Meat Ball Stew

Meat Ball Stew

Adapted from a recipe in the Farm Journal's Country Cookbook, page 18.
This recipe is from a cookbook titled Farm Journal's Country Cookbook, printed in 1972. With me being in Thailand, ready made meatballs are not a problem so the ingredients and instructions will reflect meatballs from scratch, Thai store bought, and US store bought. I made this on 31 May 2023 using Thai store bought meatballs.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings

Equipment

  • Casserole (3 quart)
  • Oven

Ingredients
  

For Meatballs from Scratch

  • 750 grams ground beef, (1½ lb)
  • teaspoons salt
  • teaspoon pepper
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon minced onion
  • ½ cup soft breadcrumbs

For Thai store bought Meatballs

  • 750 grams beef meatballs, (1½ lb)

For US store bought Meatballs

  • 750 grams frozen beef meatballs, thawed, Walmart or Kroger brands would be perfect, (1½ lb)

Remaining Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained, (565 g / 20 oz)
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon dried basil
  • 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 4 small carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1 onion, coarsely chopped
  • 1 stalk celery, sliced

Instructions
 

For Meatballs from Scratch

  • In a mixing bowl, add the ground beef, salt, pepper, egg, onion, and breadcrumbs.
  • Mix together then form into balls about 3 cm (1 inch) in diameter.
  • Heat the oil in a large non stick pan, when hot, add meatballs, working in batches if needed, and brown the meatballs. Removed browned meatballs to a 3 quart casserole.

For Thai store bought Meatballs

  • These are refrigerated and not cooked when bought, follow these steps for preparing these meatballs.
  • Heat a saucepan of water to boiling, when boiling add the meatballs and cook until cooked through, about 8-10 minutes. Drain meatballs.
  • To give the meatballs a little color, heat the oil in a large non stick pan, when hot, add the meatballs, and brown them. Removed browned meatballs to a 3 quart casserole.

For US store bought Meatballs

  • Kroger and Walmart Great Value Brands would be perfect for this. These come fully cooked and frozen. Just thaw and heat through in a hot pan with a little oil then drain and place in a 3 quart casserole.

Rest of the Instructions

  • While you are browning or cooking the meatballs, go ahead and prep the vegetables. I was out of celery so I just omitted that.
  • Once all the meatballs are browned and removed, drain off all but 3 tablespoons of fat, if using the store bought meatballs, just melt in some butter to make the 3 tablespoons of fat. Stir in the flour.
  • Add the rest of the Remaining Ingredients, bring mixture to a boil then lower heat to just a simmer and cook 10 minutes, adding additional water as needed. While mixture is simmering, preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), place a sheet of foil or a foil lined baking sheet on the bottom rack to catch any spills.
  • Carefully pour the mixture into the casserole with the meatballs. Carefully mix the meatballs into the mixture.
  • Cover and place on the middle rack in the oven, bake for 1 hour or until vegetables are tender. Carefully remove the cover and give the stew a stir.
  • Serve and enjoy.

Notes

Fair cost per serving based on the use of beef.
Updated on 31 May 2023.

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