For Juicier Meatballs, Just Add One Ingredient From The Garden

Dry meatballs are a special kind of disappointment. What should be juicy and tender just winds up so chewy and dense that not even a good sauce can salvage the dish. Breadcrumbs can help, but sometimes adding zucchini really seals the deal. Unconventional and perhaps a little surprising, using this veggie with meatbablls might make you skeptical at first. But once you consider how water-dense it is, the idea makes perfect sense.

Adding zucchini to meatballs is one of our top creative ways to use a summer zucchini harvest. Straight from your garden (or the farmer's market), this summer squash and its 95% water content is set to make your meatballs juicier. In the heat of the pan, that water gradually evaporates and steams the ground meat from the inside out. With tiny grated zucchini pieces scattered into the blend, every morsel of your meatballs will turn out perfectly juicy and tender.

Lean protein meatballs with a lower fat content, like those made from turkey or chicken in particular, can greatly benefit from zucchini. Cooking lean meat without drying it out can be somewhat of a balancing act between temperature, cook time, and the right use of ingredients. Zucchini and its moisture proclivity help out a great deal in that last department. Not only that, but zucchini can also be an egg substitute for those who would prefer to leave out this ingredient. It stands in as a binder, although you might need breadcrumbs or ground almonds to help, too.

While moisture is so important for meatballs, you wouldn't enjoy ones with too much of it, either. This is why the grated zucchini needs to be thoroughly strained with a cloth to remove some excess water before it's added to the meat mixture. You can also let it sit for a few minutes with a sprinkle of salt to draw out the moisture beforehand. Once done, 1 cup of grated and drained zucchini can be used per 1 pound of ground meat, but feel free to adjust the amount as needed.

Picking out good zucchinis will also do your meatballs wonders down the line. Small to medium-sized zucchinis are ideal since bigger ones might be overly watery with way too many seeds. In terms of flavor, zucchini's natural mildness doesn't have much impact on the meatballs. However, if you'd like an earthy sweetness poking through, baby zucchini might be worth a try.

Take this pairing one step further by serving the meatballs with zucchini noodles (or zoodles, if you will) instead of spaghetti for a low-carb version of the classic dish. You can even toss the zoodles with garlic butter, grated cheese, or your favorite spices to amp the flavors up a notch. In a panful of baked meatballs, place slices of zucchini (and possibly other summer squash) in between to diversify your meal. Moreover, you can forego the meat completely and just use zucchini for a vegetarian version of meatballs. Combine it with the usual meatball staples, and experiment further by adding other plant-based ingredients like mushrooms, lentils, onions, and eggplant.