Like meatballs but smaller

December 18, 2018 12:04 PM

I’d like to make mini meatballs that I’ll serve in pasta sauce alongside veggie lasagna. I tend to make meatballs that are pretty big, like you eat one or two on your spaghetti. Do I need to do anything differently to make them smaller?

I skimmed a few recipes to check and Martha has you freeze them before cooking, someone else has you refrigerate before rolling. Is this necessary to keep them from disintegrating?

My standard meatball is beef, breadcrumbs, egg, a bit of sauce, and spices/seasonings, baked on a rack in the oven then heated in sauce at serving time. I don’t want to alter my recipe unless there’s something structural I need to change. I’m not changing meats.

I don’t even know why I want my meatballs small today. I’m just really feeling it. Like the smaller the better. Imagine the nightmare meatballs in Spagetti Os, but you know, tastier.

So any guidance would be great.

posted by OrangeVelour to Food & Drink (7 answers total)

Nope. I make small meatballs all the time for Wedding soup. Maybe soak your breadcrumbs in a little milk just to make sure they aren't dry, being so small. I cook my itty-bitty meatballs right in the soup and you can probably cook yours in the sauce.
posted by Aquifer at 12:21 PM on December 18, 2018 [5 favorites]

How do you cook your big guys? I do medium-size ones (golf ball) and I do them on a baking tray in the oven on, like, 350 for 10/15 minutes. I made some little guys once for Italian wedding soup, and I just simmered them in the soup. They had an egg in the mix which probably helped hold them together.

If I were going to bake tiny meatballs like I do medium sized ones, I would def. make sure there's an egg in the mix, and I'd go for the freezing or chilling as advised because that lets them cook more slowly - so the outsides get nice and brown but the middles don't get overcooked.
posted by cilantro at 12:23 PM on December 18, 2018

In this episode of Pasta Grannies, they make a meatball recipe from Abruzzo with meatballs about the size of chickpeas.
posted by Lexica at 12:27 PM on December 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

Seconding Aquifer -- cook them in the sauce! Less risk of crumbling and better structural integrity. Just make sure the sauce stays at a slow simmer and be careful when stirring.
posted by halation at 12:28 PM on December 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

You are looking for polpettine. Roll in flour or starch for a meatball with a crispy exterior that does not lose its shape while being simmered in sauce.

https://food52.com/recipes/78008-the-tiniest-meatballs
posted by unstrungharp at 5:05 PM on December 18, 2018

This is not related to the size, but I would consider omitting the bit of sauce from your meatball mix - tomato sauce is acidic, and acid weakens the bind of any ground meat preparation by denaturing the surface of the meat, makig it drier and crumblier.
posted by STFUDonnie at 6:48 PM on December 18, 2018

Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time and patience for the "rolling the meatballs" step. Smaller ones will take lots longer, and you'll find yourself making them a little bigger by the end just out of boredom. My last meatball is always almost twice the size of my first meatball.
posted by Liesl at 6:55 AM on December 19, 2018 [4 favorites]