Kittencal's Italian Melt-In-Your-Mouth Meatballs

These really are amazing! I come from a large Italian family and it's frowned upon to use anything other than the "old family recipe", which frankly, wasn't very good! Everyone I've made these for (including my dad who still compares everything to his mom's cooking) were skeptical, especially about putting the meatballs in the sauce raw, but they were instant converts after dinner was served! My entire extended family claims these are the best meatballs they've ever had. And that's actually a little funny since I also used turkey instead of beef, which the men in my family generally refuse to eat because they claim ground turkey tastes like cardboard. However, they loooved these even after I fessed up! I've made them using just ground turkey, and when I can find it, I use turkey sausage as well. I also use store bought sauce (another sin in my family!)because it's easier, and the sauce ends up tasting so great that no one has ever complained! My aunts now think I may not be such a failure in the kitchen after all!

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I made these meatballs up early this morning following the recipe exactly except I added 1 small onion chopped finely into the meatball mixture. I popped them in the crock pot and added 1 can tomato sauce and 1 can chopped tomatoes and juice. I added onion powder, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and freshly ground black pepper. I cooked on high for about 1 1/2 hrs. to bring it to a boil, then lowered it to low for another 7 hrs. The meatballs were delicious and so tender and yummy. They are easy to throw together and the crock pot didn't heat up the house! Thank you for sharing this winner of a recipe Carol. I can't wait to share the recipe with my family! Linda

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Awesome - If I could have given this recipe 15 stars I probably would have. Only deviation I made was I put a small cube of mozzarella cheese in the middle before I baked them. My family scarfed them up. They raved they were the best meatballs ever. Will be making again soon!

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I did basically EVERYTHING wrong in attempting to assemble these, yet they STILL turned out to taste like pure heaven! I seem to have garnished a terribly bad habit of not following measurements, at all (generally because I mostly cook for just myself, and the scaling can be unnerving), so I'm positive that I used too much of one thing, and not enough of the other. I also went the severly-slacking route and heated some doctored-up jarred pasta sauce, but HOT DANG! these were (and still are, after having been frozen and thawed) the most moist, flavorful meatballs that I have EVER tasted. I honestly still cannot believe that I made them, myself. Thank you so much, kittencal!

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I think this is the best thing i've made from a recipezaar recipe!!! The meatballs are so juicy and savory. And they are incredibly easy to make! I will definitely be making these meatballs frequently :) YUM!!!

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I baked my meatballs in the oven then added them to the sauce. I taste tested one before they all went in the sauce, and it was delicious. So, moist...not chewy at all. Now I'm hard-pressed to keep my mind off the meatballs (simmering on the stove-top) and that wonderful Italian Meatball sub I'll be enjoying for supper in a couple of hours. No more searching for the "perfect" meatball recipe. I've found it. Many thanks.

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Very good recipe, my family flipped over this meal. My only issue is that if you cook the meatballs in the sauce you must use a higher grade ground beef like 93/7 otherwise the sauce will be very greasy. Just my two cents worth.

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My Italian husband said they were the best meatballs he had ever had! I made a double batch and used 1 lb lean ground beef and 1 lb sweet Italian sausage.

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I used one pound of ground beef and half a pound of Italian sausage. Great texture and the cheese mixed into the meatballs made them really good. I baked my meatballs to drain off some of the fat. It made a big batch, so I froze the leftover meatballs and will try simmering them in pasta sauce to reheat them. I can see this being my go-to meatball recipe from now on.

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Awesome! I doubled the recipe and used 1/2 pound italian sausage, 2 1/2 pounds hamburger. I also used dried minced garlic, fresh oregano and parm/asiago cheese.

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Perfecto!!!! Made with your sauce. Hubby's asked if I'd be making it again tomorrow.

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Kittencal reminds me of an episode of Emeril, where Emeril tastes his dish to test for seasoning adjustments, turns to the camera and says, Might try doing this for a living, or something along that line. Any newbies reading this be aware, Kittencal means business. Personally, I did a 2/3 beef to 1/3 sausage, sweet italian, and everyone loved it!

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Absolutely delicious! Added a little extra garlic because our family LOVES garlic and substituted masa flour for the breadcrumbs to make this gluten-free. Besides that, followed the recipe exactly and it was wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

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I have made these so many times I don't even have to refer the recipe or even measure ingredients anymore. I cant believe I haven't reviewed them until now. They are super yummy!! I always bake them or do a quick pan fry as my family prefers them a little crispy. Either way they are magically delicious and well worth making over and over again! =)

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I bake the meatballs right away without refigeration prior...and they turn how PERFECT! I add extra garlic:) Thx for hsaring

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Very good meatballs. I halved the salt and in place of milk I had heavy cream to use up. Worked great. I baked the meatballs for 25 minutes and then cooled and froze them individually on a cookie sheet and then put them into Zip style bags in the freezer. Love the fresh parsley. Next time I think I'll use a little fresh basil, too.

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Very good with jo mamas getti!

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Excellent recipe a juicy and tender meatball. The only change I made was to stuff them with a cube of provolone cheese. Recipe is definitely a keeper. Thanks so much for sharing.

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These were ok, but I didn't like the oregano taste so next time I'll leave it out. I really liked the idea of cooking the meatballs in the sauce. It definitely made the meatballs more tender and the sauce more tasty. I used ground turkey, but maybe next time I'll use a mixture of ground turkey and turkey sausage to get a little more flavor.

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I have found a simple and tasty recipe, YES! I used ground buffalo and pork this time. Recipe makes enough little meatballs for two meals, so I froze 1/2 mixture for another day. 1/2 recipe fed 3-4 servings. Use Paul Newman's roasted garlic red sauce if I don't make my own. THANKS!

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