Hello again!
I hope that you’re all doing well! Another week has gone by and the quarantine continues. While we’re not getting a chance to review restaurants the way I used to, I’m having a blast trying many more recipes a week! This recipe for Mongolian Beef Meatballs has really rocked my weeknight dinners.
This recipe is courtesy of Little Spice Jar and it can be found right-> here!
Because I have my groceries delivered now, I tend to stock up on meat a little bit, just so I can freeze it. Not my favorite thing to do, but I do like knowing that I’ll have something on hand just in case something falls through. With that in mind…I had 2 lbs of ground beef in my freezer that I wanted to use up before my next grocery delivery.
What better meal to make with that quantity of beef than meatballs?!
The Meatballs That Rocked The Weeknight Dinner
I actually ended up making two dinners out of the meatballs, and we even had some leftovers! Seriously, you won’t want to sleep on this recipe. Let’s take a moment to go over how you can really get more bang for your buck with these meatballs.
Because I had 2 lbs of ground beef, I used up all of it and premade the meatballs. The spice mixture that goes into the actual meatballs is insanely flavorful! I did make one adjustment–I used regular bread crumbs because I didn’t have panko crumbs anymore. So, if you need to make that adjustment–I assure you…it will be okay!
Once baked, I did end up storing half of the meatballs for the following nights’ dinner. My first dinner with the meatballs involved using up some items in my fridge that were only days away from going bad. I don’t like wasting food, so I ended up using some marinara sauce to make a cheesy tomato sauce for the meatballs to have over some zucchini noodles.
What can you take from that? These meatballs are very well-seasoned and work very well with different sauces. If you have a larger quantity of ground beef on hand and need to make room in your freezer, keep this recipe in mind.
Okay, What About the Mongolian Beef Meatball?
It was the following day that I actually made the Mongolian sauce for the meatballs. I have a few notes on the meatballs as well as the sauce, so let’s get to it. Please note that I doubled the recipe for the sauce as well.
To start, the meatballs kept REALLY well. Even if only overnight, they kept their shape and only needed re-heating before consuming. When you make the sauce and are getting ready to serve, toss the meatballs in and allow them to heat throughout. Plus, it allows them to really absorb that flavorful sauce!
The sauce itself comes together very quickly–ingredient-wise. Do take note of the author’s direction about stirring constantly. Because there’s brown sugar in the sauce, you want to be sure that it does not burn while cooking. One thing I did do differently from the recipe is that I added cornstarch. I was stirring for a rather long time and even increased the heat a little bit, but the sauce was not thickening up to the consistency that I wanted it to. That could be because I doubled the recipe, but either way, it worked out in the end, right? Exactly.
Grey’s Grade: 5/5
One of the most important things to me while cooking is making sure that nothing goes to waste. Knowing that some items are not always available at the grocery stores, or in very limited quantities, I like to find recipes that I know I can stretch out over a few days if needed. This recipe for the meatballs themselves is excellent. I’m going to keep it in my immediate go-to recipes. If you make enough meatballs, you definitely have a few dinners under your belt. Switch up the sauces and you’re good to go any day of the week.
But if I have to look at the entire recipe, which includes the sauce–I’m still giving this a full 5/5. The flavors are fantastic and I didn’t feel the need to add any additional seasoning. If you’re missing those delicious take-out flavors, this is absolutely going to satisfy that craving. I guarantee it.
Of course, if you are able–don’t forget to support your local business even more so during this time.
Till next time!
I wish you safety and happy nomming!
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