Rao’s Strange Trick for Making the Fluffiest Meatballs on Planet Earth

It calls for TWO CUPS of water. You're not reading that wrong.

The humble meatball might seem simple from the outside—just an orb of ground meat with a few spices—but this seemingly simple food, when prepared properly, far exceeds the sum of its parts. The key is in the texture. A tough, chewy meatball just won’t do. When it comes to meatball perfection, it’s all about a light and fluffy texture, and Rao’s meatball recipe promises just that.

I’ve made thousands of meatballs over the years. Working for a mobile wood-fired pizza company, I was responsible for hand-rolling meatballs for catering events. It was a laborious task, and we used to joke that, “meatballs roll downhill,” meaning whoever was the newest hire usually got stuck with the job.

No matter how many meatballs I’ve made, I still have a fondness for them. I even enjoy the zen moments of making them (now that I’m no longer making hundreds at a time), and I’m always looking for a tip to take my meatball game to the next level.

So, when I came across Rao’s meatball recipe, I knew I had to give it a try. After all, the brand makes my favorite marinara sauce, which I use whenever I make meatballs, so the pairing just makes sense!

How To Make Rao’s Meatballs

Rao’s meatballs start with The Meats. They rely on the classic Italian combination of ground beef, pork, and veal to create an amped-up flavor dynamic. To the meat blend, you’ll also add eggs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and garlic, which add binding and flavor to create a nice, cohesive meatball.

It’s what comes next that surprised me: Rao's meatball recipe calls for adding equal amounts of breadcrumbs and water! Yes, water! The recipe says to add two cups of breadcrumbs, blend, and then add up to two cups of water. I was shocked, but I plowed ahead with the recipe.

After mixing thoroughly, I fried a smashed clove of garlic in olive oil to flavor it and then fried the meatballs on all sides to give them a lightly crunchy exterior before finishing them in a big pot of, what else, Rao’s marinara sauce. I served the meatballs with creamy polenta and some broccoli rabe, but they would be right at home on top of spaghetti all covered with cheese.

Rao’s Meatball Recipe Makes the All-Time Fluffiest Meatballs

Before making this recipe, I was already familiar with the concept of panade—a mashed bread and milk mixture used to create a light, airy meatball texture, but I had never before used quite so much bread (or, in this case, breadcrumbs) or water. I was super curious how increasing those quantities would affect the final product.

What I learned from trying Rao’s recipe is that adding such a large quantity of moistened bread crumbs results in the world’s fluffiest meatballs.

The directions say to blend the meats and seasonings together, add breadcrumbs and blend again, and then “slowly add water until the mixture is quite moist.” Typically, I wait until the final moments of meatball prep to mix everything, working carefully not to over-mix, which can yield a tough meatball.

So, I was surprised to see that these meatballs go through multiple mixing stages. I wondered if they’d end up tough, but the opposite was true. I had to work hard to keep them together while cooking, and as we ate them, they were fall-apart tender.

What I Learned From Rao’s Meatballs Recipe

When I make this recipe in the future, I’ll add a bit less water than the recipe calls for, closer to one cup than two, but I’ll keep the breadcrumb amount the same. And next time, I’ll worry less about over-mixing, since that doesn’t seem to be a risk here.

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Read the original article on Simply Recipes.