Pan-Fried Meatballs with onions, garlic, and cherry peppers in a tangy vinegar sauce is one of the most flavorful dishes you’ll ever make! The meatballs are slightly flattened and fried yielding a surface area with nooks and crannies to soak up the amazing sauce. It doesn’t matter if you serve as a meal or appetizer, as long as you serve it!
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Flattening the meatballs truly makes them better!
I want to say right off the bat that these pan-fried meatballs are inspired by the incredible Italian-American restaurant, Robkes, in Northport, NY.
Flattening the meatballs speeds up the cooking time since they don’t need constant turning and increases the amount of crispy parts that absorb the vinegar sauce. And the sauce is amazing! It’s similar in flavor to the sauce I use in my chicken scarpariello. Robkes serves the meatballs with sauteed onions and cherry peppers, but I think adding the sauce makes a great dish even better!
If you’re against flattening the meatballs, you can traditionally roll them like we do in our Italian meatballs with Sunday sauce, Sicilian meatballs, spaghetti and meatballs, sausage meatballs, etc. We have made a ton of meatball recipes. You get the idea!
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Meat. I’m using a combination of ground chuck and ground pork but you can use any ground meat you’d like.
- Breadcrumb mixture. I’m using a combination of plain breadcrumbs, fresh parsley, pecorino, garlic, salt, and black pepper. You can use Parmigiano Reggiano in place of the pecorino if desired.
- Topping. I’m using a combination of onions, garlic, and cherry peppers for the topping. These cook in a sauce made with dry white wine, low-sodium chicken stock, and red wine vinegar. If you can’t have wine, feel free to omit it and replace with more chicken stock. Cherry peppers can be spicy so it’s a good idea to taste test them first to see just how spicy they are before using. Feel free to add more if you’d like (I always do!)
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make pan fried meatballs
- In a large mixing bowl combine the ground beef and ground pork with the salt and pepper then add the breadcrumbs, pecorino, parsley, garlic paste, and beaten eggs, and gently mix together.
- With wet hands roll approximately 2-inch diameter meatballs, then press them down to form a thick patty. Dredge each patty in flour and set on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- In a large frying pan, pour the olive oil to 1/4-inch high and heat the oil over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the meatballs and fry until brown on both sides and cooked through, about 4-5 minutes per side. Work in batches to not overcrowd the pan. Once cooked, transfer the meatball to a paper towel-lined plate or wire rack to drain.
- In a large pan over medium heat, add the onion and a pinch of salt. Once the onions are translucent and cook until the cloves turn golden. Note: Making both the sauce and meatballs at the same time is recommended.
- Add the cherry peppers and cook for another 30 seconds, then add the wine, vinegar, and stock and bring to a boil. Once the sauce reduces by half, turn off the heat and whisk in the cold butter, one cube at a time. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Arrange the meatballs on a serving platter and pour the sauce mixture on top. Serve as an appetizer or main course and enjoy!
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More ground meat recipes you’ll love
In addition to the plethora of meatball recipes I mentioned above, here are a few more of my family’s favorite recipes using ground meat.
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Pan Fried Meatballs
Ingredients
For the topping
- 1/4 cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion sliced
- 12 cloves garlic chopped
- 2-3 large cherry peppers chopped, seeds and stems removed
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 cup (240ml) low-sodium chicken stock
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed
For The Meatballs
- 1 pound (454g) ground chuck
- 1 pound (454g) ground pork
- 3/4 cup(75g) plain breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup (45g) grated Pecorino Romano
- 1/2 cup minced flat-leaf Italian parsley
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 3 cloves garlic paste
- 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup flour for dusting
- 1 cup (240ml) olive oil for frying
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Instructions
For the topping
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan to medium heat and add the onion and a pinch of salt. Once the onions turn translucent add the garlic and cook until all the cloves turn golden. Add the cherry peppers and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Add the wine, vinegar, and stock and bring a boil. Once the sauce reduces by half, turn off the heat and mix in the cold butter, one cube at a time. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep the sauce warm while frying the meatballs.
For the meatballs
- Add the beef and ground pork to a large mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper.
- Add the breadcrumbs, grated pecorino, parsley, garlic paste, and beaten eggs and mix gently together.
- With wet hands roll approximately 2" diameter meatballs then press them down into a thick patty. Dredge each patty in flour and set on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- In a large frying pan, pour the olive approximately a 1/4" high and heat over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering add the meatballs and fry until brown on both sides and cooked through (about 4-5 minutes per side). Work in batches to not overcrowd the pan.
- When the meatballs are finished, serve in a platter and top with the sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
- Shape. These pan fried meatballs can be rolled into traditional round meatballs and fried in the same manner. Just turn them to achieve even cooking, making sure they are cooked all the way through.
- Flour. The dredging in flour step can be omitted but it helps the meatballs stay together and creates a more browned texture.
- Cheese. Parmesan can be subbed for pecorino.
- Baking. You can bake the meatballs in a 400°F oven for 7-10 minutes per side, or until the meatballs are golden and reach an internal temperature of 165°F. You can broil for the last minute to crisp them up but watch carefully to prevent burning.
- Leftovers. These can be saved for up to 3 days in the fridge and can be reheated in the microwave, oven, or stovetop.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Will try this recipe on Sunday.
Hope you love it!
Made these tonight for dinner…delicious!!! Loved that bite of vinegar and the heat of the peppers! So yummy. I’ve loved so many recipes from your site! You both are doing a fabulous job keeping me challenged and satisfied in the kitchen!!! Thank you!
We’re so happy to hear that Anthony! Thanks for the comment!
This looks so good. Do have video on this dish? Also if this was an appetizer could I crostini?
Can’t wait for your cookbook
God bless
Hi Bryan, we don’t have a video for this one just yet but will at some point. Are you asking if you could serve this with crostini? If so, yes, you could.
Could the meatballs be baked?
Hi Crystal, you can definitely bake them at 375-400°F (until they reach 165° on the inside). It could be 5-7 minutes per side but we haven’t tested with these flattened meatballs so can’t say for sure what the time would be. You can also broil for the last minute or so to crisp up, but if broiling you may not want to use the parchment paper.
If serving as a main dish, what sides would be recommended?
Hi Alton, some great sides would be garlic sauteed broccoli rabe and a simple pasta marinara.
This really looks delicious.
I was wondering if you could leave the meat balls on the parchment paper and bake them in the oven instead of frying them.
Sometimes fried food does not agree with me.
Hi Marie, yes, you can definitely bake them at 375-400°F (until they reach 165° on the inside). It could be 5-7 minutes per side but we haven’t tested with these flattened meatballs so can’t say for sure what the time would be. You can also broil for the last minute or so to crisp up, but if broiling you may not want to use the parchment paper.
A slant on this is to fry the meatballs in bacon grease instead of olive oil in this recipe as it brings loads more flavor to the meatballs. Sure, bacon fat gets a bad rap for its cholesterol level compared to “healthier” fats like olive oil, but calorie for calorie, they’re virtually the same. And while olive oil likes to boast that it’s more heart healthy, which I believe it indeed is, I think because of the flavor the bacon fat brings its OK to use every once in a while.
James as usual looks delicious brother your recipes are unbelievable only thing I could add is instead of using bread crumbs in the meatballs get good Italian bread soak it squeeze it and break it up in the meatballs keeps them super moist and gives a better taste and I would also say make the meatballs first keep them warm in a toaster oven or a warming plate or in the oven on low and then make the sauce very difficult to keep a butter sauce warm without the butter breaking
Hi Paul. I do use the white bread and soaking method in a few of our meatball recipes. This is a quick recipe with not too many breadcrumbs and since they are pan fried and have a sauce they stay very moist. In the process colage in the post body I do say to make both at the same time, but we are talking only 2 tablespoons of butter.
Sounds delicious. Thinking of using jarred hot cherry peppers in vinegar. Definitely would omit the vinegar in the recipe though. Your thoughts?
Hi Susan. You can omit the vinegar if you like but I did use cherry peppers in vinegar. This type of sauce normally adds additional vinegar. The same as vinegar chicken, chicken scarpariello, etc.
Thnx Jim
Going with your recipe and not omitting the vinegar. Have everything I need and looking forward to cooking them!
We hope you love it, Susan!
I sure miss the videos that went with the recipes. Will you ever be doing the videos again?
Hi Walt. We put out a new video every Thursday over on YouTube. This week’s video was for Mediterranean Chicken and Orzo.
Hi, James.
Are you using sweet or hot cherry peppers here?
Thanks,
Joe
Hi Joe, we use hot but you can use sweet if you prefer.
Thank you. We’ll see how much of a coward I am when these actually get made.
Fabulicious!
So happy you enjoyed, Molly!