When life gives you wilting arugula, make meatballs! These Beef and Arugula Meatballs are my go-to for an easy weeknight meal/appetizer and a swift rescue for a bag of arugula that is quickly yellowing, on the verge of becoming slimy, in my fridge. We’ve all been here, right? Yellow? Sad? Yes.
No worries – this stuff has a new home in these meatballs. Much like I pointed out with this Arugula Salsa Verde, ain’t no way I’m going to sidle up to a mountain of arugula for snacking. But, turn it into crsipy, beefy little meatballs and I’m in all day! By the way, do you ever just NEED a meatball? Like, you just want a meat snack? Me TOO! Luckily, here are these little balls, packed with flavor from lots of garlic and shallots, a little pop of crunch from toasty walnuts, and all that good, healthy green stuff for a little zip of freshness.
If you are a true meatball queen and are up for a mess in the kitchen, fry these in a frying pan. I am not at that place right now. I’m in a hands-off, keep my floors (mostly) grease-free place at this moment. So, I baked them and they’re still wildly delicious. The secret is oiling the baking sheet a bit and flipping the meatballs over halfway through so they do still kinda fry in the oven and develop those crispy brown bits we love. Hey, speaking of hands-off, all of that choppy chop stuff in the bowl was done by my trusty friend, the food processor.
How to eat these? My top pick is with a little harissa/yogurt action on the side. But, a tomato sauce and pasta would be a no-brainer as well. OMG, the arugula salsa verde mentioned above? Amazing with this, and you’d have a week’s worth of greens in one sitting. Win-win. Meatball Win!
*This post contains an Amazon Affiliate link to my kitchen best friend – the food processor, from which I may earn an income!
PrintBeef and Arugula Meatballs
Oven-baked meatballs packed with tons of arugula, garlic, and shallots, plus a handful of toasted walnuts for nutty crunch. A perfect way to use up a bunch of arugula and satisfy your meatball cravings!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: approximately 20 meatballs 1x
- Category: Dinner, Appetizer
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 C walnuts, toasted
- 3 C arugula, packed
- 2 shallots, peeled and quartered
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the pan
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and lightly oil a baking sheet.
- Place the walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Transfer them to a bowl.
- To the bowl of the food processor, add the arugula and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer it to the bowl with the walnuts.
- To the bowl of the food processor, add the shallots and garlic, and pulse until a paste is formed. Add this to the bowl with the walnuts and arugula.
- To the walnut/arugula/shallot/garlic bowl, add the ground beef, salt, pepper, and 1 TBS of oil. Use your hands to mix until combined.
- Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, form your meatballs and place them on the oiled baking sheet. Bake the meatballs on the lowest rack of your oven, for 12 minutes, using a spatula to flip them over halfway through.
Notes
Try serving these with a harissa yogurt sauce on the side; just mix a 1/4 C greek yogurt with 1 TBS of harissa!
Keywords: baked meatballs, how to use up arugula, ground beef recipe, harissa yogurt sauce