This recipe combines lean ground beef and garlic with hidden carrots, celery, bell pepper and onion to deliver a leaner take on your secret guilty at etnt we love healthy crock pot recipes.
Chef John's Italian Meatballs
You'll ditch lots of the fat ingredients:
Recipe Summary Chef John's Italian Meatballs
Homemade meatballs are a very easy to make, and since we skip the very messy step of pan-frying these before they hit the sauce, it becomes downright simple. Here I use a standard half-beef/half-pork mixture. You can substitute water or beef broth for the milk, if preferred.Ingredients | Healthy Ground Beef Pasta Recipes
⅓ cup plain bread crumbs
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
2 eggs
¼ bunch fresh parsley, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.
Soak bread crumbs in milk in a small bowl for 20 minutes.
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onions in hot oil until translucent, about 20 minutes.
Mix beef and pork together in a large bowl. Stir onions, bread crumb mixture, eggs, parsley, garlic, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, Italian herb seasoning, and Parmesan cheese into meat mixture with a rubber spatula until combined. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour.
Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Using wet hands, form meat mixture into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Arrange onto prepared baking sheet.
Bake in the preheated oven until browned and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.
Some recipes use equal portions of beef, veal, and pork, which is also nice, yet more expensive. These days you can find all sorts of lean-to-fat ratios for ground beef. Most stores sell 90% lean, 10% fat, but I prefer the 80% lean, 20% fat ratio for this recipe.
Once cooked, you can add the meatballs to your favorite prepared tomato sauce for 1 to 2 hours.
Info | Healthy Ground Beef Pasta Recipes
prep:
20 mins
cook:
35 mins
additional:
1 hr 20 mins
total:
2 hrs 15 mins
Servings:
30
Yield:
30 meatballs
