Meatballs Easy Enough for a Weeknight Dinner

 I had a package of ground beef in the fridge that I didn't want to go bad. I had planned on making tacos, but just wasn't in the mood. Instead, while at the store I bought a jar of Rao's  arrabbiata sauce, and some fresh basil. So, still feeling lazy, but compelled not to let food go to waste, I made meatballs for dinner. The normally labor intensive, and totally worth it dish, got simplified for even the laziest of nights. I served mine on a toasted hot dog bun with some additional cheese sprinkled on the bun and on top of the meatballs.

Ingredients 

2 pounds ground beef

One egg

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1 jar of prepared marinara sauce, set aside a half cup

1Tablespoon each garlic powder, onion powder, Italian herb seasoning

1 Teaspoon salt 

1/2 Teaspoon black pepper.  

2 stalks of fresh basil

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, crack one egg and add the Parmesan, the half cup of marinara sauce, the Italian herbs and other seasonings. Mix together thoroughly. When working with meat, I use gloves for this so that it makes my life a lot easier later. Add the ground beef to the mixture and mix thoroughly to combine but don’t overwork the meat. The last thing you want is tough meatballs. Once all the ingredients are combined measure out the meatballs to the size of your liking the size isn’t as important as it is that they are roughly the same size so that they will cook at the same rate. I portioned my meatballs to about 2 ounces.

 I placed my meatballs in the air fryer at 370 for eight minutes.The meatballs were not all the way cooked through, but they were cooked enough to stay together so that I could transfer them to my already heated marinara sauce that I had added the basil. I did not take of the the basil I just kept it on the stem so that when it came time, I could easily fish out the basil.

I added the meatballs and let them just gently cook through until done. 

 

For serving there are several options. Of course spaghetti would be delicious, or if you're going low carb spiralize some zuchini and saute in the spices you used for the meatballs and a little olive oil. These could be for sliders depending on the size of the meatball. 

These were quick, easy, and tasty. Definitely worth a try.

What kind of dishes do you make when you need to get dinner on the table, but are feeling lazy?