Baked Mongolian Beef Meatballs - The Defined Dish Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to bake or simmer meatballs? ›

The best meatballs are tender, baked and browned in a hot oven to seal in all the juices. Simmered in robust sauce for a couple of minutes ensures they soak up all of those saucy flavours, this is an easy dinner recipe that will be a hit with your family!

Baking soda, otherwise known as sodium bicarbonate, appears often in köfte recipes. It raises the PH level of the meat, making it harder for the meat's protein molecules to bond. This in turn allows the meat to retain water as it cooks. And more water means a moist meatball.

Cook until they are no longer pink in the middle and any juices run clear. You'll need to turn them regularly to make sure they cook evenly and retain their round shape.

Oil your hands. If you lightly coat your hands with olive oil or cooking spray before rolling the meatballs, they will form better and crack less. Bake meatballs on parchment paper. It makes for even cooking and easy cleanup, not to mention juicy meatballs!

Place the sheet pan with the meatballs into the 350 degree f oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Check the meatballs with a meat thermometer to make sure they are 165 degrees in the middle.

Brown them first, then let them finish cooking in the marinara sauce. This results in a nice texture on the outside of the meatball but keeps it juicy and tender on the inside.

Tenderizing the Meat:

As the collagen in the meat dissolves over time, it transforms into gelatin, which not only adds a silky texture to the sauce but also contributes to the overall richness and depth of flavor. The longer the simmer, the more tender and succulent the meatballs become.

When it comes to adding liquid to meatball mixtures, milk is often used for its versatility, depth of flavor, and richness. Without the use of milk, you may be faced with a plate of dry meatballs. Milk adds a certain level of moisture that helps produce perfectly tender meatballs.

Do you have to flip meatballs in the oven? ›

Add meatballs and cook, turning occasionally until brown on all sides and internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Don't add much apart from meat

Don't add too many non-meat ingredients to your meatballs. Herbs and spices are fine, but once you start adding loads of chopped vegetables you'll be creating all sorts of difficulty when it comes to getting it all to stick together.

Or you can skip browning altogether and put the raw meatballs straight into the sauce to cook. We're diving into the pros of each approach, plus a few cons.

Yes, you can cook raw meatballs directly in the sauce. This method infuses the meatballs with the flavors of the sauce as they cook, resulting in a delicious and savory dish.

The idea is that browning builds flavor through the Maillard reaction, which will then get spread around through the whole pot as the meat and vegetables slowly braise in liquid.

To be sure all harmful bacteria are destroyed, cook all ground beef products to an internal temperature of 160 °F throughout. Ground beef can be pink inside after it is safely cooked. The pink color can be due to a reaction between the oven heat and myoglobin, which causes a red or pink color.