There is nothing like a good protein to tie together a meal. One of the best, that can go in so many dishes, would be pan fried meatballs. The fact that the type of meat is not specified opens up the options, creating a whole world of meatball possibilities., creating a whole world of meatball possibilities. Here, we share some of our favorites.
1. Crispy Butcher’s Nuggets
We jump right in with a meat combo. Lamb and beef are combined to create a unique flavor that will have you remaking them often. There is also the option to add more meat into the mix and play around with the balance to find a sweet spot. These meatballs can be pan fried or made using a deep fryer.
2. Fried Italian Meatballs
Sometimes you need help from a professional. Chef Clemenza shows how to make a delicious pan fried meatball with breadcrumbs. Everything used in this dish is fresh and simple. This is a great opportunity to get kids involved due to the messy nature of combining the ingredients before they get into the pan.
3. Chipotle Meatballs
Want a meatball with a kick? These might be right up your alley. This beef mixture includes cilantro, onion and garlic powder, minced onion, and the most biting part, chipotle peppers in adobe sauce. From start to finish, these meatballs take about 45 minutes. Since they are coated in breadcrumbs before frying, they taste more like a burger patty than a regular meatball.
4. Italian Pan-Seared Meatballs
Learn how to make meatballs that are extremely tender and juicy in this video. The recipe calls for enough ingredients to have plenty to eat tonight with lots more left over to put in the freezer for another day. The way they are made gives them a nice crunch on the outside with a savory softness on the inside.
5. Meatless Meatballs
These days, you don’t even need to have meat to make a meatball. The alternatives are getting better and better, so there’s no time like the present to include your vegetarian loved ones in the meatball tradition. Made from ingredients like cheese, pecans, onion soup mix, and milk, the texture is indistinguishable from the real thing. Get started though, these take an hour and a half to complete.
6. Bola Bola
Also known as pork meatballs, this variation is from the Philippines. What sets this version apart is the use of soy sauce along with the traditional ingredients found in many of the other meatballs. These are often served with rice and a spicy sauce to use for dipping.
7. Tastiest Meatball
This video shows you how to get hands on with your meatball experience. You will be putting everything together, squishing ingredients together with love. This meatball will contain beef, pork, eggs, an array of spices, and parmesan. Included with this video is how to make breadcrumbs.
8. Laab Meatballs
This Thai recipe starts with toasted sticky rice. Don’t worry, it isn’t to add a crunch factor like carrots that were mentioned earlier. Once the rice is nice and toasty, it sits with lime. Then, the rice is ground into powder that will be added to the pork, shallots, coriander, fish sauce, and chili flakes to make the meatball mixture.
9. Chicken Meatballs
To go the leaner route, try chicken meatballs. Made with three different cheeses and a litany of spices, these melon ball-sized balls are a filling addition to pasta dishes or even as a one-off snack. The total time to get these ready for eating is just under an hour with 14 servings.
10. Skillet Meatballs & Marinara
These Italian sausage balls are marinated in marinara, so not only are they quite juicy, they are full up on flavor. Perhaps the best part of the dish is not the meatballs, but actually the sauce, since it is made from scratch. Also, this has a price breakdown of ingredients and meal costs. This recipe serves six for under $8.
11. Eggplant Meatballs
No need to have eggplant as a side! Add some meat and make it the main attraction. This recipe is made with ground turkey, so this could also be a good option for the picky meat eaters in your life who are not too keen on getting their vegetables in at every meal. Another health benefit is that they are made with almond flour.
12. Easy Meatballs
Sometimes, meatball preparation can take a few hours. When you don’t have the time, or a multitude of ingredients, this is a fantastic option! It takes less than half an hour to get these meatballs on the plate. All you need is your meat of choice, Italian seasonings, eggs, cheese, salt, and pepper. Quick and easy, it leaves you with plenty, 40 servings in all!
13. Meatballs Divine
After finding this recipe, it seems obvious that Enrique Iglesias meant the lyric to his popular song to be, “All I need are Meatballs Divine. Get lost in the flavor. The dish will be mine.” These meatballs are reminiscent of a sub-sandwich, including Italian sausage, beef chuck, three different cheeses, onion, and marinara.
14. Pan Fried Meatballs
Also known as Croquetas de Carne de Res, this recipe is Mexican-inspired and done in 30 minutes. Here, you can enjoy a mixture of beef, pepper, and cilantro. For your added convenience, this recipe comes with multiple variations so you can kick up the heat or tone it down.
15. The Best Meatballs
We have shared options that used a few types of cheeses. This one uses a few types of meat. For this ultimate meatball, you will need beef, veal, and pork. Because there isn’t enough protein, two eggs are also involved. To get all the meats mixed properly with all the ingredients, it takes 30 minutes of prep followed by 20 to cook.
16. Crunchy Meatballs
Who doesn’t love a good crunch? Typically, meatballs are not known to be crunchy the whole way through. A crisp on the outside is nice but a bigger crunch could be something new for your taste buds you did not know you needed. This is the only recipe featured here that contains carrots, the magic bullet ingredient.
17. Meatball Nirvana
There are the best meatballs, then there’s meatballs that go beyond this realm into the heavens. Meatballs meet Nirvana. Made mainly with beef, Italian seasonings, milk, and cheese, the secret to making them touch the other side is the kick. The kick of crushed red pepper and hot sauce, that is. For 12 meatballs, set aside 40 minutes.
18. Deep Fried Meatballs
We’ve featured recipes with light, crisp outsides as well as carrots, creating an interior crunch. This video offers the heaviest crunch yet in the form of the deep fry. This will be a three-fold process. After the meatballs are fried in the pan, they will be cooked in the oven. At this point, the balls are re-dipped in egg and breadcrumbs for another round of frying.
19. Playoff Meatballs
Whether you’re watching the football playoffs or really any other sport, having finger foods to snack on during the game is a must. These balls of goodness are designed to be easily popped into your mouth via toothpick to minimize losing any sauce on your fingers. Made with beef, cheddar, ketchup, barbeque sauce, and oatmeal, these balls are the perfect sweet and salty mix.
20. Kababs
Unlike any other on the list, the kebab is a middle eastern take on the meatball. Some of the ingredients are common for this dish, such as ground beef, eggs, onion, garlic, and salt. This recipe, however, is the only one here to include cumin, ginger paste, and coriander powder. Of course, you are always invited to add chilies to taste.
21. Buffalo Meatballs
Speaking of watching a game, these could replace a favorite game day food – wings. Who needs a tray of bones to clean up when you can have an even better meatball with the same hot flavor garnished with celery and blue cheese? This is one of the faster recipes, taking 35 minutes in all. This simple recipe just calls mostly for ground chicken, hot sauce, and bread crumbs.
22. African Meatballs
We’re going in a different direction now, to Africa! These meatballs are unique because of the amount of tomato. There is tomato sauce as well as several large tomatoes. Also, along with other seasoning, there are bouillon cubes to add flavor. This is less spicy compared to others, but a good choice if you’d like to have that would be adding cayenne or habanero.
23. Manhattan Meatballs
Let’s get crazy with our sauce here and make something sweet and sour! This recipe uses barbecue sauce and pineapple preserves. These two ingredients will combine to compliment each other and awaken your taste buds. The mixture will be the freshest part, as it will be poured over them at the end.
24. Caribbean Fried Meatballs
When we went to Africa, the main ingredient was tomato. In the Caribbean, we will be focusing on potatoes! This recipe adds a new texture to the mix in order to create an all around different taste and feel upon the delicate bites of meat. Once they have been given the chance to dry, they will look similar to hushpuppies.
25. Cranberry Meatballs
Most of the recipes we’ve highlighted are savory. This is a fun, festive take on our favorite meat dish. For this one, you will need lemon juice, brown sugar, ketchup, and for a bit of whimsy, jellied cranberry sauce. It’s like Thanksgiving in one bite, minus the all-night turkey bake.
26. Saltfish Balls
We mentioned in the beginning that the beauty of meatballs means you have a choice of meats. This is the first on the list that is fish. Here you will use pollock, potato, breadcrumbs, and a variety of peppers and spices. The balls are made fist-sized for a hearty meal.
27. Cocktail Meatballs
This one is similar to the Cranberry Meatballs but takes a left turn to add onions and chili sauce. These meatballs are great for parties, as the name hints to. They are made small and can be a great snack to accompany a beverage of sorts. The sauce is tangy, so not too hot and not too subdued. They are definitely worth the almost two hours it takes to get them served up.
28. Valentine Meatballs
Talk about a labor of love! This is the first recipe that included Swiss cheese, mushrooms, and dry onion soup mix. For the holiday of love, instead of making these into balls, these are shaped into hearts, as best you can. The dish takes about an hour to make but comes with eight servings, so you and that special someone can dig in as much as you like.
29. Blue Cheese & Beef Ball
Make enough meatballs for the whole family to have seconds and thirds with this recipe that yields 22 balls. This is the only one on the list made with blue cheese, which is definitely giving it an edge for trying something new. It also helps that there are not many ingredients, so it’s really easy to put together.
30. Meatrolls
Save the most interesting for last! These are more stuffed meat slices but a meatball at heart. This recipe calls for minced meat, egg, onion, salt, and pepper to be mixed together then laid out flat. The shredded cheese is spread across the flat plane of meat before being rolled up like sushi and chilled. Frying crates a meat pocket with cheese.
Summary
So many wild and familiar ways to make pan fried meatballs. If you have gotten to the end of this list and your mouth still is not watering, check your pulse! We hope you are now planning a trip to the store to get ingredients for a few of the top favorites from our list.
Michael Johnson is the founder of Pan Mastery, Inspired by his blacksmith grandfather’s legacy has a deep appreciation for hand-crafted pots and pans, he provides invaluable guides, reviews, and recipes to enhance your culinary journey.