Basil and Chili Meatballs

Written by in Main Dishes, Meat and Poultry, Recipes and Food things...
Jump to Recipe

Howdy folks! 😊

Meatballs are one of my favorite ways to eat meat. They are so versatile and can be made in different variations.

In this particular recipe, I used lots of fresh Basil, which added so much bright freshness to the ground beef, and a little bit of chili for that lively kick!

You can’t go wrong with that combo. I promise, you’ll enjoy this 😉😋

Here’s what you’ll need :

Basil Chilli Meatballs
Print

Basil Chilli Meatballs

Recipe by LubayaCourse: MainDifficulty: Medium
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

45

minutes

Ingredients

  • 500g Ground beef

  • 1 cup Breadcrumbs

  • 2 Medium sized eggs

  • 1 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika

  • 1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne pepper

  • 1/2 Teaspoon Chili powder

  • 1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper

  • 1/2 Large Red onion

  • 1 Large Green pepper

  • Fresh Basil Leaves

  • 1 Tablespoon Bisto Gravy powder

  • 1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste

  • 1 Large tomato, Grated

  • 2 Cloves of Garlic

  • 1 Beef stock cube

  • 5 Green Chilies (De-seeded)

  • 1/4 Teaspoon dry Basil

Directions

  • To start with, here’s a quick image of some of the ingredients we will be using use in this recipe. 😊
  • And the fresh vegetables, as well : Green Pepper, Red Onion, Green Chilies and fresh Basil. 😊
  • Start by cutting up the vegetables as shown below. I used a bit more basil than that, so this photo is for illustrative purposes only 😉
  • Saute these quickly in a pan with a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add to this 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder, Cayenne pepper, Black pepper, dry Basil and combine. Don’t over cook this mixture.
  • Have your ground beef ready in a good sized bowl, and transfer the sauted vegetable mixture to that bowl. Combine well. 😊
  • You don’t want your meatballs to be dense, and hard – and one secret I have learned to having light and almost fluffy meatballs is the addition of breadcrumbs 😉. This recipe calls for 1 cup. Then, to bind everything together – 2 eggs. Add both of those ingredients straight to the bowl.
  • Mix until well combined, but don’t over mix 😉
  • Once that’s done, mold the individual meatballs by hand and set them aside 😊.
  • In a non-stick pan, heat up some oil and shallow fry your meatballs until they are brown on all sides. You can see the green specs of basil and green pepper peeking through the beef 😁. Set the meatballs aside once ready 😊.
  • For the sauce, saute the garlic in a pan for a couple of minutes, and then add in the grated tomatoes. Cook this for about 2 minutes, before adding in the Tomato paste. Cook for another 3 minutes, before adding in the Bisto (mixed with 1 cup of water), and the Beef stock cube. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes, until the sauce is brown and starts to thicken. 😊
  • After that, return the meatballs to the sauce, making sure they are immersed and well coated.
  • Add a few leaves of fresh basil to the pan at the end, to infuse more of that basil flavor into the dish. 😊
  • Cover with a fitting lid, and allow to simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes.
  • Transfer the meatballs to a serving dish to serve, and garnish with fresh basil for color 😊 . Enjoy!

After reading to the end...what do you think? :-)