meat ball stew

Recipe by
Lee Thayer
Nakhon Si Thammarat

This recipe is from a cookbook titled Farm Journal's Country Cookbook, printed in 1972. With me being in Thailand, ready made meatballs are not a problem so the ingredients and instructions will reflect meatballs from scratch, Thai store bought, and US store bought. I made this on 31 May 2023 using Thai store bought meatballs. The Thai family and I really loved this stew!

yield 6 servings
prep time 30 Min
cook time 1 Hr 20 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For meat ball stew

  • FOR MEATBALLS FROM SCRATCH
  • 750 g
    ground beef, (1 1/2 lb)
  • 1 1/2 tsp
    salt
  • 1/8 tsp
    pepper
  • 1
    egg
  • 1 Tbsp
    onion, minced
  • 1/2 c
    soft breadcrumbs
  • FOR THAI STORE BOUGHT MEATBALLS
  • 750 g
    beef meatballs, (1 1/2 lb)
  • FOR US STORE BOUGHT MEATBALLS
  • 750 g
    frozen beef meatballs, thawed, walmart or kroger brands would be perfect
  • REMAINING INGREDIENTS
  • 1 Tbsp
    cooking oil
  • 3 Tbsp
    flour
  • 1 can
    diced tomatoes, undrained, (565 g / 20 oz)
  • 1 c
    water
  • 1/2 tsp
    salt
  • 2 tsp
    sugar
  • 1 Tbsp
    dried basil
  • 3
    medium potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 4
    small carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1
    onion, coarsely chopped
  • 1 stalk
    celery, sliced

How To Make meat ball stew

  • 1
    For Meatballs from Scratch:
  • 2
    In a mixing bowl, add the ground beef, salt, pepper, egg, onion, and breadcrumbs.
  • 3
    Mix together then form into balls about 3 cm (1 inch) in diameter.
  • 4
    Heat the oil in a large non stick pan, when hot, add meatballs, working in batches if needed, and brown the meatballs. Removed browned meatballs to a 3 quart casserole.
  • 5
    For Thai store bought Meatballs:
  • 6
    These are refrigerated and not cooked when bought, follow these steps for preparing these meatballs.
  • 7
    Heat a saucepan of water to boiling, when boiling add the meatballs and cook until cooked through, about 8-10 minutes. Drain meatballs.
  • 8
    To give the meatballs a little color, heat the oil in a large non stick pan, when hot, add the meatballs, and brown them. Removed browned meatballs to a 3 quart casserole.
  • 9
    For US store bought Meatballs:
  • 10
    Kroger and Walmart Great Value Brands would be perfect for this. These come fully cooked and frozen. Just thaw and heat through in a hot pan with a little oil then drain and place in a 3 quart casserole.
  • 11
    Rest of the Instructions:
  • 12
    While you are browning or cooking the meatballs, go ahead and prep the vegetables. I was out of celery so I just omitted that.
  • 13
    Once all the meatballs are browned and removed, drain off all but 3 tablespoons of fat, if using the store bought meatballs, just melt in some butter to make the 3 tablespoons of fat. Stir in the flour.
  • 14
    Add the rest of the Remaining Ingredients, bring mixture to a boil then lower heat to just a simmer and cook 10 minutes, adding additional water as needed. While mixture is simmering, preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), place a sheet of foil or a foil lined baking sheet on the bottom rack to catch any spills.
  • 15
    Carefully pour the mixture into the casserole with the meatballs. Carefully mix the meatballs into the mixture.
  • 16
    Cover and place on the middle rack in the oven, bake for 1 hour or until vegetables are tender. Carefully remove the cover and give the stew a stir.
  • Meatball Stew.
    17
    Serve and enjoy.

Categories & Tags for Meat Ball Stew:

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