Ricotta Meatballs

“Do you have a good meatball recipe?” I get asked this question often enough that

I’ve started to wonder how so many people are wandering around aimlessly in meatball land. I suppose I’ve taken it for granted—having what I consider a stellar meatball recipe for so long that it’s second nature to me. I’ve also assumed that everyone makes their meatballs the same way I do, but apparently, my recipe has a couple of ingredients that raise eyebrows.

The first? Ricotta cheese.

“Ricotta? In meatballs? Really? Can you taste it?”

This question always makes me pause. Not because it’s unreasonable, but because ricotta is so mild that its flavor gets completely eclipsed by the more dominant players in a meatball. And, truthfully, its flavor isn’t why it’s there in the first place.

Ricotta cheese does for meatballs what sour cream does for banana bread—it adds moisture and tenderness without altering the flavor in a noticeable way. Adding a full cup of ricotta per pound of ground meat guarantees meatballs that are soft, juicy, and impossible to overcook.

But for truly melt-in-your-mouth meatballs—the kind that taste like they’ve been simmering away all day—I take things one step further. Enter: baking soda. A small amount of baking soda raises the pH of the meat, which makes it harder for the proteins to bond as they cook. The result? An even more tender, almost pillowy texture.

These two ingredients might not be traditional, but they are transformative. And with them, I’m convinced you’ll never wander aimlessly around in meatball land again.