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Meatballs with Gravy, Just Like the Cafeteria Ones

The tastiest, most tender little meatballs — perfect for any day of the week! These meatballs in gravy taste just like the ones from the school cafeteria: fragrant, soft, and juicy. Serve them with mashed potatoes, rice, or any vegetable side you like.

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Meatballs like in kindergarten with gravy
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Meatballs like in kindergarten with gravy
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Composition / ingredients

Servings:
Translation table of volumetric measures
Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe
By weight of the composition:
Proteins 27 % 8 g
Fats 40 % 12 g
Carbohydrates 33 % 10 g
176 kcal
GI: 18 / 55 / 27

Cooking method

Cooking time: 50 min

  1. Step 1:

    Step 1

    How do you make cafeteria-style meatballs with gravy? Gather the ingredients. If you'd rather not grind the meat yourself the way I do, feel free to use store-bought ground pork. I'm using pork tenderloin with a little fat. Use short- or long-grain rice, whichever you prefer, and rinse it well. Peel and wash the onion.

  2. Step 2:

    Step 2

    Fill a pot with water. Add the rice and set it on the stove. Salt the water and cook the rice until tender — I use two cups of water for half a cup of rice.

  3. Step 3:

    Step 3

    Drain the cooked rice in a colander and let all the water run off.

  4. Step 4:

    Step 4

    Grind the pork together with the onion. To make it easier, cut the onion into quarters (don't forget to trim off the ends).

  5. Step 5:

    Step 5

    Add the cooked rice to the ground pork.

  6. Step 6:

    Step 6

    Crack a raw egg into the mixture.

  7. Step 7:

    Step 7

    Add salt.

  8. Step 8:

    Step 8

    Add pepper. Mix the meat well with a spoon, then with your hands.

  9. Step 9:

    Step 9

    With wet hands, roll the mixture into round meatballs. Spread 2 to 3 tablespoons of flour on a flat plate and roll each meatball in it to coat on all sides.

  10. Step 10:

    Step 10

    Heat a skillet with vegetable oil over the stove. Fry the meatballs, gently turning them so they brown on all sides.

  11. Step 11:

    Step 11

    Here's how they look as they fry. Make sure all the meatballs fit in the pan.

  12. Step 12:

    Step 12

    For the sauce, stir the tomato paste into water in a deep bowl — I use one cup of water.

  13. Step 13:

    Step 13

    Pour the tomato sauce over the meatballs in the pan and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. Adjust the exact time to your stove.

  14. Step 14:

    Step 14

    Separately, stir the sour cream together with a spoonful of flour in a bowl. Pour in half a cup of water and mix until smooth. For a nicer flavor, you can toast the flour in a dry pan until it just changes color first.

  15. Step 15:

    Step 15

    Pour the sour cream and flour mixture over the meatballs and simmer, covered, for another 10 to 15 minutes over low heat. This is when you dial in the gravy to the thickness you want. My family likes it on the thinner side, so I added another half cup of water.

  16. Step 16:

    Step 16

    Add the bay leaves, simmer for another 2 minutes, and turn off the heat.

  17. Step 17:

    Step 17

    Call everyone to the table and dig in! Our cafeteria-style meatballs are ready.

  18. Step 18:

    Step 18

    Any side works with these: potatoes, a grain, or — like mine here — pasta. Enjoy!

  • Everyone knows the taste of these meatballs! When my kids kept raving about the ones from daycare, I set out to recreate them at home. I won't claim I nailed the method exactly, but the flavor is pure childhood — unmistakable. The kids even asked, "Mom, did you get these from daycare?"
  • Use a high-smoke-point oil for frying. Cooking oils stay healthy only up to a certain temperature — the smoke point, above which the oil begins to burn and forms harmful compounds, including carcinogens. Refined oils hold up to heat better and have a higher smoke point; good choices are refined sunflower, olive, or grapeseed oil.

Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish

  • Sour cream with 30% fat content - 340  kcal/100g
  • Sour cream with 25 % fat content - 284  kcal/100g
  • Sour cream with 20% fat content - 210  kcal/100g
  • Sour cream of 10% fat content - 115  kcal/100g
  • Sour cream - 210  kcal/100g
  • Chicken egg - 157  kcal/100g
  • Egg white - 45  kcal/100g
  • Egg powder - 542  kcal/100g
  • Egg yolk - 352  kcal/100g
  • Ostrich egg - 118  kcal/100g
  • Pork fat - 333  kcal/100g
  • Pork meat - 357  kcal/100g
  • Pork - low-fat roast - 184  kcal/100g
  • Pork chop on a bone - 537  kcal/100g
  • Pork - schnitzel - 352  kcal/100g
  • Pork Shoulder - 593  kcal/100g
  • Boar's leg - 113  kcal/100g
  • Pork - 259  kcal/100g
  • Bay leaf - 313  kcal/100g
  • Ground black pepper - 255  kcal/100g
  • Whole durum wheat flour fortified - 333  kcal/100g
  • Whole durum wheat flour, universal - 364  kcal/100g
  • Flour krupchatka - 348  kcal/100g
  • Flour - 325  kcal/100g
  • Vegetable oil - 873  kcal/100g
  • Tomato paste - 28  kcal/100g
  • Salt - 0  kcal/100g
  • Water - 0  kcal/100g
  • Onion - 41  kcal/100g
  • Round rice - 330  kcal/100g

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