The Secret For The Most Flavorful Meatballs In Record Time
It's safe to assume not many novice home chefs would list meatballs as one of their 50 easy dinner ideas for busy weeknights. While meatballs don't usually contain more than a handful of common ingredients like ground beef, egg, onion, and breadcrumbs, often, choosing the right blend of seasoning and forming this designated meat-based mixture into evenly sized balls is stressful enough. If you find yourself at the behest of another rushed weeknight and don't have a specific meal in mind but have some fresh herbs and ground beef on hand, you can make a delicious batch of meatballs in no time.
If you're scratching your head wondering how meatballs can be prepared quickly, you have one common kitchen appliance to thank. As it turns out, your blender is responsible for helping you make the most flavorful meatballs in just a few convenient, mess-free steps. Instead of spending endless time chopping your ingredients, gather a few of your favorite fresh herbs and some additional aromatics and plug in your blender. With the right mixture of ingredients, this blended concoction can be added to meat and breadcrumbs in a flash and formed into flavor-filled balls in a matter of minutes. Before determining which herbs work best for these easy blender meatballs, let's uncover the step-by-step process behind making this delicious and convenient meal.
How to make quick and tasty meatballs with the help of your blender
Besides making a batch of easy turkey meatballs, thanks to the help of jarred marinara sauce, you can turn your next pound of beef into delicious bite-sized snacks with the right blend of common ingredients. Aromatics are vegetables and herbs like onion, garlic, ginger, and cilantro. These special ingredients add significant complex flavor to your favorite foods. Using your blender to pulverize these essential ingredients, they impart a great deal of flavor when cooked within your beef and breadcrumbs.
To make these simple meatballs, gather your favorite soft-stemmed herbs, destem all chosen varieties, and mix in a large bowl. Reserve some of these fresh herbs for garnish purposes, and throw the majority into your blender with some garlic, chopped onion, an egg or two, and some salt and pepper. Make sure you're using a total of three cups of fresh herbs in the entire process so you're able to give this convenient dish the right amount of flavor. Once you've blended your herbs, eggs, and extra aromatics, pour into a bowl and mix with one pound of ground beef and at least one cup of plain breadcrumbs. You may need to add more or less depending on the moisture level of your meatball mixture. Now that you know besides forming and baking, these meatballs prove to be quite simple to make, what kinds of herbs are most recommended for a dish like this?
The best herbs to mix into homemade meatballs
If you sometimes feel confused regarding when to use fresh herbs over dry herbs, just know that fresh varieties are essential to these specific meatballs. Fresh, raw herbs, when blended, impart a fresh-tasting quality that soaks into your meat mixture, especially when added to flavor-rich aromatics like onions and garlic. If you're wondering which herbs work best, you can choose whichever varieties you're partial to, but make sure you stick to ones with soft and malleable leaves and stems. This category of herbs includes popular varieties like parsley, cilantro, chives, basil, and dill. While these herbs all showcase a distinct, individual flavor, they won't completely overpower every other ingredient in your resulting dish.
Herbs that you should try and avoid are ones with woodier stems like oregano, rosemary, and thyme. These varieties are typically cooked alongside a main ingredient to release their inner flavor and removed before mealtime. The stems of woodier herbs should be avoided since they're often very rigid, which makes them nearly inedible. Once you assemble and cook your meatballs in the oven or on the stove, pair these flavorful snacks with a tangy serving of plain Greek yogurt sprinkled with olive oil and a generous sprinkling of leftover herbs. With the help of your trusty blender, you can have one delicious, bright-tasting meal in no time.