Juicy and plump meatballs made with beef, pork and rice are baked in a creamy tomato sauce. The carrots, onions and garlic make the sauce even more flavorful and is the perfect gravy to serve over mashed potatoes, rice or pasta.
In Russian, these Porcupine Meatballs - Тефтели "Ёжики" are called this way because of the rice that is used in them, that pokes out from the meatballs in little "quills". Baked in a scrumptious sauce that's flavored with carrots, onions and tomato paste and just a bit of cream, it is so comforting and delicious. I have been eating these my entire life, a recipe passed down through the generations.
Thy are wonderful served as a leftover, and in addition to that, they freeze perfectly too. You'll get twice the benefit from your effort of making them once.
What Meat Can Be Used For Porcupine Meatballs?
I usually use a combination of pork and beef. The best results will be to use ground pork shoulder and ground beef chuck or steak. If you use lean meat with less fat, the meatballs will be more dense and tougher.
You can also use any other ground meat that you like, such as ground chicken, ground turkey, ground venison, etc.
How To Prepare the Meatballs
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Partially cook the rice. I usually bring the water to a boil and cook for 5-7 minutes. Drain and cool slightly. (You can also use leftover rice instead of partially cooked rice.)
Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs in a large bowl and mix until evenly incorporated.
The additional water will make the meatballs more tender.
Form the meat mixture into meatballs, about 2 Tablespoons each, placing the meatballs into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
How To Prepare the Creamy Tomato Sauce
In a large skillet, heat the butter or oil. Sauté the onions, carrots and garlic until tender.
Add the tomato paste and flour and mix until incorporated into the vegetables. Pour in the broth, mixing it in until evenly incorporated. Bring the broth to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until it thickens and creates a sauce consistency.
Add the cream and dry herbs at the very end.
Pour the sauce over the meatballs in the baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven, covered, for 45 minutes to an hour, until the meatballs are tender. Garnish with fresh herbs.
Making the Meatballs in Advance
These meatballs can be prepared 1-3 days in advance and then reheated in the oven, on the stovetop or microwave. Store the meatballs in the refrigerator.
Freezing Porcupine Meatballs
Freeze the cooked meatballs and sauce in an airtight container or freezer ziplock bag for 3-6 months. Thaw and reheat.
You can also freeze the meatballs and sauce uncooked, and then thaw and cook just as you would if you were making them from scratch.
Porcupine Meatballs With a Cream Sauce
Juicy and plump meatballs made with beef, pork and rice are baked in a creamy tomato sauce. The carrots, onions and garlic make the sauce even more flavorful and is the perfect gravy to serve over mashed potatoes, rice or pasta.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes
- Yield: 34 meatballs 1x
- Category: Entree
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- ¾ lb ground beef (chuck, steak)
- ¾ lb ground pork (shoulder)
- ½ cup rice, partially cooked (1 ½ cups leftover rice)
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 egg
- ½ cup water
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Cream Sauce:
- 2-3 Tablespoons butter
- 2 large carrots, peeled and grated
- 2 onions, chopped or sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth, warm
- ¼ - ½ cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper, to taste
- ½ Tablespoon dry herbs (any spices, herbs, any combination that you like)
- fresh herbs, chopped, to garnish (parsley, dill, thyme, etc.)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Partially cook the rice. I usually bring the water to a boil and cook for 5-7 minutes. Drain and cool slightly.
- Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs in a large bowl. Form meatballs into approximately 2 Tablespoons each. Place in a rimmed baking pan, 9 x 13 inches.
- You can use a portion scoop to make it easier to form the meatballs, or use your hands. Moisten your hands every once in a while so the meat mixture doesn't stick to your hands.
- For the cream sauce, melt butter in a large skillet. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the carrots and garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook, covered, for another 5 minutes, until the carrots soften. Add the tomato paste and flour to the center of the pan and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until it's completely incorporated into the carrots and onions.
- Pour in part of the chicken broth and whisk to combine. Gradually add the rest of the broth. Bring the broth to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes, until the sauce thickens and the vegetables soften.
- Take off the heat and stir in the heavy cream. Season to taste with salt, ground black pepper and dry herbs.
- Pour the cream sauce over the meatballs.
- Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until the meatballs are tender. Garnish with fresh herbs.
The recipe for these Porcupine Meatballs was originally published on February 27, 2013. I have updated the pictures and clarified the instructions to give you the best results.
I made this this sunday morning! It is great recipe! had a lot of flavor and my whole family enjoyed it! Thank you for another great recipe! You are wonderful!
Thanks for this recipe!
I always like to compare similar dishes that I make to how others make them. My mom always made ezhiki on the stove top, in the top, instead of the oven. I like your oven idea for the fact that I can put it in and walk away for a while 🙂 Will also try the sauce, never made it with a sauce.
They look so yummy and I love easy to follow instructions :). Great job Olga, I will have to give them a try for sure.
I made this for dinner and it was perfect. My family and i enjoyed it a lot 🙂 thank u for such a great recipe :-)will definitely be making this again 🙂
Mmm. These look so yummy. Going to the store to restock and get everything I need for this recipe. Can't wait to try these.
Didn't have time to come back to say how they turned out. My whole family loved them. My 3 year old usually doesn't like gravy with his mashed potatoes but because of the yummy meatballs he ate it all. I made a double batch for our big family and even had some leftovers for work the next day.
Hi Olga, I have been reading your blog for several months now and have made a few things, but this is my first comment. I made these meatballs yesterday and everyone LOVED them. I used 2 lbs pork and 1 lb chicken because that's what I had, also I didn't have tomato paste so I used tomato sauce, but everything else I followed exactly. They were perfectly salted and juicy! Here are some of the comments I heard: my 5 year old girl as she is eating them "mom, these meatballs are making me even hungrier!", 8 year old son "mom, these meatballs are DELICIOUS!", husband "make sure you give me some of these for lunch tomorrow", LOL. So I will definitely be making these again 🙂 Thank you
Yay! SO happy to hear such positive results!
Just made them and they were a BIG hit with my 3 picky boy's. Going to have the left over meatballs over egg noodle pasta tomorrow. Thank you for sharing... 🙂
Can I use ground chicken instead???
This looks so good. I can't wait to do it Friday!
I did them today, they turned out so yummy, thanks for sharing. :)))
These look so absolutely marvelous. I pinned this on Pinterest (here: http://pinterest.com/pin/33495590950723825/) so that I can find the recipe and so that other people can link on it and see that you are obviously a genius!!
Thanks, Margot C. I appreciate you sharing the recipe with others!
I just want to thank you for your hard work and detailed steps. Even the explanations behind why you add something and what it does. I learn so much through your website! I am excited to try this recipe out!
Many Blessings!
Yana
You're welcome, Yana P!
I am so happy to hear that you find all of it useful! Blessings to you too.
This looks delicious, and I feel so much more comfortable trying this out having seen every step of the process making. Love that these are all simple ingredients I actually do have in my kitchen!! I do have one question, I'm a little challenged in the kitchen... how exactly do you cut your carrots like that? Or are they simply grated with the big side of the cheese grater? Thanks! New to your blog, I love your style of explaining the steps, and your tips 🙂
Hi Gen,
Thanks for the kind words! I am really thrilled that the tips and explanations are helpful.
I like using simple ingredients too. It makes cooking much easier and more approachable:).
I used a box grater for the carrots.
These look absolutely scrumptious! Thanks for the wonderful recipe 🙂
Yummy :), thank you Olya. Will try to make them today 🙂 Have you tried to freeze them?
Meatballs freeze perfectly, Olga! Enjoy. I am making them again today too.