Don't Sleep On Seafood For Incredible Homemade Meatballs

When it comes to quick and crowd-pleasing meals, spaghetti and meatballs is a classic choice. It's fast to make and is full of rich and hearty flavors. Now, while you're welcome to stick to a traditional recipe, you can mix things up and try fun variations on this meal. Spaghetti-stuffed meatballs, vegetarian versions, and even seafood meatballs can be good ways to add a bit of a twist to this dish.

You heard that right — you can swap the standard ground beef in this recipe for your favorite seafood. The result is a refreshing, light, and slightly briny-tasting meatball that adds unique flavors to your standard pasta dish. The method for making them is essentially the same, requiring you to mix your chosen seafood with herbs and any other ingredients you typically use for your ground beef mixture before shaping them into balls and cooking them to perfection. You can also roll your seafood meatballs in additional breadcrumbs or panko to give them a crispy texture.

You'll first have to select the right seafood to make these meatballs. Then, get creative with your sauces and serving method for a unique twist on a classic meal.

The first step to creating homemade seafood meatballs is selecting what type of fish or shellfish you'll use. This will depend quite a bit on what flavor you're looking for. For instance, using shrimp can give you a slightly sweeter-tasting dish. Similarly, crab can give you a light meal with these notes. If you would rather use fish, you could go for something strong and briny, like tuna, or aim for something fatty and mild, such as salmon. Another option is to use a combination of different types of seafood to amp up the flavor and add unique tasting notes to your meatballs.

You've also got to think about what fish preparation you'll be using. If you need something quick, a canned variety can work well. On the other hand, you can use fresh or frozen seafood as well. Note that canned seafood is already cooked, while frozen seafood typically isn't. This may change your methodology slightly as you make your meatballs.

Whichever type of seafood you choose, once the meatballs are cooked and ready to go, it's time to get down to serving. First, think about what type of sauce might work best for them. You could go with a traditional marinara sauce just like you would for regular meatballs, or you could opt for something like chili sauce to give them a sweet and sour flavor. Another pick could be a white wine sauce to complement the lighter flavors of the seafood. For those who love simplicity, a squeeze of lemon juice is another quick and delicious option.

Besides the sauce, it also pays to think about whether or not you'll serve your meatballs with pasta. You could do a traditional spaghetti-based meal or just serve them as an appetizer with a toothpick and dipping sauces. Or, try serving them over fresh veggies. Whichever way you opt for, you'll still get to enjoy the ocean flavors of these unique homemade meatballs.