Meatballs with Cream Sauce

so I still prefer my crockpot meatball recipe, but this one was also good, and fairly easy. and you likely have most of these ingredients on hand.

MEATBALLS:

1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
2 T. ketchup
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley (I used dry, tasted fine)
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
3 T. flour

CREAM SAUCE:
2 T. butter
3 1/2 T. flour
1/4 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
14 oz. can chicken broth (If you want your sauce thicker, cut down the chicken broth to 1 cup)
2/3 cup milk
2 T. minced fresh parsley

In a bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients EXCEPT the beef and flour. Add beef and mix well. Shape into balls. Roll in flour, shaking off excess. Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheet and bake, uncovered, at 400 for 10 minutes. Turn meatballs, bake 8-10 minutes longer or until no longer pink. Meanwhile, for the sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour, thyme, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add broth and milk; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, until slightly thickened. If using the full can of chicken broth, the sauce doesn’t thicken overly much, but it is delicious that way. If you want it slightly thicker, cut down the chicken broth to 1 cup. Drain meatballs on paper towels; transfer to a serving dish. Top with sauce and parsley. Serve over rice or egg noodles.

Source: My Kitchen Cafe

crockpot meatballs

(I already cut my meatballs in half to cool before I realized I wanted to take a picture)

This is another one I got from Kelly (sorry to keep posting your recipes). I love this recipe for a few reasons. First, it requires the crockpot. This takes about 30 minutes prep time in the morning, and I don't know about you, but my mornings are always calmer than my evenings, so it is worth it to have dinner practically done by 10AM. Second, I love that it uses ground turkey. Such a healthier alternative, and by cooking it in the crockpot it stays tender and does not dry out, which is sometimes a problem substituting ground turkey.

Meatballs
1 lb ground turkey
combine with:

1 egg
less than 1/2 cup bread crumbs
onion flakes (just pour in desired amount. of course you could always use a chopped onion)
1 Tbs. parsley
1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/8 tsp. black pepper
sprinkle garlic powder

Roll into 1 inch balls and brown in a skillet. Remember that you don't need to cook them through, you are just browning the sides so they will stay formed for the crockpot.

Sauce
Mix:
1 can cream of mushroom
1 cup water
1 package turkey gravy mix
1/8 tsp. thyme

the last few times I have made this, I didn't feel like I had enough sauce, so this time I doubled the sauce and was glad I did.

Pour sauce over meatballs and cook on low 6-8 hours. Serve over egg noodles or mashed potatoes.