What Can You Make With a Meatball Maker Besides Meatballs?

Oven baked, boiled or deep fried, everybody loves meatballs. Thankfully, instead of going through the drudgery of rolling half-round meatballs with your hands, you can now make perfectly-round meatballs using a meatball maker. The best part? You can use this cool gadget to make desserts, snacks and just about anything that has a thick batter or mixture and needs to be round. 

Don’t worry, it’s not an expensive kitchen utensil either. We’ve explained everything you need to know about a meatball maker. You’ll find out about the different types and how they work. In the end, we’ve highlighted a few recipes that you can try using your meatball maker.

What Is a Meatball Maker?

A meatball maker is a kitchen utensil, commonly made out of plastic or stainless steel. Its best and most common use is to make dozens of round pieces of minced meat within minutes! It is available in multiple designs and sizes. 

Types of Meatball Maker

1. Spoon meatball maker

A spoon meatball maker is usually made out of stainless steel. The spoon has a hole in the middle. When you press it against minced meat or any thick mixture, the material pops out of the hole and forms a ball. You can then pick up this ball with a small spoon and cook it as you like.

2. Meatball press

A meatball press is either tray-based or cup-based. If it’s a tray-based press, you’ll be able to make a dozen meatballs at once, or more. 

• Tray-based

A tray-based meatball press comes with three parts: 

1. One with round-vacant spaces where the meat goes. 
2. The second layer goes on top of the first layer and has small holes on top of each vacancy.
3. A third layer that’s used to press.

When you press on the third layer, the meat is forced to form a round shape and any excessive meat comes out from the small holes in the second tray.

• Cup-based

A cup-based meatball maker only forms a single meatball at one time. It has a lid that’s pressed down to assist in forming a round shape.

3. Scissor-based meatball maker 

This type of meatball maker looks like a scissor. Instead of the sharp ends, it has small cups attached to each end. When you clap the scissor in a container full of minced meat, it forms a meatball between its cups.

Some Creative Ways To Use a Meatball Maker

Round pakora

It’s a famous South Asian dish and it’s yummy — perfect for when the rainy weather comes around.

Ingredients:

• 3 finely sliced potatoes
• 3 finely sliced onions
• Half a pound of chickpea flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp red pepper powder
• 4 cups oil

Preparation:

1. First make a mixture of onions, potatoes, salt, red pepper powder and chickpea flour. Add a half cup of water to make the mixture moist if need be.
2. Use your meatball maker to make round balls of the mixture.
3. Deep fry in oil until brown. Serve with mint yogurt.

Nutella cake balls

Who doesn’t love cake and Nutella? They look even better when baked round!

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 2 pounds of all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 5 tbsp Nutella
• Baking powder
• Chocolate chunks

Preparation:

1. Mix all the ingredients together and prepare the batter. Make sure your batter is thick.
2. Add chocolate chunks in excess to increase the viscosity of your batter.
3. Use the meatball maker to make cake balls and store them in the refrigerator for between 2 to 3 hours.
4. Take out the balls and place them in cupcake molds for baking. Enjoy your delicious chocolate bombs.

Spaghetti balls

They’re made the same way as pakoras, just with different ingredients. Heads up: they’re yummier.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp chicken powder
• Boiled spaghetti or leftover spaghetti
• Bread crumbs
• Chicken chunks
• Butter
• Plain flour

Preparation:

1. Mix all the ingredients together except bread crumbs. Add some water to moisten the mixture if need be.
2. Use your meatball maker to prepare spaghetti balls. Roll them over in bread crumbs once done.
3. Deep fry them and serve with ketchup. Enjoy!

The Bottom Line

The mixture or batter you’re using needs to be thick enough for the meatball maker to do its magic. As long as your ingredients can mold into shape in a meatball maker, you’re good. Some other suggestions would be mac and cheese balls, oreo truffles and peanut butter granola balls — the ideas are endless!