Image by 1JLS via Flickr
My Dad made the best meat loaf and meatballs when I was growing up. He had his secret little recipe, which he admits was just adding what he thought would taste good. Unfortunately his recipe used saltine crackers, which I can no longer eat, so my latest challenge was to make a meat ball that was as good as Dad's but gluten free. Here is what I came up with my first run. It still needs tweaking,in my opinion, but everyone enjoyed them.
I used 2 pounds of hamburger because I have 4 kids, but you could cut the recipe in half or leave it the same and just have left overs or freeze for an easy dinner later.
2 pounds hamburger
3 gloves garlic, minced
1 onion, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 eggs ( depend on the leanness of your hamburger, leaner = more egg)
Gluten free tortilla crumbs
BBQ sauce ( either a reliable gf version or make homemade)
Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, mix all of the above ingredients except the BBQ sauce. I started out with 1/4 C. of the tortilla crumbs and add as needed to produce a mixture that would form nice meat balls. By hand form the meatballs in to bite sizes and then place on a cookie sheet. When all the meatballs are formed bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, then turn to get them evenly browned. They can also be made in a frying pan on the stove, but I get better results baking them. Once the meatballs are cooked all the way through and have a nice golden color, you can transfer to a crock pot or sauce pan and cover with BBQ sauce and heat until sauce is bubbly. The meatballs will be ready to serve at this point.
Not in the mood for BBQ sauce, you can always use some homemade cream of mushroom soup and have Swedish meatballs instead.
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