Oven Baked Meatballs

This is our Mom’s recipe for Oven Baked Meatballs with Potatoes. This one-pan meal is inspired by the traditional Turkish dish called Izmir köfte. Izmir köfte is one of our favorite meals because of its simplicity: meatballs, potatoes, peppers, and sauce are all baked together in one dish, making it the easiest weekday meal.

To make things even more seamless, you can prep the meatballs the night before and assemble the dish the following day. Our recipe is not traditional by any means, as our mom uses her Bulgarian recipe for the meatballs and we use our Italian sugo for the tomato sauce, but feel free to make this any way you like with the ingredients you have on hand. If you would like to see a more traditional take on this dish, click here: Izmir köfte – Baked Turkish meatballs with vegetables.

What stands out

We love recipes that give us more bang for our buck and these Oven Baked Meatballs with Potatoes do just that. It is a pretty simple one-pan dish that looks so impressive on the table. The spiral design is stunning, the colors beautiful and the flavors are out of this world. This method for meatballs will become your new go-to because it’s foolproof. By adding grated potato and onion, the meatballs are tender but they hold their shape and lock in that moisture. Make a big batch for the freezer so you can add them to a ton of other meals.

How to Prepare

Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).

Peel an onion and potato, and then grate them using a box grater. Squeeze the grated potato in a paper towel to remove excess moisture.

In a big bowl add the ground meat, egg, grated onion, grated potato, salt, oregano, paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Using clean hands, mix well until all the ingredients are incorporated.

Using a large ice cream scoop or tablespoon measure, create 14 equal-sized meatballs from the meat mixture. Roll each one and then, using your palm, flatten it slightly. Set aside.

Use a sharp knife to slice a peeled potato into 1/4-inch-thick circles and then sprinkle with a little bit of salt.

Pour 3/4 cup of the tomato sauce into the bottom of a baking dish and distribute the sauce evenly.

Arrange the meatballs and potatoes into the baking dish, creating a spiral pattern of meatball, potato, meatball, etc. The meatballs and potatoes should be placed upright, so the food is stacked and balanced on its thinnest side.

Once the potatoes and meatballs have been arranged, add the mini bell peppers anywhere you like.

Pour the remaining 1/4 cup sauce onto the top of the meatballs, potatoes, and peppers, and drizzle on a touch of olive oil on top.

Cover the top of the dish with wet parchment paper or foil.

Bake for about 45 minutes, and then uncover and bake for another 15 minutes.

Broil for the last 5 minutes for extra color, let cool for 15 minutes, and enjoy!

Kitchen tip

You can use any size baking dish you have: square, round or rectangle will all work. Just make sure the ingredients fit snugly inside.

Swaps

1. You can use a round square or rectangular baking dish. The baking dish you use won’t make a difference as long as all the ingredients fit snugly inside. We used a round 11-inch stainless steel baking dish.
2. Feel free to use any ground meat of choice. We have made this with ground chicken, turkey, pork, and beef. We like pork, chicken, and beef the most.
3. You can use any potato you like; we use yellow potatoes here. Make sure they are sliced in similar sizes.
4. You can use green cubanelle peppers, mini peppers, jalapenos or any of choice. If you don’t like peppers you can leave them out.

What Makes This Recipe Special

Our mom’s homemade meatballs take this recipe to the next level. They are flavorful tender,, and, once you get into the groove of making them, really simple to make! We like to put on some music, park myself at the counter, and make a huge batch for different meals as well as to keep in the freezer.

These are made with ground beef, but you could use the same technique using ground chicken, pork, turkey, lamb or a mixture. The shredded potatoes and onion are our mom’s way to guarantee a tender never-dry meatball that still holds its shape perfectly.

Serve it with

• This dish pairs perfectly with our Easiest Most Tzatziki recipe.
• Serve this Baked Meatball with Potatoes recipe with any fresh salad, such as our Bulgarian SaladSimple Green Salad or Lemon Parmesan Salad.
• This dish is lovely along side our Cold Cucumber Soup as well!

Questions

which tomato sauce do you use in this recipe?

If you want to make our Sugo (tomato sauce recipe) please look at this recipe here a strong Authentic Italian Tomato Sauce (Sugo) and make it the same way, omitting the veal. You can also use any store-bought marinara sauce you like, such as Rao’s.

what type of ground meat is best in this recipe?

You can use whatever variety of ground meat you love best. We have made this with ground chicken, turkey, pork, and beef. We like pork, chicken, and beef the most. You could also use a mix!

can we use canned tomatoes in this recipe?

Yes, crushed or diced canned tomatoes can be used, just be sure to season with salt and herbs for added flavor.

can we make this in a rectangular dish?

Absolutely! The size of the dish doesn’t matter here, as long as the components fit snugly inside.

C strong an we prepare this dish in advance?

Yes, assemble the dish and store it in the fridge covered, then bake the next day.

Ingredients

Makes 4 portions

The Meatballs

• 650 grams ground beef, or any ground meat of choice
• 1 large egg
• 1 medium yellow onion, grated
• 1 medium potato, peeled, grated, and squeezed of excess moisture
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• drizzle of olive oil

Additional Ingredients

• 4 medium yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick circles
• salt to taste
• 1 cup marinara sauce
• 5 mini bell peppers
• drizzle of olive oil

Equipment

• Box Grater
• Peeler
• Nakiri Knife
• Cutting Board
• Measuring Cups + Spoons
• Mixing Bowls
• 8 x 8 Baking Dish
• Parchment Paper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
2. In a big bowl, add the ground meat, egg, grated onion, grated potato, salt, oregano, paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Using clean hands, mix really well until all the ingredients are incorporated.
3. Using a large ice cream scoop or tablespoon measure, create 14 equal-sized meatballs from the meat mixture. Roll each one and then, using your palm, flatten it slightly. Set aside.
4. Note: You can cover the meatball mixture and let it sit in the fridge overnight and form the meatballs the following day. OR you can form the meatballs, cover them and assemble the rest of the recipe the following day. Alternatively, you don't have to wait at all if you want to bake and enjoy them the same day.
5. Sprinkle all of the potato slices with a little bit of salt.
6. Pour 3/4 cup of the tomato sauce into the bottom of a baking dish (see notes below) and distribute the sauce evenly.
7. Arrange the meatballs and potatoes into the baking dish, creating a spiral pattern of meatball, potato, meatball, etc. The meatballs and potatoes should be placed upright, so the food is stacked and balanced on its thinnest side.
8. Once the potatoes and meatballs have been arranged, add the mini bell peppers anywhere you like. You can add as many as you wish, as long as there's space to nestle them in.
9. Pour the remaining 1/4 cup sauce onto the top of the meatballs, potatoes, and peppers and drizzle on a touch of olive oil on top.
10. We wet and scrunch up parchment paper and cover the top of the dish. Feel free to use foil instead.
11. Bake for about 45 minutes, uncover, and bake for another 15 minutes. The bake time will depend on the oven (ours is super slow/old and takes longer) so always keep an eye on the dish to make sure it does not over or underbake.
12. We like to put the dish on BROIL (top element only) for the last 5 minutes for extra color, but feel free to leave this step out.
13. Let cool for 15 minutes and enjoy!