How to Make the Perfect Slow Cooker Meatballs

Ingredients to Use to Make the Perfect Meatballs

1. Picking the right meat is important to making the perfect meatball. Pick the right meats. While you can make meatballs from any type of ground meat, you will achieve more tender meatballs with fattier meats like beef, lamb, and pork. Chicken or turkey meatballs can become tough if you overcook them.

2. Texture is always a concern when trying to make the perfect meatball. It is a good idea to add an egg to hold things together. This will add to the final product being meaty and fluffy.

3. Some people insist on putting bread crumbs into all of their meatballs. Here is another method that may work just as well or better. It is called the soaked bread trick. You tear fluffy white bread into a bowl (each torn piece the size of a pea), douse it with a little milk, then mix the floury mass into your meatball mixture. This will help truly bind your meatball in a better way. It also adds to the ultimate fluff of your meatball.
    

4. It is imperative that you season your meatballs. About 1 teaspoon per pound will make for perfectly salted meat. If you're using a salty cheese like Parmesan in the mix, you can feel free to cut back on the salt a little bit. You don't want your perfect meatballs to taste too salty.

5. Adding in some herbs is also a very important step to having perfect meatballs. If you fail to do so, you run the risk of your meatballs tasting like a hamburger. There are all kinds of herbs you can add in, such as basil, mint, oregano, marjoram, or even nutmeg. It adds some depth to your flavor.

6. Certain cheeses can also add some nice flavor to your meatballs. For instance, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese adds tons of nutty and savory flavor. Use finely ground (not grated) cheese to ensure an even distribution. Regular Parmesan also works as well, if that is an easier option to find. 

Preparation and Cooking Tips for Meatballs

1. You want to keep your meat as cold as possible prior to cooking your meatballs. By keeping the meat cold you will prevent the fat from breaking down. It is best to make your meatballs mixture in a chilled bowl. If you are adding pre-cooked ingredients you also want them to cool down before adding them in with your meat.

2. Making sure to keep your meatballs moist during the cooking process is also important. The protein in meat can make it shrink when cooked and can cause toughness. Adding in some eggs and bread crumbs mixed with milk all help with keeping meatballs moist and tender.

3. You want to make sure you do not pack your meatballs too tightly. They could have a tendency to come out tough, rubbery and chewy. If meatballs are packed too tightly and compactly, they'll turn out tough, rubbery, and chewy. You should definitely oil your hands so that the mixture won't stick to them. Then you want to gently and quickly form your meatballs. You can even use a small ice cream scoop to make uniformly-sized meatballs.
    

4. Browning meatballs is suggested in many cases before entering into the cooking process. But you can also decide not to brown the meatballs and they still turn out just fine. Some people say in this case the meat flavor comes through in a much more prominent fashion.
    

5. There are different optimal cooking times to get your meatballs just right. We suggest cooking your meatballs for about 15 minutes to get the meatballs to a beautiful, juicy and crumbly point that can be more appealing than a longer-cooked meatball.

6. If you decide to go with browning your meatballs, sear them until they have a nice brown crust, then braise them. Once they are cooking in your sauce it's very difficult to overcook them, since they are sitting in a liquid. Braise them for about 15-20 minutes, or until you're ready to serve them.

Bonus: 5 Meatball Recipes