Mama Rita's Meatballs
8
Servings
12
Ingredients
15
Comments
Cooked in unctuous bacon fat and covered in your favorite marinara sauce, this well-loved recipe for Mama Rita's Meatballs makes the perfect sub sandwich filling or addition to a plate of al dente pasta.
8
Servings
12
Ingredients
15
Comments
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Ground Beef
- 2 teaspoons mince Garlic, Cloves
- ½ cups dice Onion
- ½ cups Bread Crumbs, Whole Wheat
- 4 individual beat Egg
- 1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoons Black Pepper
- ¼ cups chop Parsley, Fresh
- ¼ cups Parmesan Cheese, Shredded
- ¼ cups Bacon Fat
- 4 cups Marinara Sauce
Containers
Supplies
Cooking Instructions
Freeze For Later Cooking Day Directions
Stovetop
These directions help you cook or prepare this meal PRIOR to being frozen for serving later (see Serving Day Directions when you are ready to prepare it to eat).
Why would I want to freeze this?
- In a large mixing bowl combine raw ground beef, garlic, onion, breadcrumbs, eggs, red pepper, salt, pepper, parsley, and Parmesan. You may need to use your hands to get it thoroughly combined.
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Make From Frozen Serving Day Directions
Stovetop
These directions help you cook or reheat this meal AFTER it's been frozen for when you are ready to eat it.
- Thaw: In fridge
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Make It Now Cooking Directions
Stove Cook
These directions are for cooking this recipe to serve immediately and NOT to freeze for later.
- In a large mixing bowl combine raw ground beef, garlic, onion, breadcrumbs, eggs, red pepper, salt, pepper, parsley, and Parmesan. You may need to use your hands to get it thoroughly combined.
- In a large skillet, heat bacon grease over medium heat.
- Meanwhile, roll meat mixture into balls about 1.5-2 inches in diameter.
- When grease is hot, cook the meatballs about 5-7 minutes on each side. Check one to see if meatballs are done on the inside. Meatballs should be browned and crisp on all sides and no longer pink inside. If they are browed but not cooked inside, lower heat and cover.
- Cook for 5 more minutes and check another meatball.
- Place meatballs in warmed marinara sauce.
Nutrition Facts
- Servings Per Recipe
- 8 Servings
- Serving Size
- about 5 meatballs Amount Per Serving
- Calories
- 413
- Total Fat
- 25g
- Saturated Fat
- 9g
- Trans Fat
- 1g
- Cholesterol
- 199mg
- Sodium
- 1081mg
- Total Carbohydrates
- 14g
- Fiber
- 1g
- Sugar
- 7g
- Protein
- 31g
- WW Freestyle
- 11
15 Comments
Join the discussionKim,
Well done and well said. Nanny would be proud of you. The only complaint that I have is that you and Nikki both call “gravy” sauce. I thought you girls would carry that on too! Love you sweetie!
These were the best meatballs that I’ve ever made. My family ate them all (one freezer portion, about half) before I could even cook the pasta! Thank you for sharing your family recipe! 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe! It was the best meatball dish I have ever eaten and my husband LOVED it as well.
My husband is wondering what the texture is like. Is it like meatloaf?
I guess meatballs are similar to meatloaf. They are pretty tender if you cook them in the sauce after browning them.
Thank you soo much for this recipe! These are the most delicious meatballs I ever made. I was going to freeze in two batches but after we all sampled “one” that is not going to happen! I will definetly make these again and again!
Can you freeze these meatballs in the raw form and then fry them when you’re ready to eat them?
Definitely!
Thank you Katie! So I would just make the meatballs and add the marinara sauce when I am cooking them i’m guessing?
That is correct. You could freeze the marinara in separate freezer bags so it’s ready to go when you are!
These meatballs are delicious! Amazing how simple and few ingredients and yet so amazing! I did, however, not have any parsley so substituted with finely chopped spinach. Still tasted great! Thank you!!
I have egg allergies in the house. Do you gave any recommended substitutes?
You could use egg substitute or the flax seed trick.
To replace one egg:
1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
3 tablespoons water (or other liquid)Stir together until thick and gelatinous.You can also use whole flaxseeds:1 tablespoon whole flaxseeds
4 tablespoons water (or other liquid)Process seeds in a blender to a fine meal, add liquid and blend well.
I just want to make sure that you do not cook the meatballs before you freeze them. You freeze them and put them raw with the sauce in the crockpot?
Tina, for this recipe you do pan cook them before freezing. See the directions above for more information.