Meatloaf Meatballs

Meatloaf has got to be one of the ultimate comfort foods. I loved my mom’s meatloaf when I was growing up. A few years ago, I revived my mom’s old recipe & merged it with my mother-in-laws recipe. Just to do something different, I made meatballs one night with some of the extra meatloaf meat & my kids gobbled them up…before the main dish was ever cooked through. So now I try to make this every now & then. Honestly, they’re just as good as a loaf, cooks quicker, and we seem to eat less maybe.

Note: I don’t usually measure out ingredients in stuff that I create. I just toss it in & go. Use your eyes & your nose to guide you. Remember, you can always add to, but not take away.

Meatballs

2 lbs ground meat I’m cooking for 6! Plus I’ll have enough for leftovers at lunch, or I can freeze them.
2 eggs
4 cloves minced garlic We really like garlic at our house!
1/2 c dried minced onion Feel free to use real onion here. In fact you could use a whole medium onion for this much meat. I have picky eaters that won’t eat “real” onion in meatloaf.
about 2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp or so of black pepper
3/4 c bread crumbs this is also adjustable
1 Tbsp fresh parsley
1 Tbsp fresh oregano if you use dried herbs, use about half the amount of fresh
1/2 -3/4 c milk

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix the meat, eggs, salt, pepper, bread crumbs, & herbs together. I go old school & stick my hands in & squish it all together.
Pour in 1/2 c milk. Squish that all together. Use your nose & eyes & hands! The texture of the meat should be a little sticky, not mushy, but not too dry. We’re going for a moist meatball here. Add splashes of milk to moisten the meat up. If it’s too mushy, throw in more bread crumbs & seasonings. Check your seasonings by smelling the meat & looking. You should be able to smell the garlic & onion & herbs. Adjust to your taste.
Roll the meat into golf-ball sized meatballs. Don’t pack the meat too hard or it will be dense & take longer to cook. They’ll shrink a little when you cook ‘em.
Place on a foil lined baking sheet.

Golf-ball sized meatballs. They’re ready to get sauced!

Meatloaf Meatball Sauce

1 1/2 c ketchup
2/3 c brown sugar light/dark, it doesn’t matter. Just not white sugar!
Several dashes of Worcestershire sauce
A couple of dashes of white pepper

Whisk all ingredients together, being sure to break up any sugar clumps.
Taste test. Adjust seasonings to your taste. Need more tang? Add more Worcestershire. Need more sweet? Throw in some more brown sugar.