Cooking meatballs in the oven differs from other options in that the resulting product inside is more tender and soft. At the same time, a pleasant golden brown crust forms on the outside. Most often, these meat balls are cooked with sour cream or tomato based gravy. Everything here, of course, depends on the desires and taste preferences of the hostess herself. There are hundreds of different ways in which you can make excellent meatballs in sour cream sauce in the oven, which will not only be an excellent option for dinner, but can also decorate the holiday table for any celebration. To prove this, it is worth considering several of the most interesting options.
Classic recipe: main ingredients
In order to prepare hearty, delicious meatballs you will need a simple set of ingredients. What needs to be prepared in order for the meatballs baked in the oven in sour cream sauce to turn out excellent.
The classic recipe requires the following ingredients:
- Chopped meat. We will touch on its proper preparation in the following sections, but for now we will simply say that it is better to make it yourself - such a dish can certainly be given even to very young children, without fear of causing allergic reactions and indigestion of a store-bought product. You will need 700 grams.
- Chicken eggs are also a must. They will add stickiness to the mass and prevent it from falling apart during heat treatment. Two pieces will be enough.
- One piece of vegetables at a time: carrots, onions, and many housewives also add bell peppers.
- Low fat sour cream for making sauce.
- Favorite spices. The classic recipe requires the presence of salt and black pepper (preferably freshly ground).
- You will also need some flour and vegetable oil during the cooking process.
Chicken meatballs
Diet food enthusiasts will definitely love the recipe for oven-baked meatballs in sour cream sauce using chicken meat. This dish is distinguished by its ease of preparation and a minimal set of ingredients:
700 grams of chicken fillet, 3 cloves of garlic, 300 grams of sour cream, salt, egg, 100 grams of cheese, pepper and 100 milliliters of water.
These meatballs are prepared very quickly:
- First you need to chop the fillet. To do this, you can choose to use a meat grinder or a food processor.
- Add garlic, pepper, egg, salt to the resulting mass and mix it all thoroughly.
- After wetting your hands, form meat balls.
- Place them in a mold, grease it with vegetable oil in advance, and place them in the oven for baking for 15 minutes at 200 degrees.
- To prepare the sauce, sour cream must be diluted with water, adding a little salt to taste.
- Pour this mixture over hot meatballs and sprinkle with grated cheese. In this form, the products should be returned to the oven for 20 minutes.
Delicate meatballs with a golden-brown cheese crust will not leave anyone indifferent.
Preparation of minced meat
The best minced meat from which you can cook meatballs in sour cream sauce in the oven is made yourself from beef and pork pulp. Their approximate ratio is 50 to 50 percent.
You can use all beef or pork, but then in the first case the meatballs will turn out to be harsh and dry, and in the second - too fatty. Another successful combination is minced chicken and pork, also 50/50.
The minced meat must be salted and freshly ground pepper added to taste. If you don’t have a mill on your farm, industrial ground black pepper will do. A mixture of 5 peppers, also freshly ground, will add even more flavor. It is also necessary to add an egg to the minced meat.
Some housewives, after frying the vegetables in butter, also add half of them to the minced meat - this can be done as desired. After this, set the minced meat aside so that the ingredients “bond” with each other.
Classic meatballs
Typically, meatballs in sour cream sauce are prepared in the oven using the following ingredients:
for ½ kilogram of minced meat, 100 grams of raw rice and the same amount of sour cream, a glass of milk, ground pepper and salt.
Making meatballs in sour cream sauce in the oven is easy. To do this you need:
- Transfer the minced meat into a deep bowl. It is better if it is a mixture of pork and beef.
- Add pepper and rice to it and mix everything well.
- Form balls from the prepared mixture with wet hands. They should be no larger in size than a tangerine. Place the semi-finished products in a baking dish.
- Now you can make the sauce. To do this, separately in a plate, mix the milk with sour cream, add salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour the prepared milk mixture over the meat preparations.
- Place the mold in the oven for about 40 minutes. At the same time, the temperature inside the chamber should already be at least two hundred degrees.
Appetizing meatballs can be sprinkled with chopped herbs before serving. This will add freshness and flavor to the finished dish.
Sour cream sauce
The sauce is the most important component of the dish. Although it is prepared on the basis of sour cream, there can be several options. Let's sort them out.
Classic meatballs in sour cream sauce are prepared in the oven with this sauce. To the fried vegetables (remember that half of them can be put into minced meat if desired), you need to add a glass (about 200 g) of sour cream and mix well.
Before frying, chop the vegetables in your favorite way: cut the onion into pieces, pepper into small strips, to chop the carrots you can use a regular large grater or a device for slicing carrots in Korean. The most delicious vegetables will be fried in butter, but to reduce the calorie content of the dish, you can also use vegetable, preferably olive.
Next, mix sour cream with fried vegetables. Separately, leave a tablespoon to dissolve in a glass (250 ml) of water, and add a little flour here (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, shake everything well. Pour the mixture into the vegetables and bring to a boil.
Meatballs in the oven in sour cream sauce
Meatballs in the oven in sour cream sauce, the recipe for which is universal, cooks very quickly. Their secret lies in the combination of lean meat with white bread and milk, which allows you to get a delicate taste. And the creamy sour cream sauce perfectly complements these delicious products.
What ingredients will you need?
To prepare meatballs according to the classic recipe you need:
- 1 small onion, finely chopped;
- 5 tbsp. l. +1 st. l. butter;
- 2 slices of bread, torn into small pieces;
- 3 tbsp. l. milk;
- 600-700 g lean ground beef;
- 1 large egg;
- 1 tsp. salt;
- 0.5 tsp each garlic powder, black and allspice,
- 1 tbsp. l. Worcestershire sauce;
- 2 tbsp. l. flour;
- 1.75 tbsp. beef or chicken broth, unsalted;
- 0.5 tbsp. sour cream;
- 0.5-2 tsp. yellow mustard (to taste);
- buttered egg noodles or mashed potatoes, to serve.
Step-by-step cooking process
To make classic beef meatballs in cream sauce, you will need to follow these steps:
- In a large oven-safe skillet, heat 1 tbsp. l. oil over medium heat, add the onion and let it soften and become transparent, about 3-5 minutes, then transfer to a medium bowl and let it cool.
- Pour milk into a small container onto the pieces of bread and press down with a spoon or fingers so that the crumb absorbs all the liquid, leave for 5 minutes.
- When the onion has cooled, you need to add the ground beef, bread and milk mixture, egg, salt, pepper, nutmeg and allspice and mix until smooth. You don't need to squeeze the meat too hard, as this can cause the meatballs to become tough.
- From the prepared minced meat you need to form 18-22 balls with a diameter of 3-4 cm.
- Next you need to heat 2 tbsp. l. oil in a frying pan over low heat, add the meatballs and fry for 6-9 minutes, turning every couple of minutes to ensure even browning. If the pan is small, frying should be done in batches so that the meat balls are placed in a single layer. Then the products must be transferred to a plate.
- Place the remaining oil in the frying pan and heat it, add flour
- and beat with a fork for 1-2 minutes, or until the mixture is golden brown.
- Next, you need to slowly pour in the beef broth, continuing to stir.
- After this, you need to turn down the heat, add sour cream and mix with the other ingredients until it is completely dissolved, add garlic powder, mustard and Worcestershire sauce and leave for a few minutes. over low heat.
Meatballs in the oven in sour cream sauce - Then you need to return the meatballs to the pan and transfer it to the oven, preheated to 180°C, and bake for 6-10 minutes, or until the sauce reaches the desired consistency.
What can I add?
When preparing such meatballs, you can use a mixture of minced meat from different types of meat. However, varieties that are too fatty are not recommended, as the meatballs will become too soft and will not hold their shape. Instead of sour cream, you can use Greek yogurt to reduce the calorie content of the dish.
Rules for serving and decoration
Serve the finished meatballs in sauce with egg noodles or mashed potatoes, placing them on top of the side dish. The dish can be sprinkled with fresh parsley if desired. I only tested the recipe with sour cream, so I'm not sure if Greek yogurt could be substituted. But actually these are Swedish meatballs, go with sour cream, just once.
Cooking process
When the minced meat and sauce are ready, you can start preparing the dish. The recipe for meatballs in the oven in sour cream sauce is as follows:
- We make small balls from the minced meat (a little larger than meatballs).
- Grease the refractory mold with vegetable or butter. Dishes can be different: glass, ceramic, Teflon coated. The main thing is to have room for the sauce.
- Carefully place the meatballs into the pan.
- Pour in freshly prepared sour cream sauce.
- Put it in the oven. A temperature of 180 degrees will be enough. The dish takes about 20 minutes to prepare – it all depends on the oven. It is necessary to periodically check the condition of the meatballs. If necessary, you can cover them with foil.
It’s also worth saying that if for some reason the oven is unavailable, you can use an air fryer or multicooker in baking mode - the effect will be the same.
Meatballs in sour cream sauce
Meatballs in the oven in sour cream sauce, the recipe for which suggests using minced meat, turns out surprisingly juicy and tender. Because these products are baked rather than fried, they are healthier and easier to prepare. If desired, they can be frozen for a long time.
What ingredients will you need?
To make meatballs in sour cream sauce, you will need the following.
For the meatballs:
- 2 slices white bread, torn into large pieces;
- 0.25 tbsp. milk and heavy cream;
- 1 egg;
- 1 egg yolk;
- 0.5 tbsp. fresh chopped onion;
- 1 tsp each salt and garlic powder;
- 0.5 tsp. dried parsley;
- 0.25 tsp each ground nutmeg, black and allspice;
- 500 g lean ground beef;
- 250-300 g minced pork.
For sour cream sauce:
- 4 tbsp. l. unsalted butter;
- 1 tbsp. l. olive oil;
- 0.25 tbsp. flour;
- 3 tbsp. beef broth;
- 0.5 tbsp. thick sour cream;
- 1 tsp each Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard;
- 0.5 tsp. dried parsley;
- 0.25 tsp each paprika, black and allspice.
Step-by-step cooking process
Cooking meatballs in sour cream sauce is as follows:
- It is necessary to preheat the oven to 200°C and cover a baking sheet with foil and sprinkle with oil spray on top.
- Next, place the bread in a food processor and grind until it becomes pea-sized pieces, add all other ingredients except the ground beef and pork, and pulse 3-5 times in a row until the mixture is smooth. It should have a paste-like consistency.
- Place the resulting mixture in a large bowl and add both types of minced meat to it, mix thoroughly with your hands.
- The finished mixture will be quite moist. Form it into about 24 meatballs using a tablespoon and your fingertips.
- The resulting meat balls need to be evenly distributed on the prepared baking sheet. If for any reason the meatballs are too wet, you need to add bread crumbs to them.
- The products must be baked for 15-20 minutes. at a temperature of 200°C.
- In the last 10 min. After baking the meatballs, you should start preparing the sauce. To do this, melt the butter with 1 tbsp. l. olive oil in a large skillet over moderate heat, sprinkle with flour and cook for 1 minute.
- Next, you need to turn the heat down to low and slowly pour in the beef broth and full-fat sour cream, and then all the remaining sauce ingredients, whisking constantly with a fork.
- Bring the sauce to a boil and cook until it thickens, about 5-7 minutes. stirring frequently.
- After this, place the baked meatballs in a frying pan with the sauce, stir and heat for 1 minute.
Rules for serving and decoration
Juicy meatballs in sauce should be served with egg noodles, potatoes or rice. The dish can be garnished with fresh parsley or cilantro if desired.
Meatballs with rice
Another option that will diversify the meatballs in sour cream sauce in the oven (photo of them below) is adding rice to them. Let's look at the preparation.
In addition to the ingredients listed in the classic recipe, you will also need half a glass of rice and a bun of white bread soaked in milk.
The rice must be boiled until tender, at which time you can start preparing the minced meat, where you need to add the squeezed out soggy crumb of white bread, eggs, your favorite seasonings and some fried vegetables. As soon as the rice is ready, add it to the mixture and form meatballs.
Further preparation does not differ from the classic recipe: pour sauce over everything, put in the oven for 20 minutes.
This recipe is an opportunity to feed those household members who do not accept rice as side dishes. This type of meatballs is a completely independent dish, in principle, not requiring a side dish. It is popularly called “meat hedgehogs”. Children especially love them, and many mothers decorate the dish with black peppercorn eyes, then, with the rice sticking out, they really resemble little hedgehogs.
“Hedgehogs” with filling
People sometimes give some products “telling” names. This once again proves the popularity of certain dishes. So, “hedgehogs” are meatballs prepared in a special way in sour cream sauce in the oven. The photo allows you to better see the individual features of the product. To prepare this dish you need:
500 grams of a mixture of minced chicken and pork, salt, half a glass of rice, 1 onion, pepper, egg, half a liter of sour cream, 2 tomatoes and Suluguni cheese.
The cooking process is not quite usual:
- Cook the rice a little, then rinse and mix it with the egg, minced meat and finely chopped onion.
- The prepared mass must be divided into parts. Each piece must be kneaded into a flat cake, put a little cheese in the middle, and then roll the whole thing into a ball.
- Place the “hedgehogs” on a baking sheet greased with butter and place in the oven until a characteristic golden brown crust forms.
- This time is enough to make the sauce. You will need to mince fried tomatoes without skins and then mix them with sour cream. You can add a little salt and pepper here to taste.
- Pour the prepared sauce over the “hedgehogs” and place them in the oven for 40 minutes for final baking. The temperature must be kept within 180 degrees.
Original stuffed meatballs will be a great addition to lunch as a second course.
We use minced chicken
Chicken meatballs in sour cream sauce in the oven are good for dietary nutrition. Many housewives are hesitant to cook them, believing that the dish will turn out too dry. However, there are small tricks that will help you avoid this trouble.
Firstly, you should use not only chicken breast for minced meat, but also fillets from thighs and drumsticks.
Another trick - be sure to add an onion and a clove of garlic to the minced meat, in addition to eggs and vegetables. Many chefs advise adding a teaspoon of sugar there. But you need to put more ground black pepper than in meatballs - then the chicken dish will be more flavorful.
Otherwise, preparing chicken meatballs is no different from regular ones. They can also be prepared with the addition of boiled rice, or use tomato paste or ketchup in the sauce. Moreover, the oven is ideal for preparing just such chicken meatballs - they will not overcook or dry out, as would happen when stewing in a frying pan, and will also acquire a wonderful, appetizing crust.
Fish meatballs
We also recommend cooking fish meatballs in sour cream sauce in the oven. This is an ideal option to feed those household members who do not like fish. Also, the recipe is ideal for children, because the mother will not worry that the baby will get a bone in the fish - this is absolutely impossible in meatballs made from minced meat.
So, how to cook fish meatballs in sour cream sauce in the oven?
First you need to prepare the minced meat. Any fish fillet will do, but it’s better to stick to white species such as cod, pollock, and hake. Meatballs made from pike will also work well. Grind the fillet, and add 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, prepare according to the standard recipe: add eggs and a loaf of bread soaked in milk to the minced meat. We form meatballs, fill them with classic sour cream sauce and put them in the oven. Cooking time is also 20 minutes at 180 degrees.
Adding spice to the dish
Sometimes you want meatballs in sour cream sauce in the oven to have a special taste, different from the usual one. Variations with sauces will come to the rescue. To diversify them, you can, for example, prepare it from a combination of sour cream and tomato paste. The steps will be the same, only in the process of frying the vegetables, before adding sour cream to them, you need to add a tablespoon of tomato paste.
Another option is sour cream and garlic sauce. It is the easiest to prepare: to the already prepared and boiled mixture, just add a clove of garlic, passed through a press or grated on the finest grater. If you don’t have fresh garlic, dried (granulated) garlic will come to the rescue - one teaspoon will be enough.
You can also add finely chopped mushrooms to the sauce, as well as to the minced meat itself. Champignons are the best. If they are canned, there is no need to fry them first. Raw mushrooms are sautéed along with all the vegetables.
With added vegetables
Meatballs baked in the oven in sour cream sauce with the addition of vegetables look very appetizing. The original recipe calls for the following ingredients:
700 grams of mixed minced meat (beef and pork), 2 cloves of garlic, 30 grams of flour, 2 onions, egg, 125 grams of sour cream, salt, 100 grams of cheese, sweet pepper, carrot, ground pepper and spices.
The dish is prepared as follows:
- Add salt, egg to the minced meat, finely chop 1 onion and pepper. The products must be thoroughly mixed.
- Form round meatballs from the resulting mass.
- Now you can start preparing the sauce. First you need to chop the vegetables: chop the onion randomly, cut the pepper into strips, and grate the carrots. After this, they need to be lightly sautéed in vegetable oil.
- Add sour cream and salt and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Dissolve the flour in a glass of water, then add it to the sauce and boil again.
- Cover the pan with foil and place the meat balls on it.
- Pour fresh sauce over everything and bake for half an hour in the oven, first raising the temperature inside to 200 degrees.
- Grate the cheese and sprinkle it over the meatballs. After this, they must be sent back to the oven for 15 minutes.
Appetizing balls of meat in a delicate sauce with vegetables can perfectly serve as an independent dish without any side dishes or additions.