How to Make Meatballs with Oatmeal

How to Make Meatballs with Oatmeal

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I know you all think I’m nuts with my hard-boiled eggs in spaghetti sauce (referring to this reel here) so would you also think I’m nuts because I put oatmeal and flax in my meatballs? Well, I am a little nuts, but that’s a different post.

I know it’s not that crazy, but I’m sure some people are raising an eyebrow. Honestly, meatballs with oatmeal don’t taste much different than meatballs with breadcrumbs; if anything they are better and soak up more sauce. I love the texture and everyone in this house does too.

I made a 2-pound batch this week and we demolished it in one night. My teenager ate something like 6 of them after I went to bed. So I made another batch the next day with 3 pounds of meat. The whole point was to have leftovers and not have to cook some days. They freeze very well and I’m always happy to have them on hand when I need a quick meal.

Why Make Meatballs with Oatmeal

There are plenty of reasons to use oats and flax, the most obvious being for gluten-free meatballs, but that’s not why I use it. You might also just want to stretch your meat further, which I suspect is one reason people started mixing meat with bread in the first place. Also because it helps with the texture, and absorbs sauce better than just meat.

I have nothing against breadcrumbs and use them from time to time, but only if I have decent bread on hand. I’ll talk about that more below. Stale end pieces are perfect for stuff like this. Sometimes I use both.

Health Benefits

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting sick of basic foods being loaded with unnecessary garbage ingredients. Reading labels is exhausting, and if you want food with fewer ingredients, you’re going to pay more.

This is my experience in the US, I know overseas is a bit different. Our FDA will happily let us eat things that belong in a toxic waste dump and have been banned in Europe for 10 years. Maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but am I? I’m not being an overly picky health nut. It has gotten out of hand.

Have you ever read the ingredients on a generic can of breadcrumbs? Here is an example of what has been sitting in my cabinet. I’m not impressed. This is one of the reasons why I use oatmeal and flax instead. I can keep them on hand in the cabinet for whenever I need them. Guess what is in oatmeal and flax? Just oats and flax. Imagine that.

I know I need to make better buying choices and it’s been a work in progress. It’s especially difficult on a tight budget. One of these days I will get in the habit of making my own bread regularly, but today is not that day.

I’m all about sneaking in something healthy whenever I can. In this case, oatmeal and flax both contain lots of good nutrients and a ton of fiber. It’s a very easy way to hide it.

I’m not a big oatmeal-for-breakfast kind of girl, so this is good for me. Except for when I was pregnant, I craved it with chocolate chips, almond butter, and bananas. I don’t think I’ve eaten it since. That actually sounds good right now, hmm. Okay staying on topic…

My 5-year-old has been obsessed with meatballs recently, and he’s a very picky eater so I have to run with it and make sure I take advantage.

Fiber helps regulate blood sugar, keeps you full, feeds good bacteria in the gut, and keeps your poop regular. All very good things.

Gluten

Oatmeal is a great choice if you’re eating gluten-free. I don’t, but it is arguably unhealthy and I understand why plenty of people choose not to consume it even if they aren’t allergic. This is a whole separate issue. It doesn’t bother me so I don’t eat gluten-free.

Flax is a good source of fiber as well, and it doubles as a binder. Ground flaxseed is typically used as an egg replacer so it works well in meatballs and helps keep them from falling apart in the sauce. You can skip the flax and use an egg instead if you want meatballs with just oatmeal.

Both oatmeal and flax are pretty flavorless which is a good thing here. Your meatballs with oatmeal will still taste like meat and all of the other flavors we’re going to add.

Ingredients

You will need:

• Oatmeal, of course – this recipe uses quick cooking steel-cut oats, you can also use regular rolled oats.
• Flaxseed – ground flax meal or flour works better than whole seeds for meatballs.
• Meat of choice – I like grass-fed ground beef and sometimes a mix of pork.
• Garlic cloves – fresh or from a jar.
• Milk – whole or 2% works best but it’s not that important, use what you have.
• Herbs – both fresh and dried. I usually use some sort of Italian mix of dried basil, oregano, and fresh parsley.
• Grated cheese – parmesan or a Romano mix.
• Salt and pepper – seasoning is really important so you don’t have a bland oat ball! I go for fresh cracked pepper. White and red pepper also go well.
• Egg – optional but should be used for a binder if you skip the flax.

I love fresh parsley. It not only adds a nice color contrast but it has a freshness about it, it’s not just a pretty side garnish like it tends to be treated. I’m part Lebanese and parsley is a staple ingredient in Lebanese food. Think about tabbouleh, it’s far from flavorless. If you don’t have it, don’t worry, but don’t just skip it because you think it won’t add anything. If you already love parsley as much as I do, try my chimichurri sauce recipe.

What about the Egg? Or Onion?

One more thing, I don’t include onion in this recipe. Why? Mostly because I never feel like busting out my food processor or trying to grate it, but you can easily add some and shouldn’t have to make any other adjustments. I’m a big onion fan and use it in just about everything. It’s excellent medicine (read about medicinal foods here) Skipping it is pure laziness on my part.

Eggs and flax are interchangeable. Sometimes I use one or both, sometimes I don’t. Eggs are a good binder to hold the meatballs together, but flax is also an egg substitute, so you can get away with not using one here. I like a variety of nutrients so that’s why I add both sometimes. If not, I add an extra sploosh of milk to make up for moisture. If you’re leaving the flax out, I would include at least one egg to hold everything together.

Types of Meat

I like a mix of lean and fattier meats and prefer mostly ground beef. 90% grass-fed sirloin is probably my top pick. If I do a mix, I like 85% lean beef with very lean turkey, or 93% lean beef with pork. I try to balance the fat for flavor and juiciness. I don’t want super greasy meatballs leaving pools of fat in my sauce, but too lean and they tend to be dry with less flavor. These are just my preferences, if you already have a favorite meat choice it should work fine with oatmeal.

Prep

Steel Cut or Old Fashioned Oats

So the first steps will depend on what kind of oats you use, each will have advantages and drawbacks. I’ve been using steel-cut quick-cooking oats. For old fashioned, you’ll want to soak them ahead of time. So get out your mixing bowl, pour the oats and the flax in, and soak them in the milk for a while. You can do it in the morning and stick them in the fridge or on the counter for about an hour before you’re ready to make the meatballs.

Another option is to precook the oats a little bit either on the stove or in the microwave. We don’t have to fully cook them at this point because they will finish when we bake the meatballs and simmer them in sauce, but we want to get it started. You’re just warming them up a bit to absorb some of the milk. If you’re busy, this isn’t the best option. I suggest using quick cooking oats.

Quick Oats

These only have to soak for a few minutes, so they’re ideal if you’re short on time. You can even use plain instant oatmeal. I have one other suggestion if you have large rolled oats. Stick them in a coffee grinder or food processor first to pulverize them, especially if you’re trying to hide them.

I can 100% guarantee if anyone in my house saw whole oats in their meatballs they would have never tried them. It also helps with the texture. You don’t have to make a fine powder, just so they’re not whole. This is one of the advantages of steel-cut oats, you can’t see them in the finished meatballs.

Ratios

So normally I would use about half a cup of bread crumbs per pound of meat, but oats and flax expand a lot more than bread so I use much less than that – about 1/4 cup of oats and 1 tsp of flax per pound.

My recipe batch is huge. Here is a basic guide per pound of meat.

• 1/4 cup of oats
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1/4 cup of grated cheese
• 1 tsp of flax
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp dried herb

Seasonings can always be adjusted to taste, or swapped out to make a different style of meatball. I’m imagining a Greek lamb meatball with feta, mint, oregano, and cumin. You can adapt the recipe to different cuisines. Using broth instead of milk is a good option if you want to change the flavor profile. Broth would make more sense with an Asian-style meatball. Both of these are next on my list. I’ll report back with these other recipe options and update this article.

Make the Meatballs

Grab a large mixing bowl and soak your oats and flax in milk. See prep notes above.

Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. You can also just use nonstick with a little spray, or foil, but parchment will help prevent burnt stuck bottoms.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl.

*An egg or two is optional, if not using eggs, add another sploosh of milk*

Wash your hands, and dig in. Mix everything well. Your raw meat mixture should be nice and sticky. Form balls to your preferred size. I go for around 1.5″ Place them on the baking sheet.

Get a pot of sauce simmering. My go-to basic red sauce is crushed tomatoes, black pepper, salt if needed, a couple of bay leaves, and basil. I’ve been loving purple basil in my Italian-style sauce. The meatballs will flavor the sauce even more, and the sauce will flavor the meatballs. It’s such a nice exchange.

Bake on the middle rack unless you’re making a large batch and have more than one pan, space them on 2 racks and we’ll switch them around halfway. Unless you’re lucky to have an evenly cooking convection oven, mine always burns things closer to the bottom. You’re also going to flip the meatballs halfway through cooking.

Bake for 6 minutes, flip and switch racks, and bake for another 6 minutes. Bake for only 5 minutes for each side if your meatballs are smaller. Keep an eye out for burning. You can also try 375F for a minute or two longer on each side.

Remove the balls from the oven. Grab some tongs, add them to your pot of sauce, and simmer on low heat covered for 1-2 hours. This is definitely a Sunday activity.

Other Notes

Don’t overcook your meatballs in the oven, they will finish in the sauce. You just want a nice brown crust for some flavor. If you prefer to pan-fry that’s perfectly fine too. Meatballs with oatmeal can be browned the same as meatballs with breadcrumbs.

You can also let them cool from the oven and freeze them as-is. They can be cooked in sauce out of the freezer at a later time.

If you’re a fan of these balls or have recipe questions, leave a comment below!

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