If you’re looking for a weeknight meatball, this is it: no chopping, one bowl, baked meatballs! They’re perfect because you can mix them up, pop them in the oven and skip out on standing next to the stove to sauté.
Is there anyone who doesn’t love meatballs? I don’t know what it is about little balls of meat, but damn, they’re good. I’m pretty sure every culture out there has a meatball and I’m in love with all of them. I feel like I didn’t get to eat a lot of meatballs growing up because my mom didn’t make them and as I kid I couldn’t really figure out how meatballs even existed. I’m embarrassed to admit that I kind of sort of though they were an animal? Like how chicken wings come from chickens, I thought meatballs were from little meatball animals. I was a super weird kid.
Anyway, meatballs are a staple around here because we always have some frozen in the freezer for a quick and easy meal. In the past, I’ve definitely been known to buy a bag or two of Ikea meatballs, but now that I’m an expert Swedish meatball maker, I just make a double batch and freeze them. This recipe is a little less involved than the Swedish (thank goodness) and perfect for making on a weeknight. It’s even a little stress reducing because you have to squish everything together, like a stress (meat) ball.
The reason they’re prefect for weeknights is because NO CHOPPING. Ever since I’ve been making these air fryer Vietnamese chicken wings, I’ve been incorporating more and more garlic and onion powder into recipes. I think they’re awesome! All the onion and garlic flavor and none of the chopping. And the best part is, all they are is literally dehydrated garlic and onion. There’s nothing else in them. The dehydrating gives them a bit more of an intense flavor than fresh and when I’m in a hurry and can’t chop, garlic and onion powders are a life saver.
After you mix and shape the meatballs, it’s just a quick oven bake. For this specific purpose, oven baking meatballs is the best way to cook meatballs – you can cook a big batch all at once and every single meatball is evenly cooked at the same time. No more batch frying meatballs, which we all know is the most annoying part.
After they’re done, eat them straight, sauce them, pair them with your favorite carb (noodles, rice, bread) and boom. Happiness is just a meatball away.
PS – We tossed them in some chili oil for a bit of a deconstructed siu mai kind of situation and DAMN, they were so good.
Easy Healthier Baked Pork Meatballs
makes about 30 meatballs
- 1 pound ground pork
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup panko
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 freshly ground pepper
Heat the oven to 400°F. Like a rimmed baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with cooking oil.
Mix together the all of the ingredients and roll into small balls, placing on the baking sheet as you go.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on size. Enjoy!
