Porcupine Meatballs
These Porcupine Meatballs are cozy, retro comfort food at its best, tender beef meatballs with rice “quills,” baked in a rich tomato sauce until saucy, juicy, and totally irresistible.
Servings: 6
Calories: 389kcal
Ingredients
For Meatballs
- 1¾ pounds ground beef extra lean
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon thyme dried
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ cup long-grain rice uncooked
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cans condensed tomato soup (10.75 oz cans)
- 2 cans water (use soup can to measure)
- 2 tablespoons parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
- In a large bowl add the meatball ingredients, and mix well using your clean hands. The mixture will be quite soft and loose, but they will cook into firm meatballs.
- Wet your hands and form the mixture into medium size meatballs. You should end up with about 30 meatballs. Drizzle the olive oil in a 9x13 inch casserole dish then place the meatballs in the dish.
- In another large bowl mix the soup and water together, then pour over the meatballs. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake covered for 35 minutes then remove the foil and cook for another 30-35 minutes, or until the rice pokes through the meatballs.
- Serve with mashed potatoes and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- To make it easier to shape the meatballs you could use a small cookie scoop, this will also ensure all your meatballs are the same size.
- Rinse the long-grain rice thoroughly to remove excess starch, ensuring your meatballs develop those signature porcupine spikes beautifully.
- No tomato soup? Use a thick marinara or homemade tomato sauce instead.
- Recipe should yield about 30 meatballs.
- Nutritional information is based on 5 meatballs per serving.
- These meatballs freeze well right in the sauce, in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 389kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 89mg | Sodium: 1275mg | Potassium: 1175mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 574IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 117mg | Iron: 4mg
