Has anyone else done this?
Pork, Water, Bread Crumbs (Wheat Flour, Bleached Wheat Flour, Leavening [Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate], Dextrose), Textured Soy Flour, Soy Protein Concentrate, Beef, Salt, Dehydrated Minced Onion, Parmesan Cheese (Cow’s Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Romano Cheese (Cow’s Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Sugar, Hydrolyzed Corn And Yeast Protein, Hydrolyzed Wheat Gluten, Spices, Sodium Phosphate Dehydrated Granulated Garlic, Flavorings, Caramel Color. Contains Milk, Soy, Wheat.
There are a couple things I’ve learned about whole, real foods, in regards to this set of ingredients, you want to avoid anything hydrolyzed and anything that has more than 5-10 ingredients, this bag of meatballs has 30! And what does flavorings mean anyway?
Make your own Meatballs!
What you need:
- 3.5+ pounds grass-fed ground beef
- 1 C frozen spinach, thawed and drained thoroughly
- 2/3 C grated parmesan
- 1 whole egg
- 1 1/2 t basil
- 1 1/2 t parsley
- 1 t garlic powder
- 1 t sea salt
- 1/2 t chili powder
- 1 T dried onion flakes
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used crushed/ground up Stone Ground Sesame Crackers
)
What to do:
- Gather ingredients, preheat oven to 400 degree
- Add all ingredients into a large mixing bowl, except the crackers and spinach
- In a Mini Food Processor
, chop up the crackers, dump into bowl, chop spinach (you may have to add a little water), then dump into bowl
- Take your rings off, pull up your sleeves and dig in, mixing all ingredients together
- Use a meatball scoop (I got my stainless steel one from Big Lot’s) or spoon to make 1.5 inch balls, round with your hands if needed.
- Place on an ungreased pan an inch apart, bake for 25-30 minutes
- Use some right away with your favorite sauce and enjoy over pasta, whole wheat or gluten free are even healthier choices
- Let the others cool and store in a plastic bag or air-tight glass container, then put into freezer, add a few to your slow cooker with your favorite sauce! Yum!
Yields about 50 meatballs (and a little leftover for some meat sauce)
I adapted this recipe from Alton Brown’s Baked Meatballs.
What is your favorite meatball recipe to make with your slow cooker?
About Rachel
I LOVE spinach in meatballs!
It’s so good, no one even knew! lol!
SPINACH in meatballs?!! YUM! I am coming over for dinner! 🙂 They look so delish! Thanks for sharing with us at Healthy 2Day Wednesdays! Blessings to you!!! 🙂
I would love to have ya over lol! I hope you love them!
I love homemade meatballs! I mix half pork and half beef, and usually add in peppers, onions, carrots, zucchini and garlic. I *try* to freeze them most of the time, but sometimes I get lazy and only make enough for dinner and lunch the next day. They are fantastic in meatball subs! (Visiting from the WLWW link up!)
Tiffany, thank you for coming by! I was going to use some italian sausage I got from the natural market but it wasn’t thawed and these were amazing so I bet having it would make it even better! Adding peppers and carrots would be even more nurishing too!
I make my own meatballs too, and have for years. This recipe looks AWESOME though so I’m going to try it next time! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Dawn I hope you like them and the “secret” ingredient!
I usually make my own, too with beef, pork and venison. I usually use oatmeal instead of bread/cracker crumbs. But this recipe looks yummy. I’ll have to try it but will still use the oatmeal. Visiting by way of Homestead Barn Hop
I have a tip for you that make meatballs even less of a hassle!
After you have mixed up your meat mixture, dump it on wax paper and pat it down flat. Use a pizza cutter or knife to “cut” it into squares the size you want your meat balls to be. Then just quickly grab each square, roll, and place on a cooling rack set in a foil lined cookie sheet. Kids and husbands can easily help all at the same time cause the meat is all already measured!
Bake in the oven and all the grease will drain onto the foil leaving the meat balls perfect and ready for whatever you want them for. Gather up the foil and toss.
Put the meatballs you want to freeze on another wax lined cookie sheet, freeze for an hour, then dump them in a gallon freezer bag. They will stay separated this way.
Another great thing is to make small patties (2 inch rounds), dip them in egg or mild, and either flour or whatever you like to use for “breading” and freeze them on cookie sheets, put them in a gallon bag and then bake or fry them – they taste just like chicken fried steak! Just cheaper and healthier.
I just had to thank you for the idea of putting spinach in meatballs.
I hate the stuff, but it’s healthy, so any way of making it more palatable is worth my time. I’m going to try these soon!
BTW, any recommendations on sauces that go particularly well with these?