2lbslean ground beef, Can substitute ground turkey
2tbsolive or avocado oil, I use extra virgin olive oil.
1/2medium yellow or white onion, finely diced
1tbspgarlic, minced
1/2cupfresh parsley, chopped
1tspchili powder
1 1/2tspsalt
1/2tspblack pepper
1egg
Orange Balsamic Sauce
2cupsorange juice
1/2cupbalsamic vinegar
4tsptomato paste
2tbspghee or butter, Can substitute a vegan butter to make this completely dairy free.
1/2tspsalt
1/2tspblack pepper
zest of one whole orange
Instructions
In a large skillet sauté your diced onions and garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil on medium heat. Cook until onion is translucent, approximately 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
In a large bowl, combine your ground beef, parsley, egg, salt, pepper, chili powder, and sautéed onion and garlic. Roll into meatballs the size you prefer. Mine are approximately 2 inches in diameter. This produces 20 - 22 meatballs. You can of course make them smaller if you like.
Add your remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet over medium high heat. Brown your meatballs on all sides. This takes approximately 3 minutes per side. Continue rotating your meatballs so that all sides are getting some love. Remove meatballs from pan and set aside. They do not need to be full cooked through at this point.
Scrape up all the remaining bits in the skillet and leave them in there. That's going to make your sauce even better. (I don't drain my grease because I'm using a lean ground beef.)
Add all Orange Balsamic Sauce ingredients to pan, setting aside half the orange zest to be used later. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium so that the sauce simmers. Allow it to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally with the cover off.
Add browned meatballs to the sauce. Reduce heat to medium low. Cover and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Use a knife to slice open one meatball and make sure it's cooked all the way through. Larger meatballs may take a bit more time.
Garnish with remaining orange zest before serving.
Notes
Nutritional information is for 1 meatball and assumes that you created 22 meatballs. If you have a little more or a little less nutritional information will need to be adjusted slightly.