The World’s Fastest Meatballs – No Chop, No Roll, No Fry, No Kidding

One of my favorite things about the Internet is how you can make outrageous claims with complete impunity. For example, I’m claiming that this is the world’s fastest meatball recipe, and while I have plenty of evidence to support my claim, I really like knowing that I’ll never need to. In related news, I’m one of the world’s strongest men.

Anyway, these meatballs are significantly faster than a traditional recipe for three main reasons: First, there’s no chopping and sauteing to make the base mixture. Secondly, there’s no rolling involved. Small meatballs cook fast, and are always tender, but they’re a pain in the butt to roll. By using a small portion scoop, you can do an entire pan in a few minutes.

Lastly, broiling instead of frying is not only a quicker way to brown, but way less messy. Yes, you could just bake, but the broiler will take about half the time. By the way, as I mention in the video, if you have a few extra minutes, let the meatballs simmer on low to make the tomato sauce even more flavorful.

Just because I’m showing you a few shortcuts, doesn’t mean you can’t add some longcuts back in. You can certainly use a more standard recipe, like our ricotta meatballs, and still use the no-roll and broiler methods to cut prep time, without sacrificing quality.

At the very least, I hope you try this recipe so you’ll have to go out a buy a couple portion scoops. Above and beyond expeditious meatball production, these “dishers” come in handy for so many other kitchen tasks. I hope you give them, and these easy meatballs a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 48 little meatballs:

For the slurry:

1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs

1/4 cup milk

1 large egg

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp granulated garlic or garlic powder (not garlic salt)

1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons dried Italian herb mix

*Or use: 1/2 tsp dried parsley, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/4 tsp dried oregano, 1/4 tsp dried thyme

For the rest:

1 pound ground veal

1 pound ground beef

1 1/2 tsp salt (by the way, you can cook a small piece of the meatball mixture to test salt)

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp white pepper, optional

1/3 cup freshly, finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

6 cups simmering tomato sauce of your choice

View the complete recipe