You'll wish these Oven-Baked Meatballs rained from the sky! Inspired by the picture book Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, they're savory, perfectly browned all around, and the tastiest form of precipitation you've ever tried.
When it comes to the worlds of books and food intersecting, it's hard to think of a book more food-centered than Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. It's filled with fantastical foods from start to finish. Storms of pancakes with downpours of maple syrup! Tomato tornadoes! Mashed potato snow!
The book is vividly illustrated and detailed in its descriptions of the magical foods that rain from the sky (and take over a town!), and I remember loving it as a kid. And, no surprise, it was by far one of the most-requested books for me to create a recipe for!
About Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
The only thing that was really different about Chewandswallow was its weather. It came three times a day, at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Everything that everyone ate came from the sky.
Judi Barrett, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Written by Judi Barrett and illustrated by Ron Barrett, this book became an instant classic when it was published in 1978. The story begins with Grandpa telling his grandchildren about the tiny town of Chewandswallow, where the sky supplied all of the food its citizens could ever want. When the weather gets out of hand, however, the townspeople must get creative to escape.
Judi Barrett went on to write two more books in the series, Pickles to Pittsburgh in 1997 and Planet of the Pies in 2000. And the original story inspired a film adaptation in 2009, though the story in the movie is quite different than the book.
Recipe Inspiration
Though there were so many foods to choose from in this book (and I'll probably return to the world of Chewandswallow for more recipes down the road!), I just had to start with meatballs.
That illustration on the cover had me hooked! A perfectly round, deeply browned, snackable-sized meatball was my goal. And I wanted it to be so savory and delicious that it would be worth waiting patiently for it to plop onto a plate, even if that had to happen indoors instead of out.
You can cook meatballs in all kinds of ways—sautéed in a pan, deep-fried in oil, simmered in sauce—but one of my favorites is to use the oven. Oven-baked meatballs offer less mess, delicious browning, and hands-off cooking (giving you plenty of time to prepare anything else headed to the table for dinner).
My only quibble with oven-baked meatballs is that when you roast them on a baking sheet, they can end up with flat sides and uneven browning. I wanted a nice, round, evenly-browned meatball. When researching how to achieve this goal, I came across a suggestion to use a mini muffin tin. I was intrigued!
The mini muffin tin turned out to be the perfect vessel for this recipe. Each little cup helped promote even browning and a round shape on all sides, and also contained the rendered fat during cooking to eliminate splatter.
Plus, dividing the meat into 24 equal portions made perfectly-sized 2-bite meatballs that were easily scooped using a #40 (or 1 ½ tablespoon) portion scoop.
Ingredients You'll Need
I wanted these oven-baked meatballs to be very simple and versatile—tasty enough to stand on their own, and also at-home when stirred into sauce. I also wanted the ingredients to require minimal prep—shaping meatballs is enough of a project!
Here's what you'll need to make them:
- Ground beef
- Seasoned Italian breadcrumbs (or plain breadcrumbs plus a little extra salt)
- Milk
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Garlic powder, onion powder, and dried oregano (no mincing or chopping today!)
- Salt and pepper
As with every recipe, before you start cooking, make sure to measure out and prepare your ingredients ahead of time. Then, you'll have everything you need when you need it! For all of the ingredient measurements and details, see the recipe below.
How to Make Oven-Baked Meatballs
The full recipe with detailed timing and instructions is below, but here is an overview and some key moments to look out for along the way:
- Make a panade: Mix together seasoned breadcrumbs and milk and let sit until the breadcrumbs are soft. This mixture (called a panade) helps the meatballs stick together and stay tender during cooking.
- Portion the meat mixture: After making a meat mixture with the panade, use a #40 portion scoop (or a 1-tablespoon measuring spoon) to divide it into 24 equal portions, 1 ½ tablespoons each.
- Roll the meatballs: Roll each portion into a nice, round ball, and place each ball in a 24-cup mini muffin tin.
- Flip during cooking: Halfway through baking the meatballs, use tongs to flip them over so they are evenly browned.
Why This Recipe Is Great for Kids
I've spent years writing cookbooks and creating recipes that are safe, fun, and engaging for kids and home cooks of all ages. Here are some key features of this recipe that make it perfect for kids and families to make together at home:
- The ingredients have minimal prep so you can focus on the project of portioning and shaping the meatballs.
- Rolling meatballs is fun! And for kids who don't like touching raw meat, they can pop on a pair of disposable gloves.
- Baking the meatballs in the oven in a mini muffin tin keeps them contained, mess-free, and hands-off during cooking.
- The meatballs are delicious served plain for picky eaters, or can be stirred into your favorite tomato sauce to serve on top of spaghetti, polenta, or sub rolls.
Let's Cook!
Gather your equipment, measure your ingredients, and get cooking with this kid-friendly recipe! If you loved making it together, please leave five stars and share your stories in the comments.
Oven-Baked Meatballs
Good To Know
- If you don’t have a mini muffin tin, you can bake the meatballs on a greased foil-lined rimmed baking sheet instead. Just note that they won’t be as evenly browned on all sides (but they’ll still be tasty!).
- Seasoned Italian breadcrumbs give these meatballs some umami oomph, but you can use plain breadcrumbs or panko instead, if that’s what you’ve got on hand. Just increase the salt to ¾ teaspoon in that case.
- You can serve these meatballs plain or stirred into your favorite homemade or store-bought tomato sauce. Heat up the sauce on the stovetop and use tongs to transfer the cooked meatballs to the sauce. Give them a good stir, then spoon them over spaghetti, polenta, or toasted sub rolls with melted cheese to serve.
Equipment You'll Need
- 1 24-cup mini muffin tin
- 1 Large bowl
- 1 Spoon
- 1 #40 portion scoop or 1-tablespoon measuring spoon
- 1 Large plate
- Oven mitts
- Cooling rack
- Tongs
- 1 Serving dish or platter
- 1 large saucepan (optional)
Measure Your Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- ½ cup seasoned Italian breadcrumbs (see note)
- ½ cup milk
- 1 pound 85% lean ground beef
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (1 ounce)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 3-4 cups tomato pasta sauce, warmed (optional, see note)
Let's Cook!
- Cooking spraySet your oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 450 degrees. Spray a 24-cup mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
- ½ cup seasoned Italian breadcrumbs, ½ cup milkIn a large bowl, use a spoon to stir together the breadcrumbs and milk. Let the mixture sit until the breadcrumbs absorb the milk and turn soft, about 5 minutes.
- 1 pound 85% lean ground beef, ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder, ½ teaspoon dried oregano, ½ teaspoon table salt, ¼ teaspoon pepperWhen the breadcrumbs are ready, add the ground beef, Parmesan, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Use your hands to mix until all of the ingredients are well combined. (You can wear disposable gloves if you don’t like touching raw meat!)
- Use a #40 portion scoop or a 1-tablespoon measuring spoon to divide the meat mixture into twenty four 1½-tablespoon portions and place them on a large plate.
- Use your hands to roll each portion into a nice round ball, and transfer each one to a greased cup of the mini muffin tin. Wash your hands.
- Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven. Bake until the meatballs are browned on the bottom, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Use oven mitts to remove the muffin tin from the oven and place it on the stovetop or a cooling rack. Use tongs to flip each meatball over so the browned side is up (this step is best done by an adult, as the muffin tin and meatballs will be very hot!).
- Return the muffin tin to the oven. Bake until the second sides of the meatballs are well browned, 8 to 10 minutes.
- Use oven mitts to remove the muffin tin from the oven and place it on the stovetop or a cooling rack. Let the meatballs cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
- 3-4 cups tomato pasta sauce, warmedUse tongs to transfer the meatballs to a serving platter or to a saucepan of your favorite warmed-up tomato pasta sauce. Serve, keeping an eye on the sky for any dessert storms that might be rolling in!
Conversation Starters
While your meatballs cook and as you enjoy them together at the table, talk about the story and what it was like to cook the recipe together. You can help young readers make connections to the book and share your own memories, ideas, and stories with them with the following prompts:
- What would it be like to have food come down from the sky, instead of from the grocery store? What would be awesome about it, and what would be challenging?
- What would be your favorite foods to rain down from the sky for each meal?
- Do you think the town of Chewandswallow is real, or did Grandpa make it up? Why do you think that?
- Was this your first time making meatballs, or have you made them before? What other kinds of meatballs do you like to make or eat?
Jessica Howe says
Easy and delicious!
Instructions were easy to follow, but the pics were helpful to refer to! Loved that I could chat with my nephew about a book while cooking! Will be making again!
lalaloni says
This was MY favorite book as a child! And I love sharing those books with my kiddo. She loves to use the portion scoop and the mini muffin tin was perfect to practice her little scoop and squeeze skills without worrying about the raw meat of it all. and perfectly size meatballs for snacking!