How to cook tender meatballs. Simple meatballs

Try cooking meatballs in a saucepan - quick and easy! With gravy and sauce they turn out tender and tasty.

  • Minced pork - 1 kg
  • Rice - 600 g
  • Carrots - 1 pc.
  • Onions - 1 pc.
  • Tomato paste - 3 tbsp. l.
  • Water - 1–2 tbsp.
  • Salt, spices - to taste.

To prepare minced meatballs with gravy, semi cooked rice. Rinse it until the water is clear and pour boiling water so that it covers the rice by 2 centimeters. Once the water boils, reduce the heat and simmer for 7 minutes. That's it, the rice for the meatballs is ready. What if we take raw rice? There will be nothing terrible, only such meatballs will look like hedgehogs and it is better to eat them right away, since when reheated, the rice will not be hard. Add minced pork. Finely chop the onion. Grate a little carrot on a fine grater. Let the vegetables simmer and also add to the rice base.

Mix the mass. Salt and pepper.

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If you cook on the stove, it is best to line the bottom of the pan with cabbage leaves or sprinkle with grated carrots to prevent the meatballs from burning.

We form balls from the minced meat. Place them in a saucepan. It is most convenient to stew the meatballs when they are folded in one layer. But if there are a lot of them, then sprinkle the first layer with carrots and fold the second layer of meatballs on top of the first.

Grate the remaining carrots on a coarse grater and place them on top of the meatballs. It will give the dish a special taste and aroma. For those who do not like stewed vegetables, we advise you not to give up carrots, but cut them into large rings so that you can easily remove them later.

We dilute the tomato paste with water. You will have to adjust the amount of water to suit your pan. The liquid should almost completely cover the meatballs. If you have homemade preparations, replace tomato paste for tomato juice.

Simmer the minced meatballs with rice in tomato sauce for 30 minutes over low heat. How to determine readiness? Try the rice. If it is ready, then the dish can be removed from the stove and served.

Recipe 2: how to cook meatballs with vegetables in a pan

  • minced beef - 400 g;
  • potatoes - 8 pieces;
  • carrots - 1 piece;
  • onion - 1 piece;
  • chicken eggs - 1 piece;
  • rice - 120 g;
  • tomato juice - 3 tablespoons;
  • sunflower oil - 70 g;
  • salt - to taste;
  • ground black pepper - to taste

First I wash the rice and soak it in warm water. Then I peel the potatoes and leave them too, but in cold water.
I put a pan of water (5 liters) on the fire until the water boils and continue to peel the carrots and onions for frying.

After 15 minutes, put the minced meat in a bowl. I drain the water and pour the soaked rice into a bowl with minced meat.

To prevent the meatballs from falling apart, I add one raw egg.

and mix everything thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Then I start preparing the meatballs.

As soon as the water boils in the pan, I put the meatballs in it.
I put a frying pan next to the stove and pour in 70 g of refined sunflower oil and as soon as it boils, I put finely chopped onion and mix well. While it's frying, I grate the carrots on a fine grater. I salt the water in the pan to taste and skim off the foam from the surface with a slotted spoon to keep it clean.

I transfer the carrots from the plate to the frying pan and stir.

I cut the potatoes into slices and pour them into the pan with the meatballs. I add homemade tomato paste to the frying and mix well. As soon as the frying is ready, I put it in the pan and stir again. A few minutes before the dish is ready, I add fresh finely chopped herbs on top. I turn off the gas and leave it to simmer for a few minutes.

It turned out to be a very tasty first dish with meatballs.

Recipe 3: Meatballs in a pan with rice and gravy (with photo)

From this recipe you will learn not only about the method of cooking the meatballs themselves, but also about the process of creating the right gravy. As a result, we should have very tender, juicy and tasty meatballs with rice, which can be served with absolutely any side dish or even eaten just like that with bread. Let's start preparing meatballs from minced meat as in kindergarten.

  • minced pork - 500 gr
  • rice - ½ cup
  • onion - 1 pc.
  • egg - 1 pc.
  • sour cream - 2 tbsp.
  • flour - 1 tbsp.
  • water - 1.5 cups
  • bay leaf - 3 pcs
  • salt, pepper - to taste

To prepare such meatballs, we first need to thoroughly rinse the specified amount of rice, and then boil it until half cooked. Be sure to prepare the minced meat yourself from pork or beef, or preferably half and half. Wash the selected piece of meat, dry it and chop it very finely. Then mix the meat with the pre-cooked rice. Peel the onion and grate it on a medium grater or chop it in a blender. Add the onion to the rest of the ingredients, add one chicken egg, salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Mix the minced meat thoroughly until smooth. Beat it several times on a clean countertop or on the walls of the same bowl: this will make it dense enough for further cooking.

With wet hands, form small balls from the resulting minced meat as shown in the photo. Then roll each ball in flour on all sides so that the frying process does not spoil the shape of the meatballs.

Heat a frying pan with vegetable oil and fry the meatballs on it until they are golden brown.

Transfer the fried meatballs and rice into a deep saucepan. In a separate bowl, dilute the tomato paste in water, add a little salt and pour this liquid into the balls in the pan. At this stage, add a bay leaf to the meatballs. Simmer the meatballs over low heat with the lid closed for 10 minutes.

Now let's prepare the extra sauce. Dilute the indicated amount of sour cream in half a glass of cold water.

Carefully pour one tablespoon of flour into the cup, mix thoroughly so that no lumps form.

After 10 minutes, pour the resulting sour cream sauce over the meatballs in the pan, close the lid again and continue to simmer for another 20 minutes until completely cooked.

The finished dish can be served with a wide variety of side dishes and only hot or warm. Now you know how to cook meatballs with rice the same way they were cooked in kindergarten.

Recipe 4: Meatballs with rice, cooked in a saucepan

You can make regular cutlets from minced meat, or you can make meatballs in a pan, and the latter will not only be a healthier food, but will also save you a lot of time. You simply put the meatballs in a pan and go about your business - you don’t need to fry each batch, turn them over, or check for doneness. No smoke in the kitchen and no greasy pans. In a word - only advantages. And if you get used to such food, then the absence of a fried crust will be a plus for the taste.

  • boneless meat (beef) - 300 gr.;
  • onions – 3-5 pcs.;
  • carrots – 1 pc.;
  • chicken egg – 1 pc.;
  • rice – 100 gr.

First, let's prepare the products. Defrost the meat and peel the vegetables.

Cut the meat into small pieces and grind through a meat grinder. We will carry out the same procedure with onions and carrots.

Add a chicken egg, the specified amount of rice, as well as salt and pepper to taste to our minced meat.

Mix the minced meat thoroughly for future meatballs.

Let's prepare a suitable medium-sized saucepan. Form small meatballs from the minced meat and place them on the bottom of the pan. It is not recommended to lay out more than two layers, as the meatballs may lose their shape during cooking.

Pour about 50-100 ml into the pan with meatballs. boiling water, close the lid and put on low heat to cook. During cooking, water can be added if necessary.

After an hour and a half, you can check the readiness of the dish.

Serve with ketchup or soy sauce. You can prepare mashed potatoes as a side dish for rice meatballs. Bon appetit!

Recipe 5: minced meatballs in gravy (step-by-step photos)

  • 500 g minced pork and beef
  • 400 ml water
  • 250 g dry rice
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic
  • 1 onion and 1 egg
  • 3 tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 2 tbsp. cream
  • 1 tbsp. tomato paste
  • pepper, salt

Wash the rice thoroughly in several waters, pour cold water and boil until crumbly, then drain in a colander.

Beat an egg into the minced meat, pepper and salt it, add crushed garlic and grated or very finely chopped onion, add rice and mix everything.

With wet hands, form walnut-sized meatballs from the minced meat and rice and place them in a frying pan with heated vegetable oil (you can directly into the pan), fry over medium heat until browned.

Place the meatballs in a pan (if the pan is deep, you can leave it in it).

Boil 400 ml of water, dilute cream and tomato paste in it, add pepper and salt, stir and pour over the meatballs.

Bring the meatballs to a boil, simmer over moderate heat, covered, for about 10 minutes.

Serve the meatballs with rice with a side dish to taste, bon appetit!

Recipe 6: meatballs in tomato-orange sauce (step by step)

  • 500 g minced meat;
  • 1 cup rice;
  • 1 tsp. favorite dry herbs;
  • salt, pepper to taste;
  • vegetable oil for frying.

For the sauce:

  • 2 tbsp. l. tomato paste;
  • juice of 1 orange;
  • zest of 1 orange or lemon;
  • 1 tbsp. l. honey;
  • 1 tsp. starch;
  • ½ glass of water;
  • ½ tsp. black pepper;
  • ½ tsp. dry rosemary;
  • salt to taste.

First of all, boil the rice until half cooked. If you mix raw cereal with minced meat, the meatballs will turn out incredibly dry - during the cooking process, the rice will draw out everything it can from the meat. If the rice is ready, after the meat is stewed, you will get an indistinct spreading mass, far from what could be called neat and appetizing rice. In general, being half prepared will save you.

I pour the washed cereal with a small amount of water, obviously not enough to get ready-made rice. And I cook until I have something to cook in. It turns out perfect.

Prepare homemade minced meat and combine with cooled rice. Add salt, pepper, herbs. I like it when dry celery is added to the meatballs - it’s very flavorful!

Mix.

Form small balls.

Fry them on all sides in a well-heated frying pan. Fire – medium, do not forget about vegetable oil.

Fry the meatballs.

Place the meatballs in a pan, fill with water so that the liquid level is about 3 cm above the bottom. Place on the fire, bring to a boil, reduce the gas and simmer for about 30 minutes. Perhaps if the meatballs are large, the cooking time will need to be increased slightly.

At this time, prepare the sauce. Remove the zest from an orange or lemon.

I prefer to grind black pepper and rosemary myself - I pour it into a mortar.

I grind it to the required size and enjoy the aroma. If you don't have a mortar, you can use a blender, coffee grinder or regular rolling pin.

Squeeze out the juice, pour into a saucepan, add zest and honey. Salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat.

Dissolve starch in half a glass of water.

Pour the starch water into the saucepan in a thin stream and stirring constantly.

Add tomato paste and ground spices.

Pour the resulting sauce evenly over the meatballs.

We put it on low heat for another 10-15 minutes, after which we serve it with our ears pricked up: there will be so much praise that you will get tired of listening!

Recipe 7, simple: meatballs in a pan with buckwheat

  • minced meat 500 g
  • boiled buckwheat - its volume should be slightly larger than minced meat
  • onions 2-3 pcs.
  • eggs 2 pcs.
  • mayonnaise 2-3 tbsp. l.
  • salt pepper
  • vegetable oil
  • For the sauce:
  • carrots 1-2 pcs.
  • onion 1-2 pcs.
  • tomato paste 1 tbsp.
  • water 2-3 tbsp.
  • salt pepper
  • garlic 2 cloves

Mix minced meat, boiled buckwheat, onion chopped in a blender, eggs, mayonnaise, salt, pepper.

Form meatballs and place in a heated frying pan with oil.

Fry on both sides until golden brown.

Transfer the fried meatballs to a large saucepan.

We suggest preparing meatballs for the lunch menu. The basis of the proposed dish is minced pork and beef, complemented by boiled rice and onions. These meatballs are prepared with gravy in a frying pan, which greatly simplifies the cooking process.

Meatballs prepared according to this recipe come out with a dense structure. They do not fall apart, because among the ingredients there is a chicken egg.

Delicious and quick meatballs with gravy in a frying pan go well when served with mashed potatoes.

Ingredients

  • minced meat (pork + beef) – 500 g;
  • rice – 0.5 cups;
  • onion – 1 piece;
  • carrots – 1 piece;
  • vegetable oil – 40 ml;
  • chicken egg – 1 piece;
  • tomato paste – 1.5-2 tablespoons;
  • salt - to taste;
  • seasoning for meat dishes - to taste;
  • fresh green onions– 5-6 feathers.

Preparation

Start preparing the meatballs by boiling the rice. Rinse the rice under cold running water. Then transfer the cereal to a saucepan and cover with water. Place the pot of rice on the stove. After boiling, reduce heat. Boil the rice, but do not let it turn into porridge. Place the boiled cereal in a sieve and rinse with cold water. Let the liquid drain completely. Let the rice cool.

Add minced pork and beef to the cooked cereal. You can use ready-made minced meat or grind the meat yourself. Peel the onion. Finely chop the onion. Add half of the onion slices to the rice and minced meat. The second part of the onion will be sautéed.

Break one chicken egg into the ingredients in a cup.

Season meatball ingredients with salt and meat seasoning to taste. If such seasoning is missing, replace it with suitable spices (ground pepper, for example).

Mix the ingredients thoroughly. The meat base for the meatballs is ready.

Peel the carrots. Grind it using a large mesh grater. Pour vegetable oil into the frying pan. Warm it up. Place the chopped carrots and the rest of the onion into the pan. Sauté vegetables until soft. At the same time, roll medium-sized meatballs from the minced meat and rice.

Place the meatballs in the pan with the sautéed vegetables.

Stir tomato paste in water (take approximately 350-400 ml of boiled water). Pour boiled water with tomato paste into the frying pan.

Cook the meatballs until done. Finally, season the minced meat dish with chopped fresh green onions.

Appetizing meatballs with tomato sauce ready in the pan! Enjoy your meal!

Meatballs in sour cream sauce in a frying pan

The meatball recipe can be performed in various variations. Instead of tomato sauce, you can use, for example, sour cream sauce. This dish will get a more delicate, creamy taste with a slight sourness inherent in sour cream. Meatballs in sour cream sauce in a frying pan will turn out simply delicious. To do this you need to use some culinary tricks in preparation. This dish will be a good addition to lunch and dinner for the family, and will also be a hit at the holiday feast. The big advantage of meatballs cooked in sour cream sauce is that they are very quick and easy to make. Even an inexperienced housewife can handle this.

For the manufacture of sour cream sauce you need to take low-fat dairy products - sour cream, cream, milk. The meat will have enough fat content for juiciness, and the waist and hips of the eaters excess fat no use at all.

Ingredients:

  • beef and pork - only 500 g;
  • onion – 1 piece;
  • carrots – 1 piece;
  • sour cream, cream, milk - 500 ml in total;
  • wheat flour – 1 tbsp. spoon;
  • spices - to taste.
  • vegetable oil - for frying.

Preparation:

  1. It is more common to cook such a dish in a frying pan, but it can also be done in a slow cooker or in a deep saucepan. It’s worth starting your culinary work with meat, since it is this that requires careful processing.
  2. Pork and beef must be removed from veins and bones. The pulp must be passed through a meat grinder - it is better if it is electric.
  3. You should not add bread, crackers, rice to the minced meat; sour cream “loves” clean meat.
  4. Then you need to start working with vegetables. If the meatballs are prepared from ready-made minced meat, then the recipe should begin immediately with processing the vegetables.
  5. So, onions and carrots. Everything is quite traditional - peel, chop the onion, and coarsely grate the carrots. Next, mix the minced meat with carrots and onions.
  6. The meat-vegetable mixture must be salted and peppered.
  7. The next stage is the formation of the meatballs themselves. Divide the minced meat into several lumps slightly larger in size. walnut, and then roll them into koloboks.
  8. Take a frying pan in which the meatballs will be fried. The dishes need to be heated, pour oil into it and place the meatballs in it. The oil will sizzle nicely and begin to fry these delicious “balls”. Turn over to the other side and fry again.
  9. Now you need to start preparing the sauce. To do this, you need to mix all the dairy products in the refrigerator, lightly salt this mixture and add spices to it. Pour the sauce into the frying pan with the meatballs, heat it a little and add a tablespoon of flour to it to thicken it slightly.
  10. The dish must be simmered over low heat in the sauce for about 40 minutes until fully cooked. Meatballs with sour cream sauce are ready for serving!
Meatballs from minced chicken V cream sauce in a frying pan

A more dietary option is, of course, chicken meatballs. Most of all, this dish will appeal to the smallest household members. A combination such as chicken meatballs with a gravy of cream and fatty semi-hard cheese will add special tenderness.

Ingredients:

  • chicken fillet – 0.5 kg;
  • onion - 1 piece;
  • bun white bread– no more than 100 grams;
  • milk and cream - only 500 ml;
  • hard fat cheese – 150 g;
  • garlic – 2-3 cloves;
  • greens, salt, pepper - to taste.

Preparation:

  1. Chicken fillet must be taken raw. You can grind it either in a blender or in a meat grinder. The option of chopped minced meat in this case would be inappropriate.
  2. Chop the onion finely enough.
  3. Bread - soak in milk or water. According to culinary professionals, no one will ever be able to determine what exactly the minced bread was soaked in. So choose for yourself.
  4. Shredded chicken meat should be mixed with bread and onions, add salt and pepper to the mixture.
  5. Knead the minced meat thoroughly and let it brew for a while. Divide the mixture into equal lumps and make balls from them.
  6. We will cook chicken meatballs in a frying pan. Pour oil into it and heat it on fire. Let's fry our "balls" on both sides.
  7. In the meantime, let's prepare the sauce - add salt, pepper, finely chopped or granulated garlic to the dairy products.
  8. Add the resulting mixture to the meatballs and simmer the dish for half an hour.
  9. Then sprinkle the dish with grated cheese and heat it a little more - 2 minutes, no more. Chicken meatballs are ready!

Adviсe

  • Meatballs are a very interesting dish for family lunches and dinners. It can be cooked with a variety of gravies. For example, you can add mushrooms – champignons or wild mushrooms – to tomato sauce. This dish will have a pleasant “earthy” flavor. As already written, it is good to add cheese to the creamy sauce. And this can be not only hard cheese such as “Maasdama”, “Lambert”, but also more noble ones - mold cheeses. There is no need to be afraid: you only need a little expensive cheese, and the taste will improve significantly. You can also add “Cheddar”; its spicy “spiciness” will go well with the taste of minced beef and pork.
  • For the sauce, in addition to traditional onions and garlic, you can also use celery root, bell pepper, carrots - all these vegetables will add healthy fiber to the dish.
  • Many novice cooks have a problem - the gravy turns out to be too liquid. Flour is traditionally used to thicken the sauce. But if there is no flour, then you can take starch. However, it is better if the starch is potato rather than corn. Still, corn will add additional flavor to the dish, and potatoes will be more neutral.
  • To ensure that the meatballs do not fall apart during frying or stewing, but retain their rounded shape, you can resort to an interesting chef’s secret. After production, the meat “balls” are slightly frozen in the freezer, and only then they are cooked in a frying pan.
  • Meatballs can be made from the most different types meat - beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey and even fish. And also from meat mixes. Very interesting, for example, is the combination of pork and pike perch. You won't be able to pull away these meatballs by the ears.

The article introduces the reader to a variety of recipes for stewed meatballs. This dish can be very versatile in taste. A few practical tips will help you cope with cooking for the first time, and for experienced cooks there is a special recipe that they are sure to love.

How are meatballs different from cutlets, meatballs and meatballs?

A novice cook can easily get confused in the whole host of dishes if he doesn’t know how to distinguish kebab from meatballs, zrazy from meatballs, and stewed meatballs from steamed cutlets. So, how to distinguish meatballs from other products? Here some characteristic features:

  1. The shape of the meatball is perfectly round, and not flattened like a cue ball or cutlet.
  2. The usual diameter is 5-6 cm. The meatballs are also round, but they are smaller - no more than three centimeters.
  3. Classic stewed meatballs are prepared with rice; this grain is not added to other types of minced meat products. This is the main one identification mark that this is a meatball (although there are exceptions).
  4. Most often, meatballs are stewed in gravy, unlike meatballs and zraz (they are simply poured with sauce on top).

Stewed meatballs in tomato sauce: classic recipe

This dish is known to many from kindergarten, because it was there that the meat balls were the most delicious (judging by the recollections of adult gourmets). Children remember small meat balls generously flavored with gravy more often than pancakes and casseroles. In combination with mashed potatoes and fresh cabbage salad, stewed meatballs can become a real teleport to childhood, bringing back the almost forgotten taste of the dish.

To prepare meatballs, you need to prepare the following products:

  • 1 kg of meat fillet. It is better if it is a combination of beef and pork meat in free proportions;
  • 2-3 onions;
  • 1 cup boiled rice until half cooked;
  • two raw eggs;
  • a generous pinch of salt.

For the gravy:

  • 70 grams of flour;
  • 1/2 liter of water;
  • 60 grams of tomato paste;
  • 2 tbsp. spoons of sour cream;
  • 1/3 tsp each black pepper and nutmeg;
  • salt to taste.

It is also worth adding that you can use any spices in the gravy to suit your taste, as long as they go well with the meat and tomato gravy.

Subtleties of preparing minced meat

The process of preparing meatballs stewed in tomato sauce begins with the preparation of minced meat. To do this, you need to pass the meat through a meat grinder along with peeled onions. Some skilled chefs prefer to finely chop the onion, but to do this you need to have the necessary skills so that the pieces of this vegetable are tiny and do not spoil the taste of the finished meat balls. Rice for meatballs should be boiled only halfway, since during the stewing process it will absorb liquid, giving the gravy the necessary thickness and the meat looseness.

Some ignorant people put raw rice in the minced meat, and then lament that the meatballs turned out to be too dense, tough and tasteless. The reason is ignorance the right technology preparation: during the stewing process, raw rice absorbs all the liquid from the minced meat first, making it dry, and the gravy in the center of the meat ball cannot be absorbed due to the fact that the rice absorbs it first. As a result, the dish disappoints with its taste and is gradually removed from the list of desired dishes.

How to cook meatballs in gravy?

Add salt to taste, eggs to the minced meat with onions and knead it well with your hands, whisking vigorously. This is necessary so that during the frying process the meat balls keep their shape perfectly without falling apart. Then add the rice and stir again so that it is evenly distributed throughout the minced meat. Next, lightly moistening your hands with warm water, form the meatballs into round balls with a diameter of five centimeters. It is better to roll them in flour, then during frying a nice crust will form, which will additionally preserve the integrity of the products during the stewing process. Fry the meatballs in a frying pan in vegetable oil (1 cup) until golden brown, place them in a saucepan or wide pan with a thick bottom.

In the same frying pan where the meatballs were fried, dilute the tomato paste with one and a half glasses of water, add spices and salt, let it boil and pour the gravy over the meatballs. Place them on low heat and simmer covered for twenty minutes. Then, in a separate bowl, mix the remaining water and sour cream to a uniform consistency, pour over the gravy in the meatballs and mix lightly with a spatula. Let them simmer for another ten minutes and then turn off the stove. You can serve these meatballs with stewed vegetables, and not with classic mashed potatoes or pasta, as was the case in kindergarten. Ideal as a side dish buckwheat, as well as pickled cucumbers.

Fish balls in cream sauce

If you move away from tradition and prepare meatballs not from minced meat, but from fish, then you can discover a new dish more dietary properties. His energy value is only 153 calories per 100-gram serving, unlike meat (230-250 kcal). You can prepare stewed meatballs in sour cream according to this step-by-step recipe:

  1. First boil 130 grams of rice until half cooked, then drain in a colander, rinse lightly with water, removing excess mucus, and cool.
  2. Pass 800 grams of fish fillet through a meat grinder along with one onion. Mix the minced meat thoroughly with your hands, adding two eggs, 1/2 tsp. allspice, salt to taste and a little oregano for flavor. Finally add the rice and mix well again.
  3. Form small meatballs, fry them in vegetable oil until lightly browned and place in a small wide saucepan.
  4. Prepare the sauce: chop one onion very finely and fry until transparent in two tablespoons of oil, add two glasses of sour cream and 150 grams of water, salt to taste and a small pinch of nutmeg. Let it boil and pour the resulting sauce over the meatballs.

Simmer them over low heat for twenty minutes and serve the stewed meatballs with tender mashed potatoes, lightly sprinkled with grated cheese.

Flavorful meatballs in Greek style

Mediterranean cuisine has always been famous for the special aroma of its dishes, so meatballs are no exception. A skillful combination of spices will transform ordinary meat into a delicious gourmet bliss, and a thick gravy will add juiciness and bright colors. For preparation you will need the following ingredients:

  • 400 grams each of pork and beef;
  • 160 grams of stale bread;
  • 1-2 eggs;
  • 20 grams of fresh mint leaves;
  • 10 grams of ground oregano and the same amount of basil;
  • 80 grams of olive oil;
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt;
  • 1 tbsp. spoon without slide granulated sugar;
  • 2-3 bay leaves;
  • 2 tbsp. spoons of high quality tomato paste;
  • three large tomatoes;
  • half a glass of purified water.

Preparation

The first step is to prepare a fragrant sauce: put the tomatoes in boiling water for half a minute, make a cut crosswise in the center and remove the skin with a knife, cut the tomatoes into small cubes. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a saucepan or deep frying pan, place chopped tomatoes there, add sugar and tomato paste. Stir and let it boil. Reduce heat to low and add basil and oregano to the sauce. Simmer for ten minutes (during this time you can form meatballs).

Pass the meat through a meat grinder or use another grinder, add bread and eggs soaked in water, mix thoroughly with your hands. Chop the mint leaves very finely and add them to the mince along with a good pinch of salt. Knead vigorously with your hands to mix the ingredients evenly and form balls about 4 cm in size. Typically, fifteen pieces are obtained from this amount of minced meat. Fry the resulting meatballs in the remaining oil in a frying pan, giving them an appetizing golden brown color, ready to be added to the gravy. The stewed meatballs will simmer in it for ten minutes, after which they can be served to the table along with a side dish of vegetables.

If there is no rice

Sometimes it happens that, having planned to prepare a certain dish the day before, at the beginning of the process you realize that one ingredient is missing, for example rice. Of course, you can cook without it, but what if the minced meat is not enough to make meatballs for the whole large family? In such cases, universal vegetables come to the rescue, which can be chopped and added to minced meat. The same method is good for those whose children are reluctant to eat boiled vegetables - they simply won’t notice them in tender meatballs. For example, you can cook stewed meatballs with potatoes, carrots and a small amount of cabbage of any kind.

List of necessary products for meatballs without rice

Here's what to prepare:

  • 500 grams of minced pork;
  • two medium-sized potatoes;
  • two eggs;
  • onion, carrot and bell pepper - one each;
  • 150 grams of cabbage;
  • a small bunch of parsley;
  • two tbsp. l. tomato paste + 2 glasses of water;
  • 1 teaspoon salt;
  • 4-5 tbsp. spoons of vegetable oil;
  • 1 tbsp. spoon without top of sugar;
  • 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg and the same amount of black pepper;
  • a little dried oregano or basil (your choice of one).

How to cook?

Finely chop the onion, grate the carrots, and cut the sweet pepper into small cubes. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan, add the onion and sauté until transparent. Then add carrots and peppers there too. While the vegetables are stewing, cut the cabbage into small cubes, add to a common frying pan and simmer for five to eight minutes, stirring occasionally. Next, grind the cooled vegetables in a blender, mix with minced meat, add finely grated potatoes and finely chopped parsley.

Send eggs and salt with herbs and nutmeg there, actively mix the minced meat with your hands to mix the ingredients evenly, and then form meatballs and fry, rolling in flour or breadcrumbs. In the remaining oil in which the meatballs were fried, dilute the tomato paste with water, add sugar and black pepper. Let the gravy simmer for three minutes, then immerse the meatballs in it and simmer for twenty minutes over low heat, covered. You can serve it stewed (cauliflower or broccoli), as well as with regular fried potatoes.

Unusual sauce for meat balls

Stewed meatballs in sauce can be prepared not only in standard tomato sauce, but in more interesting variations:

  1. Finely chop one onion, fry until transparent in two tablespoons of oil and pour in a glass of cream. Send 1 tbsp there. spoon of white wine and soy sauce good quality, as well as 1 teaspoon of mustard. Let the gravy boil over low heat and pour it over the fried meatballs prepared according to the classic recipe.
  2. Boil 300 grams of water in a frying pan, add four tbsp. spoons of tomato paste, six tbsp. spoons of sour cream and three teaspoons of ground ginger. Also add a pinch of sugar, a little salt to your taste and nutmeg on the tip of the knife. Let the gravy boil and then use it to prepare stewed meatballs.

Vegan meatballs with spicy sauce

If a person does not eat meat for ethical reasons, this is not a reason not to cook it tasty dish like meatballs. What about without meat? Vegans can do just fine without this product, replacing it with other protein ingredients. So what you need:

  • 300 grams of potatoes, boiled until half cooked “in their jackets”;
  • 200 grams of walnuts;
  • a small bunch of parsley;
  • one large onion;
  • 2 tbsp. spoons oatmeal;
  • two cloves of garlic.

For the gravy:

  • 60 grams of soy sauce + 150 grams of water;
  • 1 heaped teaspoon of cornstarch and the same amount of grated ginger (fresh root);
  • 1 teaspoon light sesame seeds;
  • 2 tbsp. spoons of cane sugar.

Peel the potatoes and pass through a meat grinder along with onions and nuts, add chopped herbs and garlic, as well as oat flakes. Knead the mass well with your hands, turning it into minced meat, and then mold it into round balls. Roll in flour and place in the oven for 15 minutes to form a crust. Temperature oven - 230 degrees. Next, prepare the gravy by mixing all the ingredients and letting them simmer over medium heat. Transfer the meatballs to the sauce and simmer covered for five minutes, then carefully turn over and continue heat treatment for the same amount of time. Let them sit for a few more minutes and then serve while still warm with fresh vegetables.

Meatballs with gravy are delicious balls of minced meat stewed in a thick, flavorful sauce. Don't confuse them with meatballs; there are several significant differences between them. Meatballs are most often prepared in larger sizes because they are a separate, complete meat dish, for example, for lunch. Meatballs are fried or stewed in a frying pan, and can also be baked in the oven with or without sauce. Meatballs are boiled in broth; they usually complement some dish, for example.

There is a wide variety of delicious meatballs, mostly differing in additional ingredients. You can add onions and carrots to the meatballs, you can put rice, meatballs with mushrooms or stuffed with vegetables that are wrapped in minced meat are delicious. Various sauces for meatballs can also be prepared and they will radically affect the taste. Well, the most important thing is that the meatballs themselves can be made from various types of meat. I don’t want to see meatballs, but meatballs in all the variety of preparations take the main prize.

Of course, I won’t be able to cover all the options, but I will share many delicious ones with you.

Meatballs with tomato sauce and sour cream

It seems to me right to start with simple and classic recipes. They are usually the most sought after and popular. We have become so accustomed to meatballs since childhood that we very often look for recipes for their preparation that are very similar to those prepared by our mothers and grandmothers, as well as hardworking chefs in kindergarten. And all this is not just like that. By the way, let me clarify that meatballs can be prepared for children and they really like them, both in taste and in shape, and I don’t need to tell you how many kids love gravy. You can choose any side dish according to your taste, but now let's learn how to cook delicious meatballs with gravy.

For the meatballs you will need:

  • minced meat - kg,
  • egg - 1 piece,
  • onions - 1-2 pcs,
  • garlic - 1-2 pcs,
  • sour cream - 4 tablespoons,
  • flour - 2 tablespoons,
  • salt, pepper and spices to taste.

Preparation:

1. For meatballs, you can use either ready-made minced meat or make it yourself from the chosen meat. Choose pork, beef or a mixture of two minced meats to suit your taste. My one piece of advice is not to make the minced meat too lean, that is, completely without fat. A little fat in the minced meat will make the meatballs more juicy, and at the same time it will practically melt during heat treatment.

2. Chop the onion smaller, especially if you are cooking for children. Adjust the quantity yourself; you can add one or two onions. The onion itself also helps make the meatballs softer and juicier. Combine onion and minced meat in a large, comfortable bowl. Grind the garlic on a grater or with a knife, and also add it to the minced meat.

3. Break one into a bowl with minced meat. a raw egg and stir. The egg will help ensure good stickiness of the minced meat so that future meatballs do not fall apart when finished. Salt and pepper the minced meat to your taste.

4. Form the resulting minced meat into even, medium-sized balls. Roll them in flour so that when frying you get a delicious golden brown crust and all the meat juices are sealed inside. Heat a frying pan with vegetable oil and fry the meatballs over medium heat on all sides until lightly browned.

5. Prepare the future gravy. This recipe is the simplest - mix tomato paste with sour cream, dilute with one glass of warm water.

6. Pour the resulting sauce over the meatballs in the frying pan, cover with a lid and simmer for fifteen minutes.

7. As the gravy boils, it will acquire a deeper red color due to tomato sauce. After fifteen minutes, covered over medium heat, the meatballs will be ready and soaked in a delicious sauce.

Delicious meatballs with gravy are ready. The most universal and simplest recipe. If you put cream instead of sour cream, the taste will be more delicate and less sour. Serve with a hot side dish, such as mashed potatoes, sprinkle with fresh herbs. Bon appetit!

Tender meatballs with rice baked in gravy in the oven

Almost all of us have tried meatballs with rice, and many even know them under the name “Hedgehogs”. They can also be cooked in a frying pan in a thick gravy, or you can bake them in the oven, which will only make them more tender, because there will be no drying frying in the frying pan, but only uniform heat on all sides. To flavor the gravy, we will add onions and carrots to it.

You will need:

  • mixed minced meat - 600 grams,
  • boiled rice - 1 cup,
  • egg - 1 piece,
  • onions - 2 pcs,
  • carrots - 1 piece,
  • garlic - 2 cloves,
  • tomato paste - 2 tablespoons,
  • sour cream - 2 tablespoons,
  • flour - 2 tablespoons,
  • salt and black pepper to taste.

Preparation:

1. Scroll the meat through a meat grinder or take ready-made minced meat. Place it in a bowl and add finely chopped onion and garlic. We will need the second onion for gravy. Also break an egg into the minced meat. Add some salt and pepper. Stir the minced meat first with a spoon and then with your hands, this is how it mixes best.

2. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater.

3. Mix sour cream and tomato paste in a separate bowl. Add two tablespoons of flour to them and stir to a smooth paste.

4. Pour cold boiled water into a glass and gradually pour it into the future sauce in a bowl. Pour a little and stir, then add more water and stir, and so on until all the water is gone.

Flour is needed in this sauce to add thickness. It also gives off that same characteristic taste that we remember from childhood in the gravy that was served in the canteen of kindergartens and schools.

5. Heat a frying pan with oil. Cut the second onion into small cubes. Fry the onion in oil until translucent, then add the grated carrots to the pan and fry over medium heat until the carrots soften.

6. Now pour the prepared tomato-sour cream sauce into the frying pan with onions and carrots. Stir, add a little salt and let simmer over low heat for 2-3 minutes. Salt and pepper the future gravy to your taste. This is how salty it will be when finished.

7. Turn on the oven to preheat at 180 degrees. Take a baking dish and start forming the meatballs. To do this, lightly moisten your hands with water and roll the minced meat into fairly large balls. Place the finished meatballs in the mold. When everything is assembled, take a frying pan with gravy and pour the meatballs on top. If there is not enough sauce, add a little water; it will mix with the sauce while boiling in the oven.

8. Place the meatballs with gravy in the oven and bake them for about 30 minutes at 180 degrees.

After half an hour, the meatballs are ready. The far cooks very quickly, and we already had the rice ready. You will get very tender and tasty meatballs with a fragrant thick gravy with onions and carrots. This is a very nutritious and satisfying lunch or dinner. Choose a side dish at your discretion. Eat for your health!

How to cook meatballs with gravy like in kindergarten

For those who are inexorably drawn by nostalgia to remember that same taste and cook meatballs like in kindergarten, I offer this good and detailed video. It describes the process of making meatballs and all the ingredients needed for this. There is nothing complicated in this recipe and the cooks did not store it with it military secret. Now it will be available to you too. Prepare the meatballs and don’t forget the tender pasta.

Meatballs in cream sauce, baked with cheese

Meatballs with rice are not the only thing that is great with tomato sauce. The creamy sauce is no less wonderful, and if you add cheese to it, then you won’t be able to pull it off by the ears. I can say this for myself and my family, but I’m almost sure that many will agree with me.

Cream is a delicate matter, so we will also bake meatballs in this sauce.

You will need:

  • minced meat - 600 grams,
  • rice - 100 grams,
  • cream 10% - 330 ml,
  • cheese - 100 grams,
  • garlic - 2 cloves,
  • potato starch - 1 teaspoon,
  • salt and spices to taste.

Preparation:

1. Prepare minced meat, place it in a container convenient for stirring. Add garlic to the minced meat, passed through a press or grated on a fine grater. Add salt (about 0.5 teaspoon).

2. Boil the rice until half cooked. Add it to the minced meat. Add 0.5-1 teaspoon of your favorite mild spices. For example, Provençal or Italian herbs work very well.

3. Stir the minced meat with your hands, it turns out more evenly than with a spoon or spatula due to the fact that the minced meat is quite thick and lumpy.

4. Lightly moisten your hands with water and roll into large round meatballs. Take a comfortable deep baking dish and place future meatballs on the bottom. It is not necessary to spread butter, because we will cook them in sauce.

5. Stir the sauce in a separate bowl. To do this, pour cream into a bowl. Grate the cheese on a fine or coarse grater. Add cheese to the cream, as well as spices and salt to taste. Add a teaspoon of potato starch there, this is necessary to make the creamy sauce a little thicker. Starch will not affect the taste at all. Mix everything well.

6. Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Place the meatballs in the pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, during which time the meatballs will be half cooked.

7. Pour the gravy we prepared over the meatballs. Place the remaining cheese at the bottom (it will settle) on top of each meatball so that it bakes with a beautiful golden brown crust.

8. Place the meatballs and gravy back in the oven and bake for another 20-25 minutes. The sauce will reduce and the cheese will bake into a beautiful crust. The meatballs will be completely ready.

Serve hot meatballs in creamy sauce with side dishes and vegetable salads. Bon appetit!

Original meatballs with buckwheat - grechaniky. Step-by-step video recipe

If you've tried meatballs with rice, but are already a little tired of them, then it's time to bring something new to this wonderful dish. Add buckwheat instead of rice and you will get a new type of delicious meatballs. Such delicious meatballs are also prepared with a thick rich gravy in which they are baked.

The ingredients are quite familiar: minced meat, onion, egg, flour and tomato paste. Instead of rice, boiled buckwheat. Add spices to your taste to make these meatballs spicy or spicy and delight your household with a new product.

Make meatballs with gravy more often and don't forget to add variety to them by changing sauces and additives. Don't forget delicious side dishes and salads; lunch should be nutritious and healthy. I wish you health and good mood!

Meatballs - as in childhood. I read this recipe for meatballs in one magazine and have wanted to cook them for a long time. The only thing that bothered me was that my husband categorically did not recognizerice in recipes from meat, i.e. V stuffed peppers, in cabbage rolls, etc. Therefore, the recipe was lying around until recently.

Once Slavik suggested making meatballs, I timidly asked about the recipe. He said, "Classic."

I didn’t think twice and prepared the classic meatballs with gravy , in which - rice with minced meat . They tasted like the ones they prepared for us in kindergarten and school.

After meatballs with rice were eaten, Slavik said that they turned out delicious, and since then we have been preparing them with pleasure.

This recipe combines minced meat and rice perfectly, so your children and all family members will enjoy eating these meatballs.

If you are interested in this recipe, then let's try to cook meatballs together...

Initial composition of products.

For the meatballs you will need: minced meat, round rice, onions, egg and salt.

Step-by-step description with photos of pork meatballs with gravy.

1. Prepare the minced meat.

We cook the rice first, because... it will need to cool down. Before putting it to cook, we need to rinse the rice in 3 waters to wash off the starch.

Take a saucepan, pour 0.25 cups (a quarter cup) of washed rice into it, add salt to taste and add 2 cups of water. Turn on the gas and cook until medium done, i.e. The rice should not be overcooked. After the water with rice boils, reduce the gas to a low boil. Usually rice cooks for 15-20 minutes. From the moment of boiling.

As soon as the rice is cooked, drain the boiling water and rinse the boiled rice with cold water - 1 time.

Drain the water and let the rice cool.

Finely chop the onion.

Place minced meat in a bowl, add finely chopped onion and mix everything thoroughly.

Salt the minced meat, add the egg and mix the mixture. At the very end, add the cooked, cooled rice.

This is the mass we should end up with. There is no need to add spices and garlic - apparently this is where the taste of childhood lies.

The minced meat is ready, let's start forming the meatballs. The size of the meatballs is approximately the size of a very small apple or half the size of cutlets, approximately 5 cm in diameter.

From this norm I got 16 meatballs.

Form the meatballs into a ball, roll in flour and fry on both sides, about 3 minutes, until golden brown.

During frying, there is no need to cover the frying pan with a lid.

I had to put my meatballs on their side, because... They didn’t fit in one row in my pan.

Pour 1 cup of boiling water so that the water reaches half of the meatballs. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer the contents at low boil for 15 minutes.

Before pouring boiling water into the meatballs, add salt to taste.

2. Prepare the gravy.

Place in a bowl: tomato paste, sour cream and flour. Mix everything slightly. But not to the point of being cool.