Jamaican Beef Balls: The best way for me to describe this recipe is Brown Stew Meatballs. Truly it’s pretty much that! However, in Jamaica we call them Beef Balls because they are all beef. This is one of the first recipes I taught my daughters to make when they were teenagers. Mainly because you can be quite creative. Once you get to know the recipe it’s easy to do without measuring, as long as you include all the ingredients.
Similar to Brown Stew Chicken, the traditional way to cook Beef Balls is to fry them so that you can use the caramelized flavour left in the pan to make the gravy. However, you can also skip the frying and bake them entirely in the oven. Either way, you’re going love these moist and flavourful beef balls! For added ease, make them the night before and pop them in the oven or fry them the next day. Large balls are great served with vegetables and rice or potatoes. Or make them smaller and add them to tomato sauce to go with spaghetti!
Ingredients
2lbs Extra-Lean Ground Beef
3/4 cups Bread Crumbs
3 cloves Garlic, chopped
1 medium Onion, chopped finely
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Worcester Sauce
2 tsp Steak Sauce
1 Tbsp BBQ Sauce
2 Tbsp Ketchup
2 Eggs, beaten
Cooking Oil for frying
Instructions
1. Using clean hands, mix all the ingredients together and place in fridge for 30 minutes
2. Form 12 beef balls with mixture; they may seem large, but will shrink when cooking
3. Heat some cooking oil on Medium-High heat in frying pan;
4. Turn on oven and pre-heat to 350 degrees; In the meantime, sear beef balls in pan turning until all sides are browned. Set pan aside to make gravy later
5. Place beef balls in 9 x 13-inch baking dish and place in pre-heated oven for 15 about minutes to finish cooking
6. While beef balls finish cooking in the oven make the gravy
Gravy
1 large Onion, chopped
1/4 each, red and green Bell Pepper, chopped
1 sprig of Thyme, or 1 tsp dried
1 tsp Pepper Sauce
2 Tbsp Tomato Ketchup
1 cup Hot Water
1/2 to 1 tsp Salt (to taste)
1. Using same pan used to fry beef balls (and removing any burnt pieces), sautee onions and bell peppers until onions are transparent.
2. Add thyme, hot pepper sauce, tomato ketchup and 1 cup of hot water to pan and stir; taste gravy and add salt to taste
3. Let gravy simmer until it thickens, then remove from heat. If it gets too thick add some boiling water
4. Remove beef balls from oven, place in serving dish and pour gravy over beef balls just before serving
