These little porcupine meatballs are not only adorable, but delicious too! I’ve been making this recipe for months now, and have been wanting to share it with you all for a while. The only problem was, that I was never satisfied with how the pictures were turning out. Well, after attempt #3 I’ve finally just given up and decided these guys just aren’t photogenic and shouldn’t be kept from you any longer. 🙂
I served these meatballs with some whole-grain pasta, which made Arik very happy, but I found it to be a bit of a starch overload since the meatballs themselves are already filled with rice. We also had some steamed veggies on the side. If you all like meatballs as much as we do, you should also check out this recipe, which stuffs them with cheese! Alright, I’m off to repair Arik’s Lantern so it is ready to go for St. Martin’s Day on Sunday. Not sure if this is just a German tradition or not, but if you are celebrating as well, have fun and let’s hope the rain clouds stay far far away!
- 24 oz./700 ml can tomato sauce (no-salt-added)
- 2 cups/500ml water
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 dashes of Tabasco
- ¾ cup/120g brown rice
- 2 tablespoons onion, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon thyme, dried
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lb./500g ground beef
- Preheat the oven to 350℉/175℃.
- In a dutch oven, whisk together tomato sauce, water, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco.
- In a bowl combine rice, onion, and spices. Add the ground beef and gently combine.
- Using a tablespoon each, make little meatballs (about 26) and place in the sauce.
- Cover and bake, gently stirring once or twice for about 2 hours or until rice is soft.
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10 Responses to “Saucy Porcupine Meatballs”
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I have not had meatballs for ages. I actually stopped eating meat a few months ago, but I can still use your sauce recipe for my spaghetti :). Lovely photos! I’m hungry already.
These are a perfect appetizer! And it’s pretty healthy too. I think the pics came out great. Let’s face it, meatballs just aren’t as photogenic as cookies. 😉
WOW – I love your recipes for so many reasons…super quick and easy to make, totally kid friendly, delish, and most are gluten free or can be made GF very easily. This was no exception – so easy and tasted great. I haven’t quite figured out what the side dish should be as it incorporates the starch already, but I made them with baked sweet potatoes and that worked well with the slight tang of the sauce.
I’m so glad you like the recipes here and even more glad that you’ve been able to customize them to meet your family’s needs. I have an issue with the side dish on this one too. Usually I just end up making some extra brown rice or some whole-wheat pasta. Maybe quinoa would be a good option?
Hi,
Your pics for this recipe turned out great….I’ve been making this recipe which I got from another source for awhile…it has different ingredients from yours and we love it…I always serve it with egg noodles or spatzle…but I will try yours and see how my family likes it…
I have a lot of cooked brown rice left over from a community meal I made. Could i just rinse that rice and mix it with meat and spices and not use so much water and cook for shorter time. I cook for 140 people at a time and would like to use up the rice.
Could I use cooked brown rice for these?
Sorry for the late response! In case you still need an answer I would say yes you could probably use cooked rice for this recipe as well. You would just have to adjust cooking time and liquid. If you ended up trying it, let me know how it turned out. Thanks!
Can you use instant brown rice?
I haven’t tried this, but I don’t see why it shouldn’t work.