Meatballs in a cream sauce in the oven - a dish that inspires childhood memories. Indeed, in kindergarten it was one of the favorite foods eaten without a trace. And a rare adult will refuse a plate of fragrant meatballs, cooked with love. This hearty dish is not only very tasty, but also easy to prepare. Products for him can be found in the refrigerator of every housewife, and the result will always be excellent. Meat, fish, chicken - there can be many options, but the result is always the same: enthusiastic cheers from home and the demand for supplements. The recipe for meatballs, in the oven, in cooked sour cream sauce , and we will analyze in more detail in the article.
Classic recipe: main ingredients
In order to cook a hearty appetizing meatballs you will need a simple set of products. What needs to be prepared so that the meatballs baked in the oven in sour cream sauce are excellent.
The classic recipe assumes the following ingredients:
- Chopped meat. We will touch on the proper preparation in the following sections, for now, we just say that it is better to do it yourself - such a dish can certainly be given even to very young children, without fear of causing allergic reactions and indigestion of the store product. It will take 700 grams.
- Chicken eggs are also required. They will give the mass of stickiness and will not allow to fall apart during the heat treatment. Two pieces will be enough.
- One piece of vegetables: carrots, onions, and many housewives add bell pepper.
- Low fat sour cream for making sauce.
- Favorite spices. The classic recipe assumes the presence of salt, black pepper (preferably freshly ground).
- Also in the cooking process you will need a little flour and vegetable oil.
Minced meat
The best forcemeat from which you can cook meatballs in a cream sauce in the oven - made independently from the pulp of beef and pork. Their approximate ratio is 50 to 50 percent.
You can take whole beef or pork, but then in the first case the meatballs turn out to be harsh and dry, and in the second - too fat. Another good combination is chicken and pork, also 50 to 50.
Minced meat must be salt and add freshly ground pepper to taste. If there is no mill on the farm, industrial ground black pepper is also suitable. A mixture of 5 peppers, also freshly ground, will give an even greater aroma. It is also necessary to introduce an egg into the minced meat.
Some housewives, frying vegetables in butter, also add half to the stuffing - this can be done as desired. After that, we set the minced meat aside so that the ingredients “bind” to each other.
Sour cream sauce
Sauce is the most important component of the dish. Although it is prepared on the basis of sour cream, there may be several options. Let's analyze them.
Classic meatballs in sour cream sauce in the oven are cooked with such a sauce. In fried vegetables (remember that half of them, if desired, can be put into forcemeat), you need to add a glass (about 200 g) of sour cream, mix well.
Before frying, we grind vegetables in our favorite way: we cut onions into slices, pepper - into small strips, to grind carrots you can use an ordinary coarse grater or a device for slicing carrots in Korean. The most delicious will be vegetables fried in butter, but to reduce the calorie content of the dish, you can take vegetable, preferably olive.
Next, mix sour cream with fried vegetables. Separately, a tablespoon is left to dissolve in a glass (250 ml) of water, here we put a little flour (also a tablespoon is enough). To avoid lumps, you can use a jar with a screw cap. After adding sour cream, water, salt and pepper, everything should be shaken well. Pour the mixture into vegetables, bring to a boil.
Cooking process
When the minced meat and sauce are ready, you can proceed to the direct preparation of the dish. The recipe for meatballs in the oven in sour cream sauce is as follows:
- We make small balls of minced meat (a little more than meatballs).
- Lubricate the refractory form with vegetable or butter. The dishes may be different: glass, ceramic, Teflon-coated. The main thing is that there is a place for sauce.
- Gently spread the meatballs into the mold.
- Pour with freshly prepared sauce based on sour cream.
- Put in the oven. A temperature of 180 degrees will be enough. The dish is cooked for about 20 minutes - it all depends on the oven. Periodically check the condition of the meatballs. If necessary, you can cover them with foil.
It is also worth saying that if for some reason the oven is not available, you can use an air grill or a slow cooker in baking mode - the effect will be the same.
Meatballs with Rice
Another option that diversifies meatballs in sour cream sauce in the oven (see photo below) is to add rice to them. Let's analyze the preparation.
In addition to the ingredients listed in the classic recipe, you will also need a half glass of rice, a roll of white bread soaked in milk.
Rice must be boiled until tender, at this time you can do the cooking of minced meat, where you need to add the squeezed soaked crumb of white bread, eggs, favorite seasonings and some of the fried vegetables. As soon as the rice is ready, we also add it to the mass and form meatballs.
Further, the preparation does not differ from the classic recipe: pour everything with sauce, put in the oven for 20 minutes.
Such a recipe is an opportunity to feed those households who do not perceive rice as side dishes. This type of meatballs is a completely independent dish, in principle, not requiring a side dish. In the people it was called "meat hedgehogs." Children especially love them, and many mothers decorate the dish with black peppercorn eyes, then, with sticking rice, they really look like little hedgehogs.
We use minced chicken
For diet food, chicken meatballs in sour cream sauce in the oven are well suited. Many housewives hesitate to cook them, believing that the dish will turn out to be excessively dry. However, there are small tricks to help avoid this trouble.
Firstly, it is worth using not only chicken breast for minced meat, but also fillets from the thighs and legs.
One more trick - without fail we add to the forcemeat, in addition to eggs and vegetables, another onion and a clove of garlic. There, many chefs advise adding a teaspoon of sugar. But black pepper needs to be put more than in meatballs - then the chicken dish will turn out more flavorful.
Otherwise, the preparation of meatballs from chicken is no different from ordinary. They can also be cooked with boiled rice, using tomato paste or ketchup in sauce. Moreover, the oven - ideal for cooking just such chicken meatballs - they do not overcook and do not dry out, as could happen when stewing in a pan, and also find a wonderful, mouth-watering crust.
Meatballs are fish
We also advise you to cook fish meatballs in sour cream sauce in the oven. This is an ideal option to feed those households who do not like fish. Also, the recipe is ideal for children, because mom will not worry that the baby will get a bone in the fish - in meatballs cooked from minced meat this is absolutely impossible.
So, how to cook fish meatballs in sour cream sauce in the oven?
First you need to cook the stuffing. Any fish fillet is suitable, but it is better to stay on white rocks such as cod, pollock, hake. Meatballs will also work well from pike. Grind the fillet, while it is worth adding vegetables: onions, carrots. The fact is that the fish is very tender, so vegetables chopped with a knife will stand out against its background. In addition, chopped vegetables will add juiciness.
Next is cooking according to the standard recipe: add the eggs soaked in milk into the minced meat. We form balls-meatballs, fill with a classic sour cream sauce and put in the oven. Cooking time is also 20 minutes at 180 degrees.
Which side dish is suitable
Oven meatballs in cream sauce are classically served with mashed potatoes. But other options are possible: rice or buckwheat. Some people prefer to garnish just vegetable salad seasoned with vegetable oil.
Meatballs to which rice is added may be without any side dish.
Spice up the dish
Sometimes you want meatballs in sour cream sauce in the oven to have a special, different from the usual taste. Variations with sauces will come to the rescue. To diversify them, you can, for example, cook it from a combination of sour cream and tomato paste. The steps will be the same, only in the process of frying vegetables before adding sour cream to them, you need to put a tablespoon of tomato paste.
Another option is sour cream and garlic sauce. It is easiest to cook: in a cooked and boiled mixture, just add a clove of garlic, passed through a press or grated on the finest grater. If there is no fresh garlic, dried (granulated) will come to the rescue - one teaspoon will be quite enough.
Also in the sauce, as well as in the stuffing itself, you can add finely chopped mushrooms. Best of all mushrooms. If they are canned - you do not need to fry them first. Raw mushrooms are fried along with all the vegetables.