I second Costco or Ikea. Definitely if you're using them for a party!

The Costco turkey frozen meatballs are pretty good. They used to have Aidell's refrigerated ones that I liked, but now they only have the teriyaki flavored ones, which I have zero interest in.

I've heard that the secret to a good homemade meatball is soaking the bread in milk first. Haven't tried it yet. I'm lazy.

Ina:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/real-meatballs-and-spaghetti-recipe/index.html

Trader Joe's has frozen meatballs too -- regular, turkey and party size.

Costco or Ikea meatballs. Love both of them. Costco chicken with basil is saltier than usual, so use a low salt sauce.

Browning is good for flavor, but to make it really easy you can skip that step. Here is a simple recipe:

1.5 lbs ground beef
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup or so of breadcrumbs
1/2 cup or so of grated parmesan
A little crushed garlic
A pinch of red pepper flakes
A pinch of dried oregano

Cover and simmer gently in sauce for an hour

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like to cook them in the sauce! I use the meatloaf mix, which is pork, veal, and beef.

There are a ton of recipes depending on how you like them seasoned. Definitely do the soaking bread in milk thing, instead of breadcrumbs (Google it for info). they will be a lot more tender.

I saw this recipe online: http://greatideas.people.com/2013/09/27/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-a-killer-meatball-recipe/ and it looked promising, though I wouldn't make "giant" ones. Is this the type of milk-soaking that you mean?

Yep! I didn't read that closely, but I see it also calls for panko. I've never done bread/milk with breadcrumbs.

Anonymous wrote:Costco meatballs are gross. Make them yourself.

OP asked for recipes, meanie. Do you have one?

My only tip (I make meatballs for football games, but they're buffalo chicken flavored -- not for subs) is not to pack them too tightly. If you really pack the meat into the balls and press them hard into shape, they'll come out too dense and hockey-puck like.

Costco meatballs are gross. Make them yourself.

Anonymous wrote:I like to cook them in the sauce! I use the meatloaf mix, which is pork, veal, and beef.

There are a ton of recipes depending on how you like them seasoned. Definitely do the soaking bread in milk thing, instead of breadcrumbs (Google it for info). they will be a lot more tender.

I saw this recipe online: http://greatideas.people.com/2013/09/27/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-a-killer-meatball-recipe/ and it looked promising, though I wouldn't make "giant" ones. Is this the type of milk-soaking that you mean?

Good point. I meant the tomato sauce kind -- I was thinking meatball subs for a party.

I like to cook them in the sauce! I use the meatloaf mix, which is pork, veal, and beef.

There are a ton of recipes depending on how you like them seasoned. Definitely do the soaking bread in milk thing, instead of breadcrumbs (Google it for info). they will be a lot more tender.

What kind of sauce? For a tomato sauce for pasta, make your own. You can bake them off or brown them off before putting in the sauce, but it's not critical. For the cocktail meatballs, just buy them.

I've somehow never made meatballs, and the internet is conflicting on browning in the oven/browning on the stove top/cooking directly in sauce. What's a good, fool-proof recipe (me being the fool or at least the novice). Or should I just go to Costco and buy a bag of frozen ones?