Meatballs are something I love having on hand in the fridge. The ingredients for the Blueberry And Basil Meatballs are quite simple. You could use ground bison, a mix of ground pork and beef, or a mix of ground beef heart and beef (or ground beef and liver!). You can use a white sweet potato (or possibly another moderately starchy root vegetable) if you’d rather. You could even play around with your berry choice (but I do recommend this combination).
Your Blueberry And Basil Meatballs may take longer or shorter to make depending on (but not limited to) mise en place, distractions, tools used, how comfortable you are with grinding meat, and your oven. For me, once I had all ingredients measured/grated, this came together in about 10 minutes + bake time (about 30 minutes, until deep golden in color, or until meatballs reach an internal temperature of 160°F). And I got about 20 large meatballs from this recipe. If you use a smaller scoop, you’ll have more meatballs to divvy up (obviously).
Quick And Easy Blueberry And Basil Meatballs
Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef (minced beef)- 6- ounce organic or wild blueberries - , rinsed and patted dry
1 small sweet potato - grated (skin on, about 5 ounces)
2 tablespoons dried basil - or ⅓ cup fresh, minced
1 ½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder - or 1 fresh clove, pressed
1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil - or melted fat of choice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper.
- In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, pulse together beef, grated sweet potato, herbs, and salt until combined and blueberries are broken up. Do not overprocess.
- Form the meat mixture into even-sized meatballs (I use an ice cream scoop because we like large meatballs) and place them on prepared sheet pans. Continue until the mixture is gone.
- Drizzle meatballs with melted fat and bake for 15 minutes, then swap the pans on racks. Continue baking for another 15 or so minutes until the meatballs are a deep golden brown and the internal temperature reaches at least 160°F.
- Serve immediately. Cool the rest before storing it in the fridge or freezer.
