Making your own meatballs

Absolutely, perfect for drinks, for example. You can easily make about 25 of them. Do bake them for a slightly shorter time since they are smaller.

Making meatballs yourself is incredibly easy and is very common in the Netherlands. That is why I think there are quite a few people who have their own 'family recipe' for this. For everyone who doesn't, I have a recipe here to prepare delicious meatballs (with gravy, of course) yourself.

Of course, everyone wants to make a juicy meatball. The most obvious way to achieve this is by using a 50/50 mix of beef and pork ground meat. This is because it is slightly fattier than lean ground beef.

However, I actually fried these meatballs with lean ground beef, and the balls turned out incredibly juicy. This recipe is therefore tailored to lean ground beef, and not to a half-beef, half-pork mixture.

The trick to preventing dry meatballs is simply not to fry them for too long. Additionally, the gravy in this recipe makes them irresistibly delicious.

BAKING TIP (from a reader): roll the balls in flour before frying; this results in a thicker gravy.

Eggs, together with breadcrumbs, provide binding. Additionally, the eggs add moisture to the meatballs, which (among other things) results in a juicy meatball.

However, it is important not to add too much egg to your minced meat mixture, or to compensate for this with breadcrumbs in the case of large eggs. The breadcrumbs absorb the excess moisture, allowing the binding action of the eggs to ensure that all the loose ingredients form a well-bound meatball.

A cast iron casserole is recommended for frying meatballs. These pans are very suitable when roasting for a longer period at a consistent temperature is required.

The thick bottom of a cast iron casserole ensures that the heat is distributed well and the meatballs are fried evenly.

When the meatballs go into the pan, you must keep turning them continuously. Initially, this seals them on all sides, and then allows you to brown them evenly on all sides.

Next, it is time to fry the meatballs briefly in the butter; this ensures an extra tasty exterior. Finally, add the stock and soy sauce to make a delicious gravy. This keeps the meatballs juicy and completes the flavor perfectly.

Would you prefer not to have gravy with your meatballs? Then you can omit this part of the recipe.

A reader suggested that at this point you can roll the meatballs in some breadcrumbs (with extra herbs, if desired) and fry them again in butter. This gives the meatballs a crispy crust.

Personally, I find these meatballs rich in flavor, but you can enhance this taste with some extra mustard and sweet soy sauce. When adding extra liquid (such as sweet soy sauce), also add some extra breadcrumbs to prevent the ground meat from becoming too juicy and the meatballs from falling apart.

Of course, you can also choose to add extra spices to your minced meat mixture or replace the nutmeg with, for example, a mixture of chili powder and paprika.

Adding extra salt is an option, but this varies greatly from person to person, so I never want to specify too much salt in my recipes.

As an alternative to gravy, you could choose a sauce, for example meatballs in tomato sauce with mozzarella.

This can be due to a number of factors:

In most cases, you will serve the meatballs immediately after making them, but if you have any leftovers, you can easily store them and eat a meatball sandwich the next day, for example.

You can keep meatballs in the refrigerator for 2 days in a sealed package.

Meatballs keep well in the freezer for up to 3 months.

With over 150 recipes, you will be hosting drinks parties that everyone will turn up for. The recipes are divided into different chapters so you can easily choose between oven-baked or no-bake appetizers. Of course, sauces, spreads, and dips are also included in their own chapters.

Personally, I like using coarse mustard, but if you want a more subtle flavor, you can also use fine mustard.

Of course! Vary to taste with other herbs (or a mixture thereof), such as:

That is possible. For example, you can turn them a day in advance, store them well covered in the refrigerator, and only then bake them. Once baked, they keep well; just be sure to warm them up again.