Skip to main content
Main

Italian Meatballs I

A recipe for meatballs made with beef, pork, veal, cheese, breadcrumbs, eggs, parsley, and olive oil.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 8 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Beef and pork match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,690 recipes. Both carry 12-methyltridecanal, which smells tallowy, beefy. The science ↓

Italian Meatballs I

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mix the ground meat with cheese, bread crumbs, eggs, and parsley. Mix with your hands for best results!

  2. Roll meat mixture into 2‑inch meatballs.

Cook

  1. Cook in a pan over high heat in a drizzle of olive oil.

  2. Cut through center of biggest one to make sure they are complete.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1258Calories
79 gProtein
58 gFat
96 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Beef100g cooked250
Pork100g cooked242
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Vealnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Beef + porktop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,690 recipes

    Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).

  2. Parsley + olivetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,649 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Bread + olivetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,091 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  5. Pork + olivetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,716 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the meat mixture so the meatballs hold their shape.
Italian bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and keep the meatballs tender rather than dense.
Grated italian cheese
Adds savory flavor and salt-rich depth to the meat mixture.
Ground beef
Provides the main meaty structure and flavor of the meatballs.
Ground pork
Adds fat and moisture, keeping the meatballs juicy and tender.
Ground veal
Contributes a delicate texture that keeps the meatballs soft.

The step that matters

Cut through the center of the biggest meatball. Cutting open a meatball checks that the center is fully cooked. Meat that is still pink inside is unsafe, and the thickest meatball is the one most likely to be underdone.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pork, veal, cheese, bread, egg, olive):

  1. Thymefits about as well
  2. Garlicfits about as well
  3. Parsleythe original
  4. Capersfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pork, veal, cheese, bread, egg, olive. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Beef, Mutton, or Veal BrothBeef, Mutton, or Veal Broth6 recipesBrown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesRoast BeefRoast Beef211 recipesBeef LoafBeef Loaf175 recipes