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French Onion Meatballs

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French onion meatballs are a true comfort food. Meatballs smothered in rich caramelized onion gravy and topped with Gruyere cheese.

Ingredients

Scale
  • caramelized onions:
  • 2 pounds (900g) yellow onions
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • pinch of salt
  • for the meatballs:
  • 2 pounds (900g) ground chicken or lean ground beef
  • 1/3 of the caramelized onions
  • 2 cloves garlic pressed through a garlic press
  • 2 teaspoons thyme
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup (65g) fine breadcrumbs
  • 1 cup (100g) grated Gruyere cheese
  • 1 tablespoon fine sea salt or to your taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons frying oil for cooking the meatballs
  • for the gravy:
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 3 cloves garlic finely chopped with a knife
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1/3 cup (80ml) dry white wine
  • 2 cups (480ml) good-quality beef broth or chicken broth
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2/3 of the caramelized onions
  • 1 1/2 cups (150g) grated Gruyere cheese
  • 1 tablespoon chopped parsley to garnish

Instructions

  1. Caramelized Onions:
  2. Peel and thinly slice the onions. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium-low heat, add onions and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until deeply golden and caramelized, about 25-30 minutes.
  3. Meatballs:
  4. In a bowl, combine ground chicken or beef, 1/3 of the caramelized onions, garlic, thyme, milk, eggs, breadcrumbs, grated Gruyere, salt, and pepper. Mix until combined. Form into balls.
  5. Heat frying oil in a pan and brown meatballs in batches on all sides. Remove and set aside.
  6. Gravy:
  7. Melt butter in the same pan, add chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in flour and cook another minute. Pour in white wine and reduce slightly. Add broth, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Simmer until slightly thickened.
  8. Return 2/3 of the caramelized onions to the pan, stir. Add back the browned meatballs and simmer in the sauce to finish cooking through.
  9. Topping:
  10. Sprinkle Gruyere cheese over the meatballs and sauce, cover, and cook until melted, or place under a broiler until cheese is bubbly. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Find it online: https://www.delicetreats.com/french-onion-meatballs-recipe/