Porcupine Meatballs are made with ground beef, uncooked instant rice, and seasonings baked in a tangy tomato sauce. This is a one dish meal and kid approved!
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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!
Spoon the meatballs and sauce over some buttery Mashed Potatoes for the ultimate comfort meal.
Why you’ll love them too
- 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.
What You Need
Find the full, printable recipe with exact measurements at the bottom of this post. Read on for more details and tips!
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- 9×13 baking dish
- Ground beef– I like a lean 90/10. You can also use ground turkey, pork, chicken, Italian sausage, or a combination.
- Finely chopped yellow onion– I actually grate my onion because if my kids see a spec of onion in something, they automatically hate it. Anyone else? LOL. When I grate the onion, it disintegrates while cooking, but leaves the flavor behind. So sneaky 😉
- Instant rice– I’m using the Minute white rice, but brown rice can be substituted. Just make sure it’s instant and not long grain rice. The rice is not cooked befrehand.
- Eggs– to hold it all together
- Seasonings– fresh or dried parsley, worchestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
- Tomato sauce– I use an 8 ounce can of sauce. Spaghetti sauce, crushed tomatoes, or tomato puree can all be used.
- Condensed tomato soup– yep, like Campbell’s tomato soup.
- Chicken broth– to flavor the sauce. You can substitute vegetable broth or beef broth.
How to make 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 38-40) 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.
Bake uncovered for 1 hour.
Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, grits, egg noodles, or on buns for a delicious meatball sandwich.
Did you enjoy this recipe? Take a picture and tag me @StephGigliotti on social media and #StephRealLife. I would absolutely love to see your finished dish! Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comment section.
Tips and Suggestions
- Skip the tomato sauce and use jarred spaghetti sauce instead
- 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.
More 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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Porcupine Meatballs
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Meatballs:
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1/2 finely chopped onion
- 1 cup instant rice uncooked
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley or 1 tsp dried
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
For the Sauce:
- 8 ounces canned tomato sauce
- 2 10.5 ounces canned condensed tomato soup
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
Instructions
- 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.
- Bake uncovered for 1 hour.
- Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, grits, egg noodles, or on buns for a delicious meatball sandwich.
Notes
-
- Skip the tomato sauce and use jarred spaghetti sauce instead
-
- 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.
-
- 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.
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