French Onion Meatballs For The Weekend!
Here’s how we’re going to handle the weekend: by making french onion meatballs immediately!
Hi. It’s me again. Back with another french onion recipe.
I KNOW.
I’m sorry? I realize I’ve tried to french onion the entire world this this year but I just can’t help it. I mean, this HAS to be the last recipe, right? There can be no more french onion-ing of any things in this house.
Unless… never mind.
Just this year alone I’ve done french onion sweet potatoes and french onion lasagna roll ups and french onion soup. But I also have a french onion grilled cheese and french onion dip and french onion deviled eggs!
I think I have a french onion problem. But it’s a good problem to have?
P.S. you can find me making these on instagram today!
So, as usual, anything french onion-ish is going to take a little bit of time because you have to caramelize those onions! It’s the key to all the flavor. Once that part is done though, these aren’t too difficult to make.
And bonus, you can make the onions ahead of time. Heck, you can make the meatballs ahead of time!
Also! You can use ground turkey or chicken for this recipe. You could even use ground beef, but I find that turkey or chicken makes the meatballs taste best – they really allow the flavor to shine.
After you decide on that, we deal with all the other additions. Basically whatever goes in that soup is going into our meatballs!
Gruyere! Parmesan! Thyme! Breadcrumbs!
Delicious things like that and of course, the onions too.
Enter all the exclamation points.
It is nearly impossible to not eat these all out of the pan. You brown the meatballs, then throw a little stock into the pan and bake with some cheese. These practically melt in your mouth. They are divine.
Now what to serve these with!
Um, can we still be friends once I tell you that I placed mine on top of a piece of toasted sourdough? It was basically the best decision in quarantine (aside from this banana cake) and I essentially made a meatball MELT. Love it.
Another option is to serve these just like this, out of the skillet, with some roasted vegetables or your favorite side. They are SO good on their own. They have enough flavor and they are juicy enough too!
Of course, you could throw them in with some pasta too, whether you do buttered noodles or marinara or whatever! Because the meatballs are so ridiculously flavorful, they don’t need much! They can carry an entire meal, trust me.
HELLO.
Okay so now that I’ve convinced you to stand over the stove and caramelize onions AGAIN, dinner should be great this weekend! xo
French Onion Meatballs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
- 1 pound lean ground turkey or chicken, I like 94%
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup finely grated gruyere cheese, plus extra for topping
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan
- 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil, for browning the meatballs
- 1 ½ cups chicken or beef stock
- 1 teaspoon flour
- Heat a large oven-safe skillet over medium-low heat and add the olive oil. Stir in the onions with a big pinch of salt. .Cook, stirring often, until the onions caramelize, about 30 to 40 minutes. Once the onions are golden and caramelly, transfer them to a plate. (Note: if you’re really in a rush, you can add 1 teaspoon of sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc to speed along the caramelization process. Be sure to stir often and check on the progress!)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Take half of the cooled caramelized onions and chop them up a bit - just so they easily mix into the meatballs.
- In a bowl, stir together the turkey, garlic, ½ cup gruyere, all the parmesan, the breadcrumbs, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Add in the chopped caramelized onions. Mix until the meatballs are just combined - do not over mix!
- Use your hands to form the mixture into 1-inch meatballs. It helps if you wet your hands with water before rolling. It’s okay if the meatballs are not perfect rounds!
- Heat the same skillet over medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Add the meatballs in a single layer and brown them on all sides - let them cook for 1 to 2 minutes, before flipping.
- Once the meatballs are completely browned, fill a shaker cup or water bottle with the stock and flour. Shake it for 30 seconds. Pour the mixture into the skillet with the meatballs. Add in the remaining caramelized onions. Top the meatballs with the remaining gruyere cheese.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until cooked through (you want the internal temp to read 165 degrees F). Serve immediately! I love serving these on sourdough bread, like a meatball melt!
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
This is mind blowing comfort food!
It’s our 21st wedding anniversary today!
Luckily my husband is at work, so it will give me time to get some dinner together.
This is definitely something he’ll like with some rustic bread and red wine.
Thank you.
P.S. What about a dessert made with caramelized onions?? ha, ha, ha, ha!
I strongly dislike ground turkey. I know you said it’s best for the flavors but is ground beef terrible? Can I make it work?
not at all! you can definitely use beef!
Do you think mozzarella cheese would work in place of gruyere?
Interesting recipe. I’m going to have to master making carmelized onions. But my patience is only 3 minutes long. Any substitution for the other 20 minutes? I almost never read an entire blog and enjoyed yours and the comments. Thank you.
OMG JESSICA! I am so making this tonight! Little note: I usually caramelize a lot more onions – double or triple the amount- in a extra large pan to have full contact with heat, and freeze portions. It’s a great tip. I guess pork could be an option too? They call it “the new white meat” after all. Be safe and carry on as Jamie would say!
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These were so so so so good! I used 85% ground beef and we subbed panko + a TBS of italian seasoning. Everyone inhaled them. Another great recipe! Thanks a bunch!
This was my first time making carmelized onions AND meatballs…in recent memory! LOL They were so good and my husband LOVED them! I also made extra carmelized onions to have on hand so it took me awhile to get the recipe done. LOL I used ground turkey and gluten-free panko crumbs, as well as Mizithra cheese instead of Parmesan. I saw it at the store and was intrigued as it was a combo of goat cheese and sheep’s milk cheese. :)
All in All? I will definitely make this recipe again but I think it will be on a Saturday afternoon instead of 6p on a Sunday evening, like we did yesterday. I also plan on doubling the batch so we can freeze some. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Another hit, Jessica! I made these tonight with some substitutions (Monterey Jack/sharp cheddar, club cracker crumbs, part ground turkey, part ground pork…you know, #quarancooking) but they came out delicious!
This dish is so yummy! Thank you!!
Made this last night – SO GOOD. I used a 1.25 lb package of ground turkey since I didn’t want leftover ground turkey, and used smoked gruyere instead of regular. The meatballs are so tender and juicy, and do not taste at all like such lean ground meat. Fantastic and will absolutely make this again!
I made these Saturday night basically into meatball sandwiches. Sadly it was just for the two of use, but the leftovers have been just as amazing!!! tonight they’re going over spaghetti squash! thank you so much for this recipe. Delicious!!
A+++++++