Mama's Meatballs
This old recipe was a family favorite while I was growing up. Mama had 4 boys to feed, so she always used ground chuck, and I never saw her use anything but canned mushroom stems and pieces, but she sure knew how to cook. The recipe is easy to make, and easy to modify with other herb or spice combinations. All you need to add for a great meal is a big combination salad.
This old recipe was a family favorite while I was growing up. Mama had 4 boys to feed, so she always used ground chuck, and I never saw her use anything but canned mushroom stems and pieces, but she sure knew how to cook. The recipe is easy to make, and easy to modify with other herb or spice combinations. All you need to add for a great meal is a big combination salad.
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 egg
- 1 lb. ground beef 94% lean
- 1/2 cup saltine crackers crushed
- 1/2 cup onion finely diced
- 1/2 cup bell pepper finely diced
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- 1 tsp. dried sage
- 1 tbsp olive oil divided use
- 1 cup mushrooms sliced
- 1 10-oz can cream of mushroom soup 98% fat free
- 1 cup plain yogurt fat free
- 8 oz. egg noodles cooked acc. to pkg. instrs.
- parsley for garnish , chopped
- Carbohydrate 74.7805325 g
- Cholesterol 177.3 mg
- Fat 31.138465 g
- Fiber 3.9142750158906 g
- Protein 38.83315 g
- Saturated Fat 9.810895 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (409g)
- Sodium 955.52 mg
- Sugar 70.8662574841094 g
- Trans Fat 4.78213325000001 g
- Calories 739 calories
Step-by-step
- Mix first 8 ingredients thoroughly and form into balls - I get about 20 out of a pound of beef.
- Using 3 tsp. oil, brown meatballs on all sides in a large heavy skillet.
- Remove meatballs, set aside and keep warm.
- In same skillet, saute mushrooms in 1 tsp. oil until just starting to brown, no need to wipe out the skillet.
- Add mushroom soup and yogurt, stir until well blended.
- Return meatballs to skillet, being sure all are completely coated with the gravy.
- Cover and simmer on low heat for 20 mins.
- Serve with gravy on noodles, garnish with chopped parsley if desired.
Many home cooks pack meatball mixtures too tightly, which restricts expansion during cooking and yields dense, rubbery spheres instead of tender bites. Ground chuck requires gentle handling when combined with crushed saltine crackers, finely diced onions, bell peppers, egg, and seasonings to ensure the proteins form a loose, moisture-retaining matrix rather than a tough paste. Rolling portions into approximately twenty equal pieces guarantees uniform thermal conductivity so every morsel finishes cooking simultaneously. Searing those formed portions in a heavy skillet utilizing three teaspoons of oil develops Maillard browning reactions, establishing complex savory depth on the exterior while rendering internal fats.
Deglazing the fond left behind by the beef with fresh mushrooms introduces umami compounds that canned alternatives lack, creating a sharper contrast against the rich sauce. Whisking fat-free yogurt directly into condensed cream of mushroom soup requires maintaining low heat to prevent the dairy solids from breaking down and separating into an unwanted grainy texture. Returning the browned beef to this simmering emulsion for twenty minutes allows the proteins to absorb surrounding moisture gently without overcooking. Ladling the resulting pan-gravy over freshly boiled egg noodles coats each strand evenly, pairing robust starches with rich protein.
