Meatball Recipe:
Barbecue Meatballs

This easy meatball recipe has become one of our favorite quick meals.

You don't have to brown the meatballs ahead of time - just mix up the meat, form meatballs, put them in a baking dish, mix up the sauce, pour it over top, and bake!

This dish freezes well. You might want to make a double batch: one to eat tonight, and one to put in the freezer for another time. This is a great dish to take to a sick friend, or to a family with a new baby.

We like to eat this with mashed potatoes. The sauce is delicious over warm mashed potatoes!

Check that you have these staples at home

• in the cupboard
  • salt
  • pepper
  • cider vinegar
  • tomato paste

• in the fridge or freezer
  • ground beef (about 1 pound/500 g)
  • bread crumbs
  • milk
  • onion
  • maple syrup
  • Worcestershire sauce

Get out your equipment

• Essential
  • a mixing bowl
  • a smaller bowl
  • measuring cups and spoons
  • a baking dish

• Nice to have but not necessary
  • a meat baller
  • a meat thermometer
  
  
  

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  The recipe

  Meatballs

  1 lb/500 g ground beef

  1 cup/250 mL bread crumbs

  1/2 cup/125 mL milk

  1/4 tsp/1 mL salt

  1/4 tsp/1 mL pepper
  

  Sauce

  2 cups/500 mL water

  1/2 cup/125 mL minced onion

  1/4 cup/60 mL maple syrup

  2 Tbsp/30 mL Worcestershire sauce

  2 Tbsp/30 mL cider vinegar

  1 can (5 oz/156 mL) tomato paste
  
  

  Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.

  Combine the ground beef, bread crumbs, milk, salt and pepper in a bowl.
  Form into meatballs.
  Place in a single layer in a baking dish.
  

  In another bowl, combine the water, onion, maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce, cider vinegar and tomato paste.
  

  Pour the sauce over the meatballs.

  Bake, uncovered, for 1 hour, or until the meatballs are no longer pink inside.
  
  

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  Substitutions

  • Use soy milk or another non-dairy milk in place of the milk.
  • Use honey instead of maple syrup.
  • Use white vinegar, wine vinegar or your favourite vinegar instead of the cider vinegar.

  Ideas for making this meatball recipe your own

  • Experiment with different spices. What about adding some oregano or thyme to the meat mixture?

  • Try another flavouring instead of - or as well as - the Worcestershire sauce. How about bottled steak sauce, or barbecue sauce?

  • If you prefer crisp meatballs, brown them in a skillet before putting them in the baking dish.

  Tips

  • Use either your clean hands or a meat baller to form the meatballs. The meat baller will make uniformly shaped and sized meatballs - and your hands will stay clean in the process. Using your hands might be a bit quicker, and you can make the meatballs whatever size you want.

  • Cooking time will vary, depending on the temperature of the meat and the size of the meatballs. Ensure that the meatballs are completely cooked, either by using a meat thermometer or by cutting open a meatball to check that there is no pink remaining. The internal temperature of the meatballs should be at least 160F/71C.

  • Bread crumbs will stay fresh for a long time in the freezer. There is no need to thaw them before adding them to the meat mixture.
  
  
  

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  Menu suggestions

  • Mashed Potatoes (Pour the meatball sauce over the potatoes!)

  • steamed green beans

  • a green salad
  
  
  

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  If you enjoy this meatball recipe, you may also like these other ground beef recipes:

  • Sloppy Joes
  • Mexican Skillet Supper
    
    

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