Meatloaf Meatballs
I feel like sometimes meatloaf gets such a bad rap as being an over-cooked slab of ground beef with not much flavor at all. Speaking of, I feel like ground beef gets a bad rap in general, but honestly, I love ground beef even more than a fancy steak, but that’s a story for another time.
Back to the meatloaf haters. I think the problem is that those naysayers have probably not tried a great meatloaf yet. That’s all about to change because these Meatloaf Meatballs are a fun take on such a classic dish, and one that I grew up eating often. But this isn’t anything like the meatloaf I had growing up (sorry mom). In writing those I had a vision of putting these meatloaf meatballs in some garlic bread rolls and turning the whole thing into garlic bread meatloaf meatball subs. WOW.
Meatloaf Meatballs
Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
Meatloaf:
- 2 pounds ground beef 85% or 90% lean
- 1 small yellow onion finely diced
- 1 small green bell pepper finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup Panko or plain bread crumbs
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 3 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
Sauce:
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and grease lightly with cooking spray, set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine all of the meatloaf ingredients and mix until evenly incorporated. You don’t want to over-mix the meat at this point or you’ll end up with dry tough meatballs. Shape and roll into balls about the size of golf balls and place on the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, mix together all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl until well-combined. Remove the meatballs from the oven and then spoon a bit of the sauce over each meatball, making sure the tops are evenly coated in sauce. Return the pan to the oven and continue to bake for another 15 minutes.
- Serve with mashed potatoes (or roasted potatoes) and your choice of steamed vegetable or salad. I like steamed broccoli, but sautéed peas would be great too! Enjoy!
