Mix'N'Match Meatballs
Submitted by ErikaD
Mix-and-match meatballs you build your way, choosing the meat, broth, herb, and creamy finish. Baked, then simmered in a mushroom gravy enriched with sour cream, yogurt, or cream cheese, served over noodles, rice, or spaetzle.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
40 minREADY
1 hrsThink of this as a meatball blueprint rather than a single recipe. You pick the meat (beef, pork, lamb, veal, or turkey), choose a broth and a herb, then decide whether the creamy gravy leans tangy with yogurt, rich with sour cream, or silky with cream cheese. Same method, a dozen different dinners.
The meatballs start with a classic egg, milk, and breadcrumb binder that keeps them tender, and they bake in the oven instead of frying, so there’s no splatter and no babysitting the pan.
From there they finish in a mushroom gravy built on sauteed onion and your broth of choice.
The dairy gets whisked with flour first, which is the secret to a smooth sauce that thickens without curdling. Spoon it all over egg noodles, rice, or spaetzle and scatter parsley on top.
Kitchen Tips
- Whisk the flour into the dairy before it hits the hot pan. Adding cold sour cream or yogurt straight in is how sauces break and curdle.
- Cream cheese needs 2 tablespoons of water stirred in with the flour; yogurt wants a full 3 tablespoons of flour to hold.
- Skim the fat off the pan juices before thickening, or the gravy turns greasy.
- Bake the meatballs just until cooked through, then let the sauce reheat them so they stay juicy.
Variations
- Go Swedish with beef and veal, a pinch of allspice, and a sour cream finish over noodles.
- Lean lighter with ground turkey, thyme, and yogurt served over rice.
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, combine the eggs and milk.
Stir in bread crumbs and salt.
Add your choice of ground meat; mix well.
Shape into about 60 (1-inch) meatballs.
Place in shallow baking pan. Bake in 375℉ (190℃) oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until done.
Drain on paper toweling.
In a large skillet, cook onion in hot oil until tender, but not brown.
Add meatballs to skillet along with your choice of broth and seasoning.
Cover; simmer 10 minutes.
Remove meatballs from pan juices; skim fat.
Add undrained mushrooms.
Bring to boiling; reduce heat.
Stir flour into your choice of dairy product.
(If using cream cheese, stir in 2 tablespoons water with flour.) (If using yogurt, use 3 tablespoons flour.)
Add flour mixture to pan juices.
Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.
Add meatballs; heat through. Serve over your choice of hot pasta, rice, or spaetzle.
Top with parsley.
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