For The Best Meatballs You've Ever Tasted, Fold This Bold Ingredient Into The Mix

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Everyone has their favorite meatball recipe. Whether you discovered it in a cookbook or were lucky enough to have it passed down from generations of nonnas, one thing is for sure: These savory, bite-sized delights are one of the best and most versatile dishes ever. In fact, we like to switch up our recipe once in a while, and one of our favorite ingredients to upgrade homemade meatballs may surprise you: soy sauce.

Soy sauce is brimming with salty flavors, which will complement the existing ingredients in your meatballs and draw attention to their savory components, like the ground meat or mushrooms. Soy sauce is an excellent choice for adding to meatless meatballs as well. The saltiness and soy flavors add depth to walnut-, lentil-, or bean-based meatballs. You won't need to add more than about a tablespoon per pound of meat (or meat alternative) that you use. 

This use for soy sauce might be unexpected, but it is a trick that you should try if you're after a super savory boost for meatballs that pack a flavor punch. However, there are some important things to keep in mind when working with it in this recipe.

Extra liquid is the enemy of a good meatball, which is why adding small amounts of soy sauce to your recipe is important. Besides this liquid, also ensure that you're using enough binders, like eggs or breadcrumbs, to help your balls keep their shape. Besides adding the tablespoon or so of soy sauce directly to the meat mixture, you can rehydrate the breadcrumbs — or even stuffing, which is a hearty alternative to breadcrumbs in meatballs – with a mixture of soy sauce and water to ensure that the flavor permeates through it. 

Soy sauce can be included in an array of international meatball recipes besides just the classic Italian ones. While it might be an ingredient stemming from Asian cuisine, soy sauce has a versatile flavor that adds umami depth to sweet-leaning Swedish meatballs, Spanish albondigas, and those tasty little cocktail meatballs coated in grape jelly sauce. If you are eating gluten-free, look for a bottle of gluten-free tamari in your local grocery store (or you can find brands like this San-J one via Amazon) for your meatballs, and if you want to lower the sodium content of your recipe, opt for a low-sodium soy sauce.