Porcupine meatballs made your way

Porcupine meatballs is a favorite for my husband’s family. I tried to make them once in high school and failed miserably. Thankfully my mother in law shared her recipe with me and after a few additions, we have our own version that we love.

As with many of my recipes, I share several cooking methods and several adaptations.

Porcupine meatballs are delicious made on the stovetop, in a crockpot and in the Instant Pot.

I make them with fresh chopped onions and with dried.

I use whichever version of ground beef is on sale and skim the fat if necessary.

In our family, we always serve them with mashed potatoes, but they are also delicious served over noodles, veggie noodles or rice.

Finally, we serve them with green beans, but peas, broccoli, or any green vegetable makes for a beautiful serving plate.

This is one of the most requested dinners by my family.  Hopefully after you make it, your family will feel the same way. Enjoy!

Note: Let ground beef and egg to come to room temperature to make mixing and shaping the meatballs easier. This recipe doubles, triples and even quadruples well.

Ingredients

Tools

Measuring cups and spoons
Large mixing bowl
Knife for chopping onion if not using dried
Cutting board
Deep pan, Crock Pot or Instant Pot
Large spoon for stirring and serving

Optional: Disposable gloves - I use this brand because they are biodegradable, and I'm not fond of touching raw meat even though I love cooking: https://geni.us/FEQg0BV 

Directions

Pour half of the soup into the cooking vessel.

Fill the can ½ to ¾ full of water to rinse out the can and add to the sauce if using condensed soup.

Gently mix the rest of the  non soup ingredients together in a bowl just until fully incorporated.

Shape into meatballs with your hands or use a scoop to make them more uniform.

If we're making a larger batch, we use a scoop and then finish by using our hands.

Place gently into the sauce.

When the meatballs are in the sauce, pour the rest of the tomato soup over them.

Stove cook 30-45 minutes on medium heat stirring occasionally.

Cook 2 hours on high or 4 hours on low in a Crock Pot, or cook 5 minutes in the Instant Pot and allow to naturally pressure release for 10-15 minutes.