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!