Meatballs in tomato sauce: recipes with photos

Meatballs are usually called a meat dish made in the form of small balls. It is found in national cuisines around the world. Usually meatballs are made from meat. But the composition of the initial mixture may also include vegetables (carrots, cabbage, onions), various cereals (rice, oatmeal, buckwheat), eggs and bread (sometimes in the form of breadcrumbs). Sometimes mushrooms are even added to meatballs. There are dozens of different recipes. Original minced meat balls can be boiled, fried, stewed, and baked in the oven. They are usually served at the table with sauce (tomato, cream, sour cream and others). Sometimes it is cooked separately, but most often together with the meatballs themselves. There are several options. The most popular are meatballs in tomato sauce. The recipe and method of preparing such a dish, first of all, depends on the set of source ingredients.

Meatballs with bread in a stewpan

First, consider the classic version. These are meatballs in tomato sauce. The recipe is interesting in that, in addition to eggs, the pulp of a regular loaf is also used as binding ingredients. With it, finished products become softer and more tender. The hostess will need the following main products to work:

• 1 onion;
• 350 grams of ground beef and pork;
• 80 grams of regular loaf;
• 1 egg
• 60 grams of fresh mint;
• 3 grams of ground pepper;
• 15 grams of sea salt;
• 900 grams of tomato puree;
• 60 milliliters of olive oil.

To cook such meatballs, you must perform the following steps:

1. Transfer both types of forcemeat into a deep bowl.
2. Add to them the pulp of a loaf. First, it must be soaked in water, and then squeezed well.
3. To the total mass add peeled onions. Before that, you need to finely crush it or use a blender.
4. Mix the products well.
5. Then you should introduce the egg, spices and finely chopped mint leaves. After final mixing, the mass should be quite homogeneous.
6. Wet neat balls with wet hands from minced meat. For each workpiece, approximately one teaspoon of the mixture will be required.
7. Fry them in oil on all sides until a dense golden crust forms.
8. Pour the tomato puree into the saucepan.
9. Add salt to it and bring the mass to a boil.
10. Transfer the fried meatballs to a saucepan and simmer them under the lid for 20 minutes with a slight boil. In this case, the meat should not remain raw.

Ready meatballs along with aromatic sauce can only be transferred to portioned plates. They can be served separately or with any side dish (cereals, pasta or potatoes).

Meatballs with mushrooms

Those who like to experiment will definitely like another original recipe. Meatballs in tomato sauce can be made by adding a few mushrooms to the minced meat. With this addition, meat balls acquire an unusual taste and pleasant aroma. The following components will be required:

• 250 grams of pork and 150 grams of ground beef;
• basil;
• 250 grams of any mushrooms;
• 1 medium onion;
• egg;
• salt;
• sunflower oil.

For the sauce:

• 2 medium tomatoes;
• 100 grams of sour cream and as much tomato paste;
• spice;
• glass of water.

Method for the preparation of meatballs with mushrooms:

1. Peel the onion. Sort out the mushrooms and rinse thoroughly.
2. Finely chopped prepared foods and lightly fry in oil.
3. Combine them with minced meat, salt, add the egg well, mix it all thoroughly.
4. From the resulting mass, form small meatballs. Keep them in the refrigerator for several minutes.
5. Separately cook the sauce. To do this, first you need to pour tomatoes over with boiling water, and then carefully peel them. Grind the remaining pulp in a blender. Add the rest of the ingredients to it and mix.
6. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and slowly bring it to a boil.
7. Pour meatballs there and continue to simmer over low heat.
8. After 10 minutes, introduce basil. It will make the dish more fragrant.

After boiling the sauce, meatballs should be stewed for about half an hour.

Meatballs with Rice

In practice, a different recipe is most often used. Meatballs in tomato sauce in most cases are cooked with rice. Moreover, it can be pre-boiled or added raw. The result in both cases is excellent. As a striking example, you can try in practice one of the options for which you need:

• 700 grams of any stuffing;
• 1 liter of cold water;
• a glass of rice cereal;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• 85 grams of vegetable oil;
• salt;
• 1 onion;
• 30 grams of wheat flour;
• ground pepper;
• 1 carrot;
• 60 grams of tomato paste;
• 45-50 grams of greens (fresh or frozen).

The technology of cooking meatballs:

1. Pour rice with water (300 milliliters) and cook until half cooked.
2. Peel the onion and garlic and chop as much as possible. An ordinary sharp knife is suitable for this. Moreover, onions should take about ¾ of the head.
3. Add crushed products to minced meat along with salt, egg and pepper. Mix it all well.
4. From this mass, with wetted hands in water, form balls. If desired, they can be slightly fried. But to do this is not necessary.
5. Rub the peeled carrots on a grater (large or medium). Chop the remaining onion. Separate flour and salt with water.
6. First, fry the onions in a pan. Then you need to add carrot and tomato paste to it. Then pour boiling mass with water, and then introduce the diluted flour, pepper and herbs. The mixture should be well extinguished and slightly thickened.
7. Put the meatballs in a mold, pour them with the prepared sauce and send to the oven for 30 minutes. Roasting is carried out at 180 degrees.

Ready-made fragrant balls with sauce are good to serve with boiled spaghetti.

Rice-free chicken meatballs

In the case when poultry meat is used, adding cereal is not necessary. The meat balls are already quite soft and tender. To properly cook, for example, chicken meatballs in tomato sauce, you do not need to have a recipe with a photo. The process itself is so simple that even a novice cook can handle it. To work, you will definitely need a minimum set of ingredients:

• half a kilogram of minced chicken;
• 200 milliliters of tomato juice;
• 1 small onion;
• greens (any);
• 1 egg
• medium carrot.

The cooking method includes 4 main stages:

1. Minced salt, add chopped herbs, egg and a little pepper. Mix the products thoroughly.
2. From this mass, form neat round meatballs.
3. Chop the peeled onions and fry them together with grated carrots in oil. Add tomato juice to vegetables. Give food a little boil.
4. Transfer to meatballs sauce . Extinguish them for 15 minutes at a low flame level.

This option is very convenient to use in case you need to quickly and tasty feed the whole family.

Raw Rice Meatballs

Today, many housewives in the house have special kitchen appliances, in particular, a crock-pot. It is much easier and more convenient to cook with it, for example, meatballs in tomato sauce. A step-by-step recipe is needed in order to follow a certain sequence. After all, all the components of the dish will be cooked in the same container. For this option you will need:

• 400-500 grams of any minced meat;
• ½ cup raw rice;
• 2 onions;
• salt and spices (paprika, pepper, oregano).

To fill:

• 45 grams of flour;
• 0.4-0.5 liters of cold water;
• 60 grams of tomato paste;
• 3 grams of salt;
• 4 grams of sugar.

Cooking meatballs:

1. Peel the onion, chop finely, and then lightly pass in oil.
2. Add it to the minced meat along with salt, pepper and washed rice groats. To stir thoroughly.
3. Blind meatballs with wet hands and put them in the multicooker bowl.
4. Separate the flour separately with water, and then add the remaining components and mix.
5. Pour the meatballs with the prepared sauce.
6. Turn on the “baking” mode and cook for at least an hour.

After the timer signal, the multicooker can be turned off and prepare to enjoy a juicy and very fragrant dish. During stewing, rice gradually swells, so the meatballs almost double in size.

Oven meatballs

It is even easier to make meatballs in tomato sauce in the oven. The recipe, if desired, can be varied by adding not quite ordinary components to the composition of the initial mixture. Take, for example, the original version, which uses the following ingredients:

• 300 grams of minced pork;
• 1 egg
• 30 grams of flour;
• 5 grams of paprika;
• salt;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• 35-40 grams of olive oil;
• 400 grams of canned tomatoes in natural filling;
• ground pepper;
• 1 teaspoon chopped capers;
• 2 teaspoons of chopped olives.

How to cook such meatballs:

1. First you need to turn on the oven so that it has time to warm up to 200 degrees.
2. Collect pork, egg, flour, as well as chopped onions, olives and capers in one container and mix well. Salt the finished mass and add a little pepper.
3. From this mixture, mold round billets with a diameter of not more than two centimeters.
4. Fry them in oil in a pan. It will take about 8-9 minutes.
5. Transfer the processed meatballs to the mold.
6. Put tomatoes, garlic and onions in a pan (or stewpan). Add salt and pepper and simmer over medium heat for about 10-12 minutes.
7. Pour the finished sauce into the mold and put it in the oven.

After 20 minutes, the juicy meatballs will be ready. Due to the unusual composition of the product, they acquire an original aroma that immediately causes appetite.

Meatballs in a pan without rice

If desired, you can cook no less tasty meatballs in tomato sauce in a pan. The recipe, in fact, is quite simple, but requires the following required components:

• 500 grams of minced meat (preferably pork);
• 160 milliliters of water;
• 1 tablespoon of seasoning (especially for meat);
• 80 grams of finished tomato sauce;
• 2 teaspoons chopped greens (parsley).

You need to prepare the dish in stages:

1. Pour seasoning into minced meat and mix them well.
2. Hand-stick blanks in the form of balls no larger than ordinary walnuts.
3. Fry them in boiling oil in a pan to form a characteristic crust on the surface. This will take no more than 5-6 minutes.
4. Add sauce to the pan and pour everything with water. Stew under the lid for 20 minutes. To prevent products from sticking, it is advisable to stir them periodically.
5. Sprinkle almost finished products with chopped herbs.

5 minutes after that, the fire can be turned off, and the meatballs can be transferred to plates and carried to the table.

Meat balls in tomato sauce with sour cream

To make the dish not only tasty, but also healthy, you can add more different vegetables to the composition of the initial mixture. In addition, the filling will turn out more gentle if, in addition to the sauce, sour cream is used for its preparation. You can also use a simple deep frying pan for work. The result is excellent meatballs in tomato and sour cream sauce. The recipe is also good because in this case no side dish is required. First you need to collect all the necessary components:

• 1 kilogram of minced meat;
• 200 grams of sour cream;
• 1 onion;
• 500 grams of white cabbage;
• 60 grams of tomato paste;
• 1 carrot;
• 1 egg
• peppercorns;
• dried thyme;
• grated nutmeg.

The process of preparing such meatballs will be slightly different:

1. First, chop the cabbage, finely chop the onion and rub the carrots on a coarse grater.
2. Stew vegetables until soft in a pan with the addition of butter or vegetable oil.
3. Forcemeat to shift in a deep container. Add to it an egg, nutmeg, salt and mix well.
4. Combine it with stewed vegetables.
5. From the prepared mass, form small neat balls.
6. Process them in a frying pan in vegetable oil until the surface of the workpieces acquires a pleasant brown tint.
7. Add the tomato to the pan along with salt, pepper and spices.
8. After half an hour, introduce sour cream. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

Ready-made meatballs are tender and airy. In addition, they hold the volume well enough and do not crumble.