My mom always baked and fried her meatballs. I'm a descent cook (no sauce from a jar from me) but I tried frying meatballs today and had an issue. Anyways, I followed the recipe she gave me. Browned the outsides of the raw meatballs, about the size of an ice cream scoop, then placed them in the sauce to cook. The recipe said to withdraw the meatballs from the sauce and set aside. Well about 75% of them stayed in tact (I had to be very delicate. Does anybody have any tips for keeping the rest of the meatballs from breaking apart?

i like to soak old italian bread then drain it and add a little bread crumb

Just a guess, mind you, but it might have to do with the proportion of non-meat ingredients in the meatballs.

I used to fry them, then only put into the sauce the amount I intended to eat (or serve others) at that time. The rest I would drain on paper towels, let cool to room temperature, then either refrigerate or freeze the remainders.

Perhaps size also has something to do with it; I don't know. I used to make my meatballs around the size of golf balls. But I can't say I know for certain. These are just guesses.


Signor V.

Are you a chef Signor V ? I like big meatballs. Just one big meatball if I'm really hungry I'll eat two or three. They have big meatballs as appetizers at one of favorite local restaurants those small meatballs remind me of that store bought shit what's it called a "MAMA LUCA". My ex-wife wasn't italian and couldn't cook one night she made those thinking she was a good cook I threw them on the floor and she started to cry. She had some emotional problems.

If they're falling apart on you, then you're not putting enough binder in. Try one more egg and a little more breadcrumbs. If the ratio is correct they shouldn't fall apart on you.

There are quite a few grandmas from Italy who don't even fry the meatballs first. My grandmother on my Calabrese side just dropped them into the sauce raw and poached them, and they NEVER broke apart. It's tricky, but you'll never get a more tender meatball.

I'm kinda torn on that method, though. Because half the fun of meatballs on a Sunday morning is eating a couple of fried ones while the sauce is cooking. I remember when I was kid. I grew up in an extremely Catholic/Italian-American neighborhood. We used to fast from midnight on Saturday until after Communion on Sunday morning. My brother and I used to RUN home from Mount Carmel to get a couple of fried meatballs because we were so hungry!

The best part of Sunday mornings was walking home from church past the bakeries and stopping to buy danish for breakfast and Italian bread for "dinner", which was always in the afternoon.

I still fry my meatballs, but I know people who bake them. I agree with PB, though, yours are falling apart because they may not have enough bread or egg. Sometimes you can just add milk instead of another egg. I also add a little bit of the oil from the pan to my gravy.

If you like a sweet gravy, brown a chicken leg and throw that in as well.

I brown mine in a frying pan and bake em off in the sause, it took more a few times to get them just right but its the way I remember my grandma cooking them. I prefer them that way but fried or baked off raw in the sause is fantastic too.

I use ground veal, eggs, uncooked oatmeal and seasoning, rol 'em up into balls, and bake them until they are golden brown, then put them into the tomato sauce.