Old Fashioned Porcupine Meatballs
These old fashioned porcupine meatballs are a classic comfort food made with ground beef, rice, and a rich tomato sauce. They’re baked in the oven until tender, making them an easy, family-friendly dinner that’s perfect for busy weeknights.
Why Are They Called Porcupine Meatballs?
Porcupine meatballs are named so because of the rice in the meatballs. The rice cooks inside of the meatballs and then pokes out, which resembles a porcupine. Porcupine meatballs are also the stuffing inside of stuffed peppers. When I was growing up I did not like the pepper part of the stuffed peppers but I loved the filling, so my grandma made just the filling in to meatballs for the kids.
And now I make them for my kids today. I still love them! Try these easy porcupine meatballs in the slow cooker! Grab that recipe Here.
Spoon the meatballs and sauce over some buttery Mashed Potatoes for the ultimate comfort meal.
If you love easy comfort food dinners, you’ll also love my Crock Pot Pork Tenderloin, Pierogi Beef Stew and Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole.
Why You’ll Love Porcupine Meatballs
- Porcupine meatballs are made with inexpensive pantry ingredients you probably already have on hand. It’s just ground beef, rice, condensed tomato soup, broth, tomato sauce and seasonings.
- The meatballs are made in one baking dish. One pan dinners are my jam.
- You can easily double or triple this recipe for a large crowd.
- Porcupine Meatballs are family friendly and kid approved.
- These can be made the day before or frozen to enjoy later. Make a double batch, eat one batch for dinner and freeze the other for an easy dinner at at later date.
Ingredients
Ingredients 💗
For the Meatballs
- Ground beef (90/10 recommended)
- Yellow onion
- Long grain rice (or substitute Minute rice)
- Eggs
- Worcestershire sauce
- Garlic powder
- Parsley (fresh or dried)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For the Sauce
- Tomato sauce
- Condensed tomato soup (Yep! like Campbell’s)
- Chicken broth
Equipment
- 9×13 baking dish
How To Make Oven Baked Porcupine Meatballs
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, onion, rice, eggs, parsley, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix gently until just combined—avoid overmixing.
Scoop the mixture into 1-tablespoon-sized meatballs (you should get about 38-42) and arrange them in a 9×13-inch baking dish.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the tomato sauce, tomato soup, chicken broth, and Italian seasoning until well combined.
Pour the sauce evenly over the meatballs.
Bake, covered with foil, for 1 hour.
Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, grits, egg noodles, or on buns for a delicious meatball sandwich.
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Tips
- Skip the tomato sauce and use jarred spaghetti sauce instead.
- I grate the onion so picky eaters don’t notice it
- Minute rice can be used instead of the long grain rice.
- Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container up to 3 days.
- To freeze: place the prepared, uncooked, meatballs on a parchment lined sheet pan. Freeze for 1 hour. Add the frozen meatballs with the sauce to a freezer bag or container and freeze up to 3 months.
- Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Add the meatballs and sauce to a baking dish and bake as directed, allowing extra time if the meatballs are still frozen.
We love our porcupine meatballs over a big pile of creamy mashed potatoes, roasted broccoli and buttered rolls. Takes me right back to my grandmother’s dining room table. 💖
More Family Favorite Recipes To Try
- Crock Pot Saucy Meatballs
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
- Baked Ziti
- Chicken Marsala Pasta
- Mississippi Pot Roast
- Stove Top Stuffing Meatloaf
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Video To Make Porcupine Meatballs
Porcupine Meatballs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1/2 finely chopped onion
- 1 cup long grain rice uncooked (Minute (instant) rice can be substituted)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley or 1 tsp dried
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 8 ounces canned tomato sauce
- 2- 10.5 ounces canned condensed tomato soup
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, onion, rice, eggs, parsley, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix gently until just combined—avoid overmixing.
- Scoop the mixture into 1-tablespoon-sized meatballs (you should get about 38-40) and arrange them in a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the tomato sauce, tomato soup, chicken broth, and Italian seasoning until well combined.
- Pour the sauce evenly over the meatballs.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour. (ovens vary, check a meatball to ensure the rice is cooked completely, it should not be crunchy. If it is, cover and return to the oven for 10 more minutes.)
- Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, grits, egg noodles, or on buns for a delicious meatball sandwich with your favorite veggies.
Nutrition
Notes
- Makes about 40 meatballs. Halve the recipe to make 20 meatballs.
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- Long grain, instant (Minute) rice or leftover cooked rice can all be used interchangeably in the meatballs. I have not tried this recipe with brown rice.
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- Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container up to 3 days.
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- To freeze: place the prepared, uncooked, meatballs on a parchment lined sheet pan. Freeze for 1 hour. Add the frozen meatballs with the sauce to a freezer bag or container and freeze up to 3 months.
-
- Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Add the meatballs and sauce to a baking dish and bake as directed, allowing extra time if the meatballs are still frozen.
-
- To freeze: place the prepared, uncooked, meatballs on a parchment lined sheet pan. Freeze for 1 hour. Add the frozen meatballs with the sauce to a freezer bag or container and freeze up to 3 months.
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Is the rice cooked before adding thx
I add it in uncooked. You can use cooked rice though, if you prefer
We made this tonight and it was so good! Definitely will make again. I topped ours at the end with a little bit of shredded Italian cheese! Yum!
So happy to hear! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Miss Stephanie, what degree do you set the oven for?
It’s 350 degrees
Can you cook in a crockpot?
Yes! Here’s the recipe https://www.stephreallife.com/slow-cooker-porcupine-meatballs/
can frozen meatballs be used ??
I have not tried it using frozen meatballs, but I’m sure you could, there just wouldn’t be any rice inside the meatballs.
We make these often, so good
Do you prefer the oven recipe or the slow cooker recipe? if you had to pick.
I’d probably choose the oven, but both are great
Followed the directions. Tasty but is the rice supposed to be crunchy? I assumed it would cook in the meatballs?
yes, the rice cooks in the meatballs, it should not be crunchy. Some ovens are different and may require a longer cooking time. Be sure to cover the pan tightly in foil so the steam stays inside to cook the rice.
Your video says to cook it uncovered but the recipe says covered?
Yes, cover with foil if you’re using long grain rice. You need that steam locked in to cook the rice. If you are using cooked rice or Minute rice you do not need to cover the dish. You must be watching an old video; we’ve adjusted the recipe since then 🙂