National Meatball Day - Recipes and Reviews

 There's always room for Meatballs, and I've made them in many ways, from Meatballs floating in a Mexican Albondigas Soup, Swedish Meatballs with Gravy, and every Italian grandmother-style Meatballs with Spaghetti. You've come to the right place to celebrate National Meatball Day!

No matter how you stack them in a Meatball Sub, or on a pile of pasta, I think you will approve of my multitude of Meatballs recipes and cheap finds. Click on any highlighted recipe name to be redirected to my original blog post recipe.

Do you like your Meatballs made of ground pork, beef, or poultry? How about mixing turkey and pork? I still find deals on 7-ounce packs of ground pork, and ground turkey that comes on sale frequently. 

And I've reviewed a few from the frozen deli case like these Turkey Meatballs by Villa Roma for 99 cents. How do they rate on the 99 Cent Chef's Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best. Well, just click here to see the deliciously high rating.

I'm a big fan of Swedish Meatballs. I first had them from the public cafeteria in Ikea, a well-known furniture and housewares chain store. What gives them that Oomph is the addition of the spice nutmeg - oh, and they are served in a creamy gravy. 

As a prolific video recipe maker, I am influenced by many European film directors, so it's only natural to create a Swedish Meatball Recipe in homage to Ingmar Bergman who created films of angst and struggles of the psyche.

99 Cent Chef plays chess with Death.

So how do Lean Cuisine's Swedish Meatballs compare to mine? Hmmm, they are a bit boring. This recipe script needs some punching up!

My most unusual Meatball recipe is called Albondigas Soup by way of Mexico. It is a colorful concoction with chunks of veggies like squash, potato, and carrot. The Meatballs are studded with rice, so this is a dollar-stretching hearty soup for a cold day.

I found the most unusual Deal of the Day called Italian Wedding Day Soup that has Meatballs. 

While soup in a can is always suspicious, and this one is just okay, the idea is a good one because the main ingredient, along with Meatballs, are tender pearls of orzo pasta.

Almost every family has a recipe for Meatballs with Spaghetti, and this Cheap$kate Chef would like to throw a handful of pasta against the wall and see if my recipe sticks. And the ingredient list has it all including mushrooms and spinach.

My Lighter Than Air Meatballs rock hard! I make them all the time and I think you will too if you follow the simple directions. 

Adding veggies and toasted bread makes the Meatballs so light and tasty.  And this is a 2fer recipe as you can use the Meatballs to make a Meatball Sub.  Check out my  Lighter Than Air Meatballs video recipe below and give it a try.

Let's fork a Meatball and raise it in celebration of National Meatball Day!

National Meatball Day - Recipes and Reviews

 There's always room for Meatballs, and I've made them in many ways, from Meatballs floating in a Mexican Albondigas Soup, Swedish Meatballs with Gravy, and every Italian grandmother-style Meatballs with Spaghetti. You've come to the right place to celebrate National Meatball Day!

No matter how you stack them in a Meatball Sub, or on a pile of pasta, I think you will approve of my multitude of Meatballs recipes and cheap finds. Click on any highlighted recipe name to be redirected to my original blog post recipe.

Do you like your Meatballs made of ground pork, beef, or poultry? How about mixing turkey and pork? I still find deals on 7-ounce packs of ground pork, and ground turkey that comes on sale frequently. 

And I've reviewed a few from the frozen deli case like these Turkey Meatballs by Villa Roma for 99 cents. How do they rate on the 99 Cent Chef's Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best. Well, just click here to see the deliciously high rating.

I'm a big fan of Swedish Meatballs. I first had them from the public cafeteria in Ikea, a well-known furniture and housewares chain store. What gives them that Oomph is the addition of the spice nutmeg - oh, and they are served in a creamy gravy. 

As a prolific video recipe maker, I am influenced by many European film directors, so it's only natural to create a Swedish Meatball Recipe in homage to Ingmar Bergman who created films of angst and struggles of the psyche.

99 Cent Chef plays chess with Death.

So how do Lean Cuisine's Swedish Meatballs compare to mine? Hmmm, they are a bit boring. This recipe script needs some punching up!

My most unusual Meatball recipe is called Albondigas Soup by way of Mexico. It is a colorful concoction with chunks of veggies like squash, potato, and carrot. The Meatballs are studded with rice, so this is a dollar-stretching hearty soup for a cold day.

I found the most unusual Deal of the Day called Italian Wedding Day Soup that has Meatballs. 

While soup in a can is always suspicious, and this one is just okay, the idea is a good one because the main ingredient, along with Meatballs, are tender pearls of orzo pasta.

Almost every family has a recipe for Meatballs with Spaghetti, and this Cheap$kate Chef would like to throw a handful of pasta against the wall and see if my recipe sticks. And the ingredient list has it all including mushrooms and spinach.

My Lighter Than Air Meatballs rock hard! I make them all the time and I think you will too if you follow the simple directions. 

Adding veggies and toasted bread makes the Meatballs so light and tasty.  And this is a 2fer recipe as you can use the Meatballs to make a Meatball Sub.  Check out my  Lighter Than Air Meatballs video recipe below and give it a try.

Let's fork a Meatball and raise it in celebration of National Meatball Day!

Turkey Meatballs - Deal of the Day

This solid Deal of the Day is quite tasty for frozen fare. Turkey Meatballs by Villa Roma come about a dozen per package and weighs in at one pound - that's a lot of bang for a buck.

It's way below what you would pay for fresh ground turkey, and my latest 99c only Store find is ready to eat after a few minutes in the microwave, or heated through in a pasta sauce.

Click on any photo to see larger.

I zapped a couple meatballs to just taste on their own.

While the meatballs are small, like a ping pong ball, they are packed with flavor. They are a low fat version of Italian sausage, with a small amount of herb flavors. Using lean turkey can make a dry meatball, but these were quite juicy and moist.

The meatballs are lightly seasoned with Italian spices, and the box lists Parmesan and Romano cheese, too. While I could easily taste the herbs, the cheeses were much more subtle - but that's okay.

Breadcrumbs are also listed as an ingredient, but I could not detect any doughy texture; the meatballs seemed mostly ground turkey.

For a quick and easy Italian pasta meal, I used a generic tomato pasta sauce and tossed in a few of the turkey meatballs. They held up well in the sauce. This Deal of the Day makes for a super quick dinner by just simmering these meatballs in your favorite pasta sauce, and it's ready by the time the pasta is al dente.

They would be delish on a pizza too. So these precooked meatballs are fine in any recipe you could come up with, even a Meatball Submarine Sandwich. The directions call for cooking them in the microwave, oven, or sauteed in a frying pan.

The frozen meatballs are easy to store, so you can defrost 3 or 4 at a time for single servings. Or even set out a heated bowl of them with a dipping sauce for a party. Click here to see a few tasty dipping sauce recipes.

So on the 99 Cent Chef's Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, I give Turkey Meatballs by Villa Roma an 8 !

This is a great Deal of the Day and I would stock up on these tasty flavor orbs anytime they show up at the 99c only Store - hey, if I saw them in my regular grocery store frozen case, I would still get them, even at full price!

*As with any Deals of the Day I review, some sell out, or may not be stocked all the time in stores.