Description
Delicious and classic baked Italian meatballs made with lean ground beef, Parmesan cheese, and Italian seasonings. Perfectly baked to juicy perfection and great served with your favorite pasta sauce over noodles or zucchini noodles for a comforting meal.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup milk (2%)
- ½ cup crushed crackers or breadcrumbs
- ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup finely minced yellow onion
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Optional Garnish & Serving
- Fresh parsley for garnish
- Additional Parmesan cheese for garnish
- Your favorite pasta sauce
- Cooked pasta or zucchini noodles
Instructions
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 400℉ and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Set this aside for baking the meatballs.
- Mix Ingredients: In a medium bowl, combine the lean ground beef, egg, milk, crushed crackers, Parmesan cheese, finely minced onion, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Mix everything well to combine thoroughly.
- Form Meatballs: Shape the mixture into 12 golf ball-sized meatballs using your hands or a cookie scoop for uniform size.
- Arrange on Baking Sheet: Place the formed meatballs evenly spaced on the prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake Meatballs: Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165℉ indicating they are fully cooked.
- Optional Sauce Toss: If desired, heat your favorite pasta sauce in a skillet over medium heat. Transfer the baked meatballs into the sauce and gently toss to coat and heat through.
- Serve and Garnish: Serve the meatballs over cooked pasta or zucchini noodles. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and extra grated Parmesan cheese if you like.
- Storage: Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- These meatballs are a great meal prep option; cook in advance and reheat with sauce for a quick, protein-packed weeknight dinner.
- You can substitute crushed crackers with breadcrumbs of your choice depending on texture preferences.
- For a lower fat option, use ground turkey instead of beef but expect slightly different flavor and texture.
- Make sure not to overmix the meat mixture to keep meatballs tender.
- Use a meat thermometer to ensure meatballs are cooked safely to 165℉ internal temperature.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3 meatballs
- Calories: 239 kcal
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 594 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 8 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 32 g
- Cholesterol: 110 mg
