Easy ricotta meatballs recipe (2024)

This recipe for meatballs with ricotta cheese uses common ingredients and comes together quickly for a delicious dinner with minimal effort. Easy ricotta meatballs are an obvious match for pasta, but they also make a tasty meatball sandwich.

I’ll give you variations and substitutions where I can, plus helpful tips and tricks for success. Read on for this info as well as the recipe. If you’d like to skip straight to the recipe, use the jump to recipe button at the top of the post.

You may also be interested in myeasy weeknight meatballsand myGreek chicken meatballsrecipes. For ease of browsing, you can find all of my meatball recipes in one place.

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Why you should make this recipe

• Make ahead – You can easily make these and stash them in the fridge overnight to cook the following day.
• Quick and easy – This ricotta meatballs recipe is super fast and requires very little effort.
• Versatile – Obviously, pair them with pasta, but you can also tuck them into a roll for a delicious meatball sub.

Meatballs made with ricotta cheese

Adding ricotta to meatballs gives them a light and fluffy texture, but it also gives them incredible flavor.

This recipe makes 18 meatballs, or 6 servings. You can easily freeze the leftovers or have them for lunch later in the week.

They are an obvious match with a bowl of pasta, but they make a tasty sandwich too. Ricotta meatballs can be made smaller and added to soups, like Italian wedding soup, or served as appetizers.

Ingredients

This recipe for meatballs with ricotta cheese uses common ingredients and comes together quickly for a delicious dinner with minimal effort.

• Ground beef – Because I’m adding ground pork to the mix, I use 90/10 ground beef instead of the usual 80/20 mix.
• Ground pork – Ground pork adds great flavor and fat to this meatball recipe.
• Egg – Egg binds the meat, breadcrumbs and cheese together.
• Pecorino Romano cheese – Less expensive than Parmesan and tastes fantastic.
• Garlic – Just a little gives the meatballs another layer of flavor.
• Breadcrumbs – I use regular Italian breadcrumbs in meatballs.
• Ricotta cheese – We can’t have ricotta meatballs without ricotta cheese.
• Milk – Adds moisture to the meatballs.
• Salt, pepper and dried basil – Minimal seasoning to let the other flavors shine.

How to make meatballs with ricotta cheese

Making meatballs is a quick and simple task. The key to making them tender is not overworking the meat.

First, add everything except the breadcrumbs to a large mixing bowl. Gently mix meatball ingredients together.

Then, sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the mixture and very gently incorporate into the mixture. I do this by using a clean hand and scooping from the bottom over the top – essentially folding the mixture, just as you would when folding egg whites.

Using a scoop, portion the mixture into 18 meatballs. At this stage, I wrap them in plastic and let them rest before browning them in a pan.

Remove the browned meatballs from the pan and remove excess oil/grease, if needed. Add your favorite sauce to the pan and nestle meatballs back into the pan. Simmer until cooked through.

Ricotta meatballs recipe FAQ’s

Variations and substitutions

You can choose any combination of ground meat that you prefer. As long as the amount equals 1 pound, or 454g, the recipe will work.

You can substitute Pecorino Romano with any similar cheese: Parmigiano-Reggiano, Grana Padano, Ricotta Salata, etc.

Serving suggestions

Serve with your favorite sauce and pasta with a bit of ricotta on the side. It’s so delicious.

A great green vegetable option is my sautéed broccolini. A light dessert, like this upside down clementine cake or vanilla panna cotta would be perfect.

Helpful tools and equipment

• This is the scoop I used to portion the ricotta meatballs recipe. It holds 1.25 oz., which makes a decent-sized meatball.
• Enameled cast iron brasier – This pan is wide, with sloping sides. It is the perfect pan for so many recipes.
• Slotted flexible spatula – Because this spatula is thin and flexible, it allows you to really get under the meatball to flip it. No more leaving the browned part of your meatball stuck to the pan.

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