry ingredients have absorbed the liquid.
3. Add the ground meat and mix it together thoroughly. Try not to over-mix it, stop once it’s just combined.
4. Scoop the mixture into about 30 medium to small meatballs and place them on the oiled pan. Spray or use a pastry brush to oil the tops of the meatballs too. Bake them for 15 minutes or until an internal temperature of 165°F is reached.
