When making meatballs, I’ve been using only ground beef and cooking in a skillet, but they always seem too chewy. What can I do differently to create tender meatballs?
This was a question that came up recently during our weekly live chat, where we help you level up your skills in the kitchen. Here are a few tips to ensure your meatballs are tender and tasty.
Don’t overmix. When meatballs are tough, it’s often because they’ve been overworked. Start by thoroughly mixing all of the ingredients except for the ground meat. Once you add the meat, you want to work it only just enough so the ingredients are evenly distributed. I find that my hands are the best tools for this, rather than a stand mixer.
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Answered by Aaron Hutcherson
What’s cookin’, friends? I’m Aaron, a food writer and recipe developer for Washington Post Food. I’m a classically trained chef who loves the comfort and soul food I grew up with and exploring other cuisines. Need help in the kitchen? I’m always happy to help. Email me at aaron.hutcherson@washpost.com or join my weekly live chat.
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Check the fat content. Leaner meat can easily result in dry meatballs, which need to be fully cooked to be served safely. (Ground poultry should be cooked to 165 degrees, and other ground meats should be cooked to 160 degrees.) Pay attention to the fat percentage on the ground meat you’re using — for ground beef, aim for at least 20 percent fat.
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Consider the other ingredients. Just ground meat and seasonings will yield only mediocre results. Egg and breadcrumbs are common mix-ins to add moisture and tenderness. Another binder option that people swear by is a panade, which is fresh or dry breadcrumbs that have been soaked in milk. “The soaked breadcrumbs help keep the proteins in the meat from shrinking,” as food writer Tara Holland explained in the Kitchn.
Choose the right cooking method. Yes, you can pan-fry meatballs in a skillet or bake them in the oven with good results, but there are other ways to go. In a quest for his ideal Italian-American meatball, Daniel Gritzer, senior culinary director at Serious Eats, found that poaching them in a sauce results in the most tender texture. “But you’d lose out on the flavor that browning adds,” he wrote, “and in this case, that flavor is important to me.” So, depending on the type of meatballs you’re making, try a quick sear in a skillet, followed by a simmer in a sauce to achieve the perfect middle ground.
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