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5-Minute baked meatballs
A great hack for baking meatballs with minimal oil. Makes a great lunch or dinner.
I still can’t believe that it took 5 minutes to bake the meatballs, but I have to explain that I didn’t make them all at once. I baked them in batches and each batch took me 5 minutes, and they came out delicious. I photographed the entire process so that it would be clear and easy to prepare.
I always keep meatballs on hand in the freezer and take them out to defrost when I need. Then I pop them in the panini press, which is a great time saver.
Makes 20 meatballs
Ingredients:
500 grams ground chicken / beef
1 onion
2 Tbsp oil
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 potato
1 carrot
2 Tbsp flour
1 level tsp paprika
1/4 tsp crushed chili flakes
1 Tbsp chicken bouillon
Ground black pepper
Salt
2 additional Tbsp oil for frying
Preparation:
1. Chop the onion, heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a pan and sauté onion until golden. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Peel and grate the vegetables and add to the onion together with the ground meat, flour, garlic and spices.
4. Prepare a baking tray from tinfoil and parchment paper (look at the photos) and brush it with two Tbsp of oil and arrange the meatballs on the tray.
5. Turn on the panini press, cover with parchment paper and close the press. Bake for 5 minutes.
6. There are 20 meatballs here and aside from two tablespoons of oil that I used at the beginning on the tray, I didn’t add any more oil. I suppose that makes these low-calorie, 5-minute meatballs!
7. If you want to bake in the oven: Preheat an oven to 180°C. Line a tray with greased parchment paper and nicely arrange them on the paper. Bake for around 30 minutes or until golden.
Served with spaghetti for kids, baked eggplant slices and tomato soup
Preparing a baking tray for the panini press:
The tray has to be the size of surface of the panini press. Mine was 20×30 cm in size.
Take tinfoil and place a sheet of parchment paper above it and start folding the edges inward until you reach the desired size.
Pay attention to how high the sides of the tray are.
It took me 5 minutes until they were ready but the time depends on your panini press. I recommend checking to see whether the meatballs look browned and then taking them out. You can also fry the meatballs or bake them in the oven. I don’t recommend leaving out the baking soda.
It’s important to use a good quality panini press. I’m not sure if the small plastic varieties will do the job.
If you’re not sure whether yours is appropriate, don’t use it! There are other options you can use, such as frying or baking in the oven. I recommend using fresh meat.
