Meatballs, with their versatility and irresistible taste, are always a hit at the table, and surely you already have one or more versions in your recipe book, perhaps passed down from your grandmother. But today I want to suggest a truly special variant: lemon meatballs. This recipe, which combines the juiciness of the meatballs with the fresh aroma of lemon, was an authentic discovery for me: soft and succulent, they are not deep-fried but are gently sautéed in a pan and then stewed with a bit of vegetable broth and lemon juice.
Before we see the recipe for lemon meatballs, I’ll reveal three simple tricks to get truly special meatballs: 1) adding a small mashed boiled potato to the meatball mixture (instead of the classic bread soaked in milk) will make them very soft; 2) grated lemon zest will give them a unique fragrance; 3) a quick coating in flour will make the lemon meatball sauce thick and velvety. With this lemon meatball recipe, you’ll have a simple and unconventional second course that works for both family dinners and special occasions.
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients for Lemon Meatballs
- 12 oz mixed ground meat (I used 9 oz of beef and 3 oz of chicken)
- 1 potato (small, about 5 oz)
- 1 lemon (⅓ cup of juice and 2 teaspoons of zest)
- cup vegetable broth
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour (or rice flour for the gluten-free version)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 pinches salt
- to taste pepper
Tools
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Fork
- 1 Grater
- 1 Juicer
- 1 Garlic Press
- 1 Pan non-stick 10-inch with lid
- 1 Pot
How to Prepare Lemon Meatballs
To prepare the lemon meatballs, start by grating the zest of half a lemon; set it aside. Then squeeze the juice of a whole lemon to obtain about ⅓ cup of juice. Set this aside as well. Boil the whole potato with its skin in boiling water until tender (about 40 minutes, 20 minutes if using a pressure cooker).
If you have a microwave, you can use it to boil the potato without water and in just a few minutes: follow the instructions in this tutorial. Once boiled, peel the potato, place it in a bowl, and mash it with a fork (1).
Let it cool slightly, then add the ground meat. Season with a generous pinch of salt, a grind of pepper, the lemon zest, and a clove of garlic crushed with the appropriate tool (2). Mix well all the ingredients, first with a fork, then with your hands; then add the egg (3).
Knead the mixture with your hands for a couple of minutes until the egg is perfectly combined with the other ingredients. You will end up with a rather firm mixture (4).
Shape the mixture into meatballs slightly larger than a walnut (5) and place them on a cutting board (6). With these ingredients, you should get 22-24 meatballs.
Pour a heaping tablespoon of all-purpose flour (or rice flour, if you are celiac) in a bowl and roll the meatballs in it to coat them well (7). Shake them lightly to remove excess flour.
Move on to cooking: in a large non-stick pan heat the oil well, then place the meatballs (8) and let them brown over low heat for one or two minutes, then turn them (9) and brown on the other side as well.
When they have gained color, increase the heat and deglaze with the hot vegetable broth (10). Immediately pour in the lemon juice (11).
Mix well, cover the pan with a lid, and cook the lemon meatballs over low heat for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of the meatballs. After this time, remove the lid and let the cooking liquid thicken briefly (12).
Serve the lemon meatballs immediately drizzled with their sauce.
Storage
If there are leftovers, you can store the lemon meatballs in the refrigerator, in a glass container, for a couple of days.
Tips and Variations
If you don’t like the taste of garlic, you can omit it. You can add chopped parsley to the meatball mixture. With the same recipe, you can make delicious orange meatballs using the juice of half an orange.
