Sausage and Beef Meatballs

My son is somewhat skeptical of ground meat, so I thought maybe meatballs would appeal to him because of the shape. It worked!

But I had to change up the usual to account for allergy (namely no egg to help hold them together). I also typically like to do a slow cooker approach, but sometimes you just need to get dinner on the table.

I whipped these up — and they're super-easy. We ate them plain with some roasted red potatoes on the side. But you could also add barbecue sauce or throw them in some marinara over pasta.

Get kiddos involved: If your kid is old enough, he'll probably love rolling the meatballs. (With young kids, though, you run a risk of cross-contamination should they take their raw-meat-covered hands and touch other things ... which, of course, they will.)

Ingredients

  • half a pound of beef

  • 1 lb. of sausage (I used mild Italian)

  • 1/2 small onion

  • olive oil

  • any herbs/spices you like (garlic, red pepper flakes and oregano are naturals)

What to do

  1. Dice the onions as small as you can get them.

  2. Put the meat and onion in a bowl and use your hands to mix. Depending on the fat content of your meat, you might want to add a little olive oil. 

  3. Roll the meat into balls — about 1-inch or 1 1/2-inch diameter works well.

  4. Heat olive oil over medium to high heat. 

  5. Drop meatballs in. Cook for about 20 minutes or until done ... Move them around every few minutes for even browning. I put a lid over the pan to help trap moisture.