Easy Mini Egg Meatballs Appetizer

Name: Easy Quail Eggs in Meatballs Stuffed Baked
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: ½ pound ground beef ([113 gr]); 1 egg (large); ½ cup breadcrumbs (may not need all); 1 tablespoon onion powder; 1 teaspoon black pepper (freshly-cracked, or ground); 1 tablespoon soy sauce; 1 tablespoon bija ((annato, achiote) powder); 1 teaspoon salt; 1 dozen quail egg (hard-boiled, peeled (see notes)); 1 cup tomato sauce; 2 teaspoons garlic salt (or more, to taste (see notes)); ½ tablespoon chili flakes; 1½ tablespoons brown sugar; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Portions: portions

Calories: 360kcal

Here's a tried-and-true recipe for baked egg meatballs that'll make you want to forget the frying pan. These cute meatballs are stuffed with quail eggs and coated with a lightly sweet and spicy tomato sauce.

Why I ❤️ it • Recipe • Video • Ingredients • Video • Preparation

Quail egg meatballs appetizer.

Why I ❤️ it

I am going to be 100% honest with you: I absolutely love these beef meatballs stuffed with eggs. Not only are they quite easy to make, but they also look cute. Using quail eggs means smaller, finger-food-sized meatballs. These are perfect to serve as party food. I bet your guests will love it; mine sure did.

The sauce is not overly sweet, but it does taste sweet(ish), but it works great with the acidic tomato and the spicy chili. But why baked meatballs? Because it's much less labor-intensive than the traditional way of cooking meatballs, and the result has nothing to envy fried meatballs. You'll love these beef meatballs stuffed with eggs.

Baked quail egg meatballs recipe

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Learn how to make this eggs meatballs recipe, a tried-and-true recipe for baked meatballs that'll make you want to forget the frying pan.

Course: Appetizer

Inspiration: Scottish, World

Category: egg in meatballs, hard boiled egg inside meatball, quail egg recipe

Author: Clara Gonzalez

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time40 mins

Utensils and tools

Ingredients

For the meatballs

½ pound ground beef, [113 gr]
1 egg (large)
½ cup breadcrumbs, may not need all
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon freshly cracked or ground black pepper
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon annatto (bija, achiote) powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 dozen quail eggs, hard-boiled, peeled (see notes)

For the sauce

1 cup tomato sauce
2 teaspoons garlic salt, or more, to taste (see notes)
½ tablespoon chili flakes
1½ tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Video

Preparation

Before starting, please make sure you have all the ingredients and utensils ready.

Step 1: Mixing ingredients for meatballs

In a large mixing bowl, combine ground meat, egg, half the breadcrumbs, onion powder, pepper, soy sauce, bija, and salt. Mix well until combined.

If the meat it's a little too soggy, add two tablespoons of bread crumbs, and mix again, add another tablespoon if needed.

Step 2: Making the meatballs

Place 1½ tablespoons of the meat mixture on your hands and flatten. Place a quail egg on top and wrap it with the meat, making sure the egg is covered completely.

Repeat until you finish with the eggs.

Set aside in the fridge while you make the sauce.

Step 3: Making the sauce

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce (tomato sauce, salt, chili flakes, brown sugar, and vegetable oil). It should be a thick sauce, but if it turns out too liquidy (it depends on the tomato sauce you use), heat over medium heat to reduce it to desired consistency, and constantly stir to prevent it from sticking and burning.

Taste and add extra garlic salt to taste if needed.

Step 4: Baking the meatballs

Preheat oven to 350 ºF [175 ºC].

Place the meatballs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bathe them with the sauce, covering them completely. Bake for 25 minutes in preheated oven at 350 ºF [175 ºC].

Step 5: Serving

Remove from the oven and wait 5 minutes before serving.

Variations

If you don't have garlic salt, mix 1 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1 teaspoon of salt.

Here you can buy hard-boiled quail eggs in brine at the supermarket; I used those to save time.

Top tips

Because these are stuffed with eggs, it's not suitable for freezing (eggs don't do well in the freezer).
You can, however, form the meatballs and make the sauce and refrigerate both for up to 3 hours, and pop them in the oven half an hour before serving.
Please add an extra 5 minutes of cooking time if you have chilled them before cooking.

Serving suggestions

I suggest you double the sauce and leave a little extra (that has not touched the raw meat) for dipping.

These meatballs are great as an appetizer (picadera), or served as a main dish for lunch or dinner. If you serve them as a main dish, they go great with any type of fried food; my suggestions: tostones (of course), oven "fried" potatoes, or yuca fries.

I suggest you double the sauce and leave a little extra (that hasn't touched raw meat!) for dipping the meatballs.

These are not the best meatballs to serve with spaghetti, but I have a recipe.

Nutritional information

Serving: 3 meatballs - Calories: 360kcal - Carbohydrates: 20g - Protein: 18g - Fat: 23g - Saturated Fat: 7g - Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g - Monounsaturated Fat: 8g - Trans Fat: 1g - Cholesterol: 309mg - Sodium: 2526mg - Potassium: 492mg - Fiber: 2g - Sugar: 8g - Vitamin A: 770IU - Vitamin C: 5mg - Calcium: 84mg - Iron: 4mg

More appetizer recipes

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FAQs

Do you put egg in meatballs?

Most meatballs do require egg, which serves as an agglutinant to prevent the meatballs from breaking apart when cooked.

What meat is best for meatballs?

For these meatballs, I've used ground beef, but you can also use ground veal or make a half-and-half mix with ground pork. It also works with ground turkey meat.

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