The Cozy Cookbook is here! 
Tender meatballs are smothered in brown gravy with onions and served over creamy mashed potatoes. This is the ultimate comfort food that’s freezer-friendly and can be made ahead of time!
Be sure to serve this with my homemade Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Green Beans!
Meatballs and Gravy
Meatballs and gravy is definitely the ultimate comfort food, nothing hits the spot like meat and potatoes. Right!?
I’m always on the hunt for ground beef recipes that I know my family will love, and this one does the trick every time. I love that I can make the meatballs ahead of time, and that they’re also make-ahead and freezer-friendly!
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Set olive oil aside. Mix remaining meatball ingredients and roll into 1 +1/2 inch balls. Brown in batches in a skillet with olive oil.
Melt butter in the skillet and add the onions. Cook until softened and slightly caramelized.
Add the chicken broth, beef broth, onion powder, garlic powder, and Worcestershire sauce to the skillet.
Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and whisk in the cornstarch/water mixture. Reduce to a simmer. It will continue to thicken.
Add the meatballs back to the skillet and spoon with gravy heat for about 10 more minutes to allow the meatballs to cook through.
Top with fresh parsley and serve with mashed potatoes and roasted carrots.
Pro Tips For This Recipe
- Don’t overwork the meat when you mix it, it will make the meatballs tough instead of nice and tender.
- Refrigerate the meatballs for 15 minutes after rolling them to help them stay together during cooking.
- Searing the meatballs creates a nice color and texture around the outside of the meatball, which is ideal for this recipe.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan when you brown the meatballs, browning in batches makes it easy to rotate them so that they can brown on all sides.
- A nonstick skillet will help keep the meatballs from sticking to the pan and makes it easier to keep them intact when you flip them.
- This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 81!
Make Ahead Method
- The meatballs can be mixed up and rolled 1 day ahead of time. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.
- You can also freeze the raw meatballs and let them thaw in the fridge overnight before you want to cook them. For this reason, I like to make a double batch of meatballs and freeze them for another day.
Storage
Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Try These Next
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- Swedish Meatballs
-
- Chicken Spaghetti
-
- Salisbury Steak
-
- Baked Meatballs
-
- Slow Cooker Beef Stew
-
- Chicken Meatballs
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Meatballs and Gravy
Ingredients
Meatball Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 ½ lbs. Ground Beef, 85% lean
- ½ Yellow Onion, finely diced
- ¼ cup Breadcrumbs, Plain or Italian
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 large Egg
- 1 Tablespoon Ketchup
- 1 teaspoon Yellow Mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper
- 2 teaspoons Fresh Parsley, roughly chopped
Gravy
- 1 medium Yellow Onion, sliced into ½ inch strings
- 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 1 cup Chicken Broth
- 1 cup Beef Broth
- 1 Beef Bouillon Cube, or 1 tsp Better than Bouillon
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 2-3 drops Kitchen Bouquet browning and seasoning sauce, optional
- 1/4 cup cold water + 3 tablespoons Corn Starch
Instructions
Brown the Meatballs/Cook the Onions
- Set olive oil aside and gently mix remaining meatball ingredients in a large bowl until just combined, don’t overmix or the meat will become tough. Roll into 1+1/2 inch meatballs. Pro Tip: Refrigerate the meatballs for 15 minutes after rolling them to help them stay together during cooking.
- Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Brown 5-6 meatballs at a time for about 2 minutes on each side. (Leave extra room around each so that you can easily roll them over to cook on the reverse side.) Remove and set aside. Repeat for all meatballs.
- Reduce heat to medium and melt tablespoon of butter. Add the sliced onions and let them soften and even caramelize a bit, about 15 minutes. Stir often.
Make the Gravy
- Add the chicken broth, beef broth, beef bouillon, onion powder, garlic powder, and Worcestershire sauce to the skillet. Stir to combine.
- Use a silicone spatula to work any brown bits on the bottom of the pan into the sauce. Optional: add 2-3 drops of Kitchen Bouquet browning and seasoning sauce if a darker color is desired.
- Combine the corn starch and cold water in a small Tupperware with a lid. Shake to combine.
- Bring gravy to a boil. Slowly whisk in cornstarch mixture until desired thickness is obtained. Decrease to medium low. Continue to whisk to ensure that it blends in smoothly.
Add the Meatballs
- Add the meatballs back to the skillet and spoon the sauce on top. Heat for about 10 minutes to allow the meatballs to finish cooking through. Garnish with parsley and serve over mashed potatoes.
Notes
- Don't overwork the meat when you mix it, it will make the meatballs tough instead of nice and tender.
- Refrigerate the meatballs for 15 minutes after rolling them to help them stay together during cooking.
- Searing the meatballs creates a nice color and texture around the outside of the meatball, which is ideal for this recipe.
- Don't overcrowd the pan when you brown the meatballs, browning in batches makes it easy to rotate them so that they can brown on all sides.
- A nonstick skillet will help keep the meatballs from sticking to the pan and makes it easier to keep them intact when you flip them.
- This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 81!
- This recipe makes about 24-27 meatballs and 6 servings. Nutrition information is per serving.
- The internal temp of meatballs should be 160 degrees F.
Really enjoyed this receipt. Added Serrano peppers for a kick in the meat balls. In addition to the sautéed onions we added mushrooms. Served over egg noodles. Just wonderful.
I love those additions Whitney!😋 My husband would love the kick from the peppers. Thanks so much for sharing and for leaving a review!
This was fabulous it will be in my motherhood collection
I’m so happy to hear that Sharon! I love that you have a motherhood collection!❤️
How about using pre-cooked frozen meatballs that are defrosted
Hi Bob! Yes, that would be absolutely fine, I do that often! It’s a great make-ahead method!
Delicious
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review Leeanne!😃
We hunt every fall and I had a package of mixed ground hamburger w/ ground deer meat in my deep freeze that I used for this recipe. I also sauteed fresh onions and mushrooms and added to the gravy but all of the seasonings and ingredients called for were mixed in as written…Although venison tends to be dry when cooking due to lack of fat in the meat, the mix of the two meats along with the gravy, made these meatballs really really tasty…I served them over white rice and added some fresh veggies from our garden as side dishes and a skillet of buttermilk cornbread…needless to say we both enjoyed a really great Sunday meal. Thank you! I cook for myself and my husband and after work through the week the last thing I really don’t want to do is to be in the kitchen cooking . I knew this recipe would make up more meatballs than we could eat at one meal, so I rolled all of the meat into balls and froze what meatballs I didn’t cook on a silicone sheet pan and later transferred to a freezer zippy bag for a quick throw together meal during the week…love, love, love recipes that freeze well…My meatballs were baked instead of pan fried and I was thinking I could use them in spaghetti sauce as well, minus the gravy.
I’m so happy to hear this was such a hit! Venison can add such a great flavor and is great to mix with other ground meat!😋 Enjoy the leftovers! Thanks so much for commenting and taking the time to leave a review!
If I use turkey meatballs, should I leave out the beef broth and double the chicken broth?
Hi Deborah! You can definitely do that! I like the depth of flavor of using both, which you can also do if you’re using turkey! But totally up to you, it’s great either way!
Liked this meatball dish. But, hot water instead of cold for the cornflour.
Bonapetit!
Hi Toni! So glad that you liked the meatballs!! Hot liquid is what triggers the thickening agent in cornstarch so you want to use cold in order to give the water and cornstarch time to combine until smooth. Then you add it to hot liquid in order to thicken the gravy. Otherwise you end up with immediate lumps instead of a smooth consistency.
Soo good! My family really enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for sharing!
You’re very welcome Angie!❤️ I’m so happy your family enjoyed this! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment!
Your meatballs and gravy served with your mashed potatoes… seriously delicious. And I really appreciate the extra effort you take in producing and presenting your recipes. First rate all the way. Thank you!
Thanks so much Rick, you’re the best!😍 So happy to hear you’re enjoying the recipes! I make this meatballs and gravy recipe for my friends when they come over for football and they devour it.
Loved it!!!!!!!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!😍