Amazingly tender, juicy, and flavorful veal meatballs. Made with ground veal and white bread, they are perfectly seasoned and ready in about 30 minutes.
Have you ever tried veal meatballs? If not, you should. These ground veal meatballs are incredibly tender and practically melt in your mouth.
Ground veal meatballs are also versatile. You can serve them with mashed potatoes or in a sandwich, pair them with your favorite sauce, such as marinara, BBQ, Swedish, Italian, or Asian-style sauce.
Check out more delicious meatball recipes: Beef Meatballs with Zucchini, Romanian Meatballs (Chiftele), or Mushroom Stuffed Meatballs. Or this collection of Meatball Recipes.
Ingredients: 12 + oil, salt & pepper | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Servings: 24 meatballs | Difficulty: Easy
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Recipe ingredients
Ground veal is a lean type of ground/ minced meat made of calf trimmings.
- Try more veal recipes: Easy Veal Roast, Veal Shanks, or Veal Escalopes (in Lemon Sauce)
Bread: You will need about 3 slices of white bread, a total of 3 oz/ 90 g, weighed after removing the crust.
Milk: Whole or reduced-fat milk, 2%. Don't use non-fat milk for this veal recipe. Single cream/half and half would be great, too.
Seasoning: Fresh garlic, sweet paprika, fresh parsley, red pepper flakes, fine sea or kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make veal meatballs?
- Step #1: Combine the minced veal, grated onion, lightly beaten eggs, mustard, soaked and squeezed bread, and all the spices. Mix well to combine. Form about 22-25 balls and flatten them lightly.
- Step #2: Dredge the veal meatballs through the flour and pat them gently over the plate or the sink to remove the excess.
- Step #3: Cook the veal meatballs for 3 minutes at high temperature, flipping them halfway.
- Step #4: Lower the heat to medium, flip them again, and cook for another 5-6 minutes, flipping 2-3 times in between or until cooked through.
Alternative cooking methods
- Oven: At 400°/200° for about 15 minutes, check the internal temperature (160°F/ 72°C), or break one to see if it's cooked through. If not, give it 2-3 more minutes and check again.
- Air fryer: At 400°F/200°C. Place the meatballs in the air fryer basket in a single layer, spray them with cooking oil, and air fry them for about 8 minutes, flipping halfway or until cooked through. The internal temperature should be 160°F/ 72°C (instant-read thermometer).
Tips
- Use of dried breadcrumbs: You will only need them if you feel that the meatball mixture is too wet; that depends mainly on the size of your eggs. If using dried breadcrumbs, start with just 1-2 teaspoons, mix again, and only add more if absolutely necessary.
- Onion: Grating an onion is not my favorite task, yet I almost always do it when making meatballs. No matter how finely you chop an onion, if you leave it raw in the meatballs, you will probably feel the pieces when eating the meatballs.
- Alternatively, you can chop the onion very finely and cook it in a bit of olive oil until soft. However, that takes longer and means more mess than grating the onion.
- Avoid overmixing the veal mixture. Use your hands or a rubber spatula and mix to combine well, but don't turn the mixture into a paste. Overmixing will result in tough meatballs.
- Variations: You can make this recipe with ground chicken, turkey, pork, beef, or any combination.
How to store and reheat meatballs?
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for about 3 days.
Freeze the cooled meatballs in a freezer container or a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator.
Reheat the meatballs in the oven at 350°F/180°C for 7-8 minutes or until heated through. If you wish to serve them with sauce, you can reheat them gently in the sauce.
What to serve with them?
- Sauce: Try our Marinara Sauce, the tomato sauce used for pork meatballs or mushroom sauce for Polish meatballs. Or serve them with any other meatball sauce you like.
- Use leftover veal meatballs to make sandwiches or meatball subs.
Do you like this recipe?
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Ground Veal Meatballs Recipe
Equipment
- Frying pan
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ lbs ground veal
- 3 oz white bread weighed after removing the crust, about 3 slices
- ¼ cup whole milk Note 1
- 1 small onion grated
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 2 garlic cloves grated
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons parsley chopped
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika powder
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes Note 2
- 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt or kosher salt more to taste Note 3
- â…› teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1-2 teaspoons dried breadcrumbs if required, Note 4 - Important!
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour Note 5
- 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- Soak bread: Remove the crust and break the slices into smaller pieces. Place them in a large mixing bowl. Pour the milk on top, mix, and soak the bread until you've gathered the rest of the ingredients and grated the onion and the garlic.3 oz white bread + ¼ cup whole milk
- Combine: Add the ground veal, grated onion and garlic, lightly beaten eggs, mustard, parsley, and all the spices. Mix to combine, but don't overmix, or the meatballs will be tough. If the mixture is too soft to hold shape, add 1-2 teaspoons dried breadcrumbs (Note 4).1 ¾ lbs ground veal + 1 small onion + 2 garlic cloves + 2 eggs + 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard + 2 tablespoons parsley + 1 teaspoon sweet paprika powder + ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes + 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt + ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper + 1-2 teaspoons dried breadcrumbs if required
- Form about 22-25 meatballs, each weighing about 2 oz/ 60 g/ about ¼ cup meatball mixture. I usually use the cup or weigh the mixture for the first 2-3 balls and then eyeball the rest. Next, press the balls between your palms to flatten them lightly.
- Place the flour on a large plate. Dredge the veal meatballs through the flour and pat them gently over the plate or the sink to remove the excess flour.2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan. Cook the meatballs in batches without overcrowding the pan. Add a bit more oil between the batches if the pan is dry.
- Cook the veal meatballs for 3 minutes at high temperature, flipping them halfway. Then, lower the heat to medium, flip them again, and cook for another 5-6 minutes, flipping 2-3 times in between or until cooked through.
- The internal temperature measured with a meat thermometer should be 160°F/ 72°C.
Notes
- Milk: Whole or reduced-fat milk 2%. Don't use non-fat milk for this veal recipe. You can also use half-half.
- Red pepper flakes: Sub with a tiny amount of cayenne pepper, always to taste.
- Salt: If using table salt, start with less as it is more potent. Check and adjust the taste. If you are uncomfortable tasting raw meat, fry a small clump of the mixture in the pan, taste it, and then adjust the taste.
- Use of dried breadcrumbs: You will only need them if you feel that the mixture is too wet; that depends mainly on the size of your eggs. If using dried breadcrumbs, start with just 1-2 teaspoons, mix again, and only add more if absolutely necessary.
- Flour: It's optional but recommendable. The starch caramelizes, giving the meatballs a deeper color and more flavor.
Khara Edler says
These were good! Thank you for the recipe! We are gluten free so I used arrowroot for the dipping and left the breadcrumbs (and milk) out. They still turned out yummy. Next time may try with the milk and make sure I have some GF bread of against the grain rolls on hand.