Juicy, tender, and delicious beef meatballs with zucchini and Parmesan - this is one of our favorite meatball recipes.
I am starting with a big statement today: these beef meatballs with zucchini are the juiciest, most delicious meatballs I have made in a long time!!! No kidding!!!
I make lots of meatballs: beef koftas, pork meatballs in tomato sauce, chicken meatballs in cream sauce, turkey meatballs without breadcrumbs, then vegetarian with different grains, chickpea meatballs, broccoli cauliflower balls, and so on.
And to tell you the truth, I can get pretty enthusiastic with most of them, and I would praise them as well, but these ones... ah, they were so good, I can't even find the words anymore...
And even better than the taste was the consistency of these meatballs. Perfectly tender and delicate and juicier than any meatball I have ever tasted.
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Why should I put zucchini in meatballs?
They make the meatballs super juicy! You cannot really taste them, they are so mild, and their taste gets easily covered by the beef, dill, and Parmesan taste, but you can feel those zucchini; that is the juiciness they add to the meatballs.
Another great thing about these particular balls is that you can get fussy eaters into eating zucchini without them even realizing it. I chose not to tell my kids what exactly they were eating; I just said we have meatballs, and that was it.
Tips for making good meatballs
- Fat content: Choose meat that contains some fat, about 15-20 %. Regular ground beef usually has 20% fat, while ground pork has about 35%. My favorite meatballs are made with a mixture of beef and pork. However, these meatballs with zucchini are made with ground beef only.
- Moisture: To impart the meatballs extra juiciness, we add grated zucchini, eggs, fresh breadcrumbs, and grated Parmesan. These ingredients add moisture, which helps loosen the meat.
- Shred the zucchini on a box grater and squeeze it in your hand (in batches) to remove the excess moisture. Don't squeeze it completely dry; just enough to remove the extra water.
- Chop the onion as finely as possible; you don't want to bite on large bits of onion in the meatballs. Grate them (if you can stand it), and definitely grate the garlic.
- Use fresh or frozen dill, dried dill won't do in this dish. Fresh dill is bursting with flavor, while dried dill tastes dusty.
- Flatten the meatballs lightly after forming them; that helps them cook more regularly. It is not mandatory, though; you can give the meatballs a round form, especially if you want to serve them as part of a cold buffet.
- Use a good non-stick or cast-iron pan to reduce the amount of oil needed for browning the zucchini meatballs (the Amazon affiliate link opens in a new tab).
- Brown the meatballs shortly in the pan and finish cooking them in the hot oven. Don't overcook them; check after 5-6 minutes in the oven already. They should not be red in the middle anymore, yet still moist and juicy.
- Use this excellent Homemade Ground Beef Seasoning to season the zucchini beef meatballs.
What to serve them with?
Recipe
Beef Meatballs with Zucchini
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 kg/ 2.2 lbs ground beef
- 200 g/ 7 oz/ 1 not too large zucchini
- 1 onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- a handful fresh dill
- 40 g/ 1.4 oz bread
- 40 g/ 1.4 oz/ 3.8 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 2 eggs
- fine sea salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or more as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius/ 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line one or two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Grate the zucchini finely and squeeze out excess liquid. Don't overdo it, you still want to have some moisture, just squeeze lightly to remove what is too much.
- Grate the onion and the garlic cloves finely as well. Grate the Parmesan. Chop the dill finely. Remove the crust from the bread slice and crumble the bread with your fingers to obtain crumbs. Beat the eggs lightly.
- Place the beef, zucchini, onion, garlic, Parmesan, dill, breadcrumbs, and eggs in a bowl. Add salt and pepper generously and mix everything with your hand. Add some more salt and pepper to taste.
- Form the meatballs, I had 35 medium ones. Press them a little flat with your hand.
- Heat one tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet and start frying the meatballs, about 2 minutes on each side, in batches. As they are ready, transfer them to the prepared trays. Add another tablespoon oil in the skillet, if necessary, and continue the process with the rest of the meatballs.
- Bake the meatballs for 7 or 8 minutes. Serve as suggested above.
Jean says
I was looking for a recipe like this (beef zucchini meatballs) because I have a Hungarian friend who makes them. But there seems to be a mistake in the quantities: it should probably be 1/2 Kg of meat for 1.1 lb.
Adina says
You are right, Jean. 1 kg are 2.2 lbs and that is the amount you need. I will correct that. Thank you.
mikha angela says
I think I should try this recipe cause it different from the others
Sissi says
What a clever idea! I love it and will certainly try one day too (I also like your meatballs on a purรฉe plate; why haven't I thought about it???).
Kathryn @ Family Food on the Table says
Meatballs are one of my favorite comfort foods! And I love how they are endlessly versatile ๐ Normally I don't much if any red meat, but you've got me convinced that I need these in my life! And you know I love that you added some zucchini in there for extra veggie goodness! Pinned!
grace says
this is a use for zucchini that i haven't seen--it's brilliant!
Chris Scheuer says
Yum! I'm with the kids. I know I would eat more than my fair share of these wonderful meatballs. And how wonderful that you can source everything locally!
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
That's a nice way to get veggie hating kids or husband to eat more greens :-))