Are you looking for delicious meatball recipes with ground beef? These Farmhouse Applesauce Meatballs are the best meatballs I’ve ever eaten!
Our family loves the basic ingredients that add a nice flavor and keep these meatballs moist! Applesauce Meatballs are one of our farmhouse favorite recipes!
Oven Baked Meatball Recipe
We love beef meatballs made with high-quality ground beef from our family’s farm. But beef alone doesn’t make a memorable meatball that the whole family craves!
There are two ingredients that really make this recipe stand apart from other meatball recipes – applesauce and croutons. The applesauce is key in keeping the meatballs moist and juicy.
Croutons soaked in the egg and milk serve as a great binder while helping pack more flavor into each meatball. When made with croutons these meatballs are made without bread crumbs making them more unique!
Tomato soup is mixed with water and poured over the meatballs to keep them especially moist while they bake makes the best meatball sauce.
Flavors blend together so well in these baked applesauce meatballs to make a delicious meal that everyone in our family enjoys! Meatballs work well for us because even young kids can chew them easily which make the entire meal more enjoyable.
While this makes a big pan of meatballs we usually reheat the leftovers to make another meal or two throughout the week. Meatballs do freeze well in an airtight container. Make sure that the meatballs have cooled off before putting them in the freezer.
We usually package up leftovers after we’re done eating and put them in the refrigerator to get cold. Then any portions of food that we want to freeze are moved to the freezer from there.
How to Shape Meatballs
I used a medium sized cookie dough scoop to form my meatballs, but one of these meat ballers looks pretty neat! Using a tool helps ensure all meatballs are the same size and shape, but you can use your hands to shape meatballs too. Just form balls in the palm of your hand.
A smaller sized cookie dough scoop could be used to make appetizer sized meatballs and serve with a toothpick. This is one of our favorite ground beef recipes that can be a main dish or appetizer idea.
However you decide to shape meatballs it is important that each ball be close to the same size. Meatballs that are the same size will cook more evenly and have a more uniform quality. If meatballs are uneven the small ones may bet dried out and the larger ones may not get thoroughly cooked.
More Recipes with Applesauce
Our family has been making all kinds of recipes with applesauce lately. We usually make a few batches of applesauce in our Instant Pot in the fall and freeze to use throughout the year.
The kids love snacking on applesauce and I love the moisture it adds in this delicious Cinnamon Applesauce Cake, Applesauce Raisin Cookies and Farmhouse Applesauce Bars.
We always have applesauce in the cupboard because it makes a great snack or easily enhances so many easy recipes!
How to Make Meatballs Without Bread Crumbs
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F & grease 9×13 inch baking dish
- Beat egg and milk until smooth, add croutons & mix well
- Mix in ground beef, applesauce, onion, salt and pepper
- Shape into meatballs and place in baking dish
- Mix soup and water together and pour over meatballs
- Bake 25 – 35 minutes
- Serve meatballs over noodles
What Do I Need to Make Applesauce Meatballs?
- Ground beef
- Applesauce
- Milk
- Egg
- Croutons
- Onion
- Salt
- Pepper
- Tomato soup
- Water
Other Easy Family Dinner Ideas:
- Best Instant Pot Pulled Pork
- Best Taco Meatloaf
- Hearty Beef Stew
- Easy This Pork & Peanut Sauce in the Crock Pot
- No Peek Pork Country Style Ribs in the Crock Pot
- Farmhouse Crock Pot Spaghetti
- Crock Pot Stew Meat & Mushrooms in Wine Sauce
We hope you enjoy all of these recipes as much as we do!
Printable Recipe for Moist Applesauce Meatballs
Applesauce Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 1/2 cups croutons
- 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
- 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3 tablespoons onion chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1 10 ounce can tomato soup
- 1/2 soup can water
- 8 ounces noodles cooked
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9×13″ baking dish.
- Beat egg and milk with mixer until smooth. Add croutons; mix well. Let stand for 5 minutes. Beat until light and fluffy.
- Add ground beef, applesauce, onion, salt and pepper; mix well. Shape into meatballs. Place in 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Mix soup and water together and pour over meatballs. Bake for 25 – 35 minutes until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F.
- Toss noodles with butter in a bowl. Serve with meatballs.
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This looks so tasty! I’ve never thought of using applesauce!
Looks like a new favorite for weeknights!
One word – YUM!!! Thank you so much for sharing your applesauce meatballs recipe with all of us at Weekend Potluck! We hope to see you tomorrow, Jennifer, sharing more of your delicious creations! Have a great weekend!
Thanks so much for allowing me to share and especially for the feature! These meatballs are amazing!
What type of croutons do you use for this recipe?
I think most mild flavored croutons will work well. We got the cheapest bag and they worked great 🙂
I haven’t made this yet but as I do not eat beef, think I will go with ground turkey or ground chicken – should go well with the applesauce! We love meatballs in this household!
I am making now. Didn’t buy croutons. Used seasoned breadcrumbs. Add Worcestershire sauce to can of tomato bisque soup. Making amish buttered noodles on side.
Sounds wonderful!
I made these and they were very good. I used gluten free bread crumbs.
Thanks so much for letting us know! So glad you enjoyed them!