In this video, learn how to make Chef John's Giant Lazy Meatballs, a deliciously simple and hearty meal perfect for your weeknight dinner rotation! These oversized meatballs are packed with flavor and baked to perfection in a rich marinara sauce. With minimal prep and easy steps, this recipe is great for anyone looking for a satisfying, no-fuss dinner.
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from foodwishes.com with Giant Lazy Meatballs.
00:09That's right.
00:10Have you been craving large, oversized meatballs, but they just seem like too much work to make?
00:15Well then, this is the recipe for you.
00:17All right, this super simple method involves no slicing and no dicing.
00:21And with a minimum amount of effort, you're going to be enjoying meatballs that are almost
00:25as good as the real thing.
00:27And to get started, what we'll do is cut the crust off and then crumble up four slices
00:31of stale bread.
00:32And this bread doesn't have to be super stale, but it does work out better if it's a little
00:37bit dry.
00:38So if you're working with fresh bread, you could pop it in the oven for a few minutes
00:42to dry it out, or even put it in the toaster for a few seconds.
00:46But either way, once we have that crumbled up into a bowl, we will add some whole milk
00:51and then give that a nice thorough stirring with a fork.
00:54And in case you're curious, in the business, what we're making here is called a slurry.
00:58And not only does this stuff help make for tender meatballs, but it's also going to help
01:02keep them nice and moist.
01:04And that's it.
01:05Once mixed, we'll simply set that aside and we will move on to the meat.
01:09And what I'll be using is half ground pork and half ground beef.
01:13And for me, the first step to making meatballs with different kinds of meats is using two
01:17forks to mix it together in a bowl so that our two meats are fairly uniformly combined
01:22Before we add the other ingredients, and by using two nice, cold, sharp forks, we are
01:28not going to be overworking the meat, which can lead to tough meatballs.
01:32And if we get in there with our big, hot, sweaty hands, there is a much greater chance
01:36of overworking the meat.
01:38So we'll take a few minutes and a few forks, and we'll combine those two meats together
01:42as shown, at which point we'll stop and add the rest of the ingredients, which will include
01:47some kosher salt, some freshly ground black pepper, a little bit of dried oregano, followed
01:54by some onion powder and garlic powder, which is how you're able to avoid chopping onions
01:59and garlic.
02:00We'll also do a couple few shakes of cayenne, at which point we can add our breadcrumb slurry.
02:07And do not let the disgusting appearance fool you.
02:10This stuff is one of the keys to the whole operation.
02:12And then we'll also add a little bit of olive oil, followed by some freshly grated
02:17Parmesan cheese, and yes, of course the real stuff, Parmigiano-Reggiano.
02:22We will also do some optional chopped Italian parsley, before we finish up with a couple
02:27beaten eggs, at which point we'll grab our two forks again, and give everything another
02:32mix.
02:33Oh, and the reason I said optional parsley, is because I'm calling this Lazy Meatballs,
02:37and I promise you, you wouldn't have to chop and slice if you didn't want to.
02:41But that amount of parsley literally took 30 seconds, and if you have some grown in
02:45your garden, which you really should, I do think that's 30 seconds well spent.
02:50And I guess if you have it, you could use some dried parsley.
02:53Except if you do have it, it's probably like 20 years old.
02:57So maybe toss that out, and forget I just said that.
03:00But anyway, no matter what you add into this, we will continue mixing with our forks, until
03:05we feel like everything's evenly mixed.
03:08And then once that's been accomplished, if we're not too pressed for time, I think we
03:11should cover this, and pop it in the fridge for about an hour, just to give those flavors
03:16time to mingle.
03:17And also, and maybe more importantly, so that meat is nice and cold when we go to form it.
03:22So that's what I'm going to do, and I hope you do the same.
03:26And that's it, once chilled we'll pull that out, and then instead of rolling these into
03:30like 10 or 12 normal sized meatballs, we're going to take a quarter of the mixture, and
03:34make four giant meatballs instead.
03:37And of course we're going to dip our hands in water first, because if you only learn
03:41one thing from this video, it should be that damp hands make smooth balls.
03:46Since that little bit of water is going to prevent the meat from sticking to your fingers,
03:50which will allow you to get a very smooth, very uniform shape.
03:53And as we form our giant lazy meatballs, we will position them in some kind of roasting
03:58pan or baking dish, that we've lightly greased with olive oil.
04:02And by the way, this meatball mixture is relatively soft, so don't worry if after you form the
04:06meatball, that they kind of slump down a little bit, that's fine.
04:11These are just not going to stay perky in the pan, but as you'll see once baked, they're
04:15going to look amazing, and more than round enough.
04:19And that's it, once our meatballs are rolled, keeping with the lazy theme, instead of pan
04:23frying these on the stove, which is messy and takes a lot of effort, we are simply going
04:27to transfer these into the center of a 400 degree oven, for about 40 to 45 minutes, or
04:33until our meatballs are beautifully browned, and they look like this.
04:38And as far as doneness goes, I think we want to shoot for an internal temp of about 160
04:42to 165.
04:44And then to finish these off, we'll go ahead and top those with our favorite tomato sauce,
04:49since I do like to finish these in the oven.
04:51Alright, of course if you want, you could transfer these into a pot of sauce, but I
04:55do think this makes for a nicer presentation.
04:58Speaking of which, once those are sauced, we will top them with some mozzarella cheese,
05:02except I'm not using mozzarella cheese.
05:05In a shocking plot twist, I'm going to use Monterey Jack, which looks and melts exactly
05:10the same, but it just has a more interesting flavor than mozzarella, which as you know
05:15is very bland.
05:16So that's what I'm going with, and you'll have to decide.
05:20I mean you are after all the Monty Don, of which cheese you should be putting on.
05:24And that's it, I'm going to finish these up with a dusting of parmesan, or if you wanted
05:28a pecorino it would also be perfectly acceptable.
05:31And once our giant lazy meatballs have been sauced and cheesed, we will pop those back
05:35in the oven for about 5 minutes or so, or until they look like this.
05:40Oh yeah, big and beautiful.
05:42And then for a final touch, I finished up with a gratuitous and obligatory sprinkling
05:47of Italian parsley, since for something like this, that is just what's done.
05:52At which point my giant lazy meatballs were ready to enjoy.
05:56So I'm going to grab a fork and knife, and go in for a taste, and because my wife Michelle
06:01is not around, I'm able to do this right in the pan.
06:04She's always telling me not to do this, because she's afraid I'm going to scratch the pan,
06:09but that's only because I do.
06:11So if you're smart, transfer this onto a plate first.
06:14But anyway, I cut a piece and took a bite, and that my friends was a truly great bite
06:18of meatball.
06:20Forget that it's giant, and forget that we used just about the laziest method ever, despite
06:25that the taste and the texture are that of a really, really good, high quality, properly
06:30made, properly cooked meatball.
06:33And of course, it's not going to be exactly like the more time consuming classic method,
06:37where we're dicing and sautéing onions and garlic, and then browning the meatballs in
06:40the pan, and then slowly simmering that in our sauce.
06:44But while it's not exactly that, it is very, very close.
06:48And I can't really explain why eating one giant meatball is more fun than eating three
06:53normal sized meatballs, but it is.
06:56Which reminds me, do we really need to understand everything?
07:00Sometimes it's just nice to turn that side of your brain off, and just eat a meatball.
07:04Which was amazing on its own, but of course we're probably going to want to put that on
07:08top of spaghetti, all covered in cheese, or on rice, or potatoes, or pretty much anything
07:14else.
07:16But no matter how you enjoy your giant lazy meatballs, they really are fast and easy to
07:20make, and fun to eat, and I really do hope you give them a try soon.
07:25So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much
07:30more info as usual.
07:32And as always, enjoy!