5 Best Meatball Recipes

"By this point, I pretty much knew college wasn't going to be in the cards for me, but cooking school was something different. I was intrigued. The brochure said applicants needed to work at two restaurants before they were eligible to apply. I didn't think the snack shack counted, so if I wanted to go to the CIA, I'd need professional experience. With the exception of Spirito's, though, what did we know from restaurants? We ate at home."

- Tom Colicchio

Meatballs are the ultimate kid-friendly food. They love to make them as much as they love to stab them with a fork and devour them like food on a stick. Fortunately, we've got the best meatball recipes for you to try at home. Grab a free illustrated recipe or pick up a book to try more.

These recipes all contain meat. If you don't want meat, that's cool too. These real veggie burgers would make excellent meatballs in my opinion.

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Why I Cook

If you're looking for more family-friendly recipes, we love Why I Cook by Tom Colicchio. We've enjoyed many dishes from this cookbook, and we offer illustrated recipes for quick and easy chicken soup, ribeye with veggies, Italian salsa, and grilled cheese made with mozzarella.

The CIA was still in the back of my mind, but now I had rent to pay and wasn't ready to give up my income or move away from Regi to Dutchess County, so instead I tried to give myself a culinary education at home, working my way systematically through the cookbooks in my collection, like I had with Jacques Pépin's. I started with Elizabeth David's 1960 masterpiece, French Provincial Cooking, which refreshingly assumed that its readers could already cook. (Rather than measurements, the recipes called for "some" of this and "a bit" of that.)

I made coq au vin, duck pâtés, and homemade saucisses de Campagne, which weren't much different from the Italian pork sausage I'd eaten growing up, except for the spices. I cooked through Pépin's La Methode (of course), Alice Waters's Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook, and Michel Guérard's Cuisine Gourmande. I taught myself to make fresh pasta and puff pastry, turning out of dozens of iterations until I'd gotten the shapes.

5 Best Meatball Recipes

Meatballs in Italian Gravy

If you've never had meatballs and braciole in Italian gravy, you're missing out! This was a regular in my family growing up, and it's one of the best dad recipes you can get your hands on.

Meatball Parmigiana

If your favorite kinda parm is meatball parm, you're in luck. It's easy to make and quite satisfying. Hop on the expressway to Italian bliss with juicy meatballs covered in pizza sauce, mozzarella, and your favorite shaky cheese.

Chicken Piccata Meatballs

Chicken piccata meatballs are light, flavorful, and fun, and the best part is they smell amazing, as they should. If you need chicken meatballs, these are for you.

Spanish Meatballs in a Blonde Sauce

When it's a hard day's night and you're in search of comfort, you'll want to know how to make albóndigas preparadas con béchamel en salsa rubia or meatballs made with béchamel in a blonde sauce. These rich and flavorful meatballs are the ultimate comfort food.

Lion's Head Meatballs

Be the true king or queen of your environment with lion's head meatballs from Made Here. The large meatball, served with cabbage, resembles a Chinese guardian lion's head.