Meatballs in Air Fryer
We have recently acquired a Nuwave air fryer which is the most fantastic addition to our kitchen. It is great as a healthy alternative to deep-frying food, but also is a better way to cook certain foods. This recipe will show you how to make some delicious meatballs in the air fryer. Crispy on the outside and soft and tasty on the inside.
You can eat these meatballs any way you wish. Try eating with some sweet and sour dipping sauce as an appetizer pre-meal, or as a snack during a party or drinks.

Or even as a main meal in some Italian tomato gravy with some pasta.
Or you could eat them in a french baguette with some mustard as a meatball sub. The possibilities are endless.

Make upfront and freeze your meatballs
The great thing about this recipe is that you can prepare these air fryer meatballs beforehand and freeze them until you want to eat them. If the meat you use has been frozen before, you should cook them first before freezing them. This also makes the re-heat time shorter when you are ready to eat them.
But if you use fresh meat, you can freeze the uncooked meatballs and just cook them when you want to eat them.

If you do freeze them, make sure they are not touching each other in the freezer initially. Once they have frozen you can then put them together into an airtight container or plastic bag to store them for a longer period in the freezer.
Pre-cooked meatballs only take 10 minutes at 180C to cook from frozen when you want to eat them.
Meatballs no breadcrumbs
This recipe does use some Panko breadcrumbs, but if you wanted to make some gluten-free meatballs you could either use some gluten-free breadcrumbs (yes, it does exist), or you could omit the Panko from this recipe.

As long as you properly squeeze the meatballs together when you are shaping them, they should hold together OK.
Ground Pork and Beef Meatballs
You will find, if you try some of my meatball recipes shown below, that most of them use a mixture of ground pork and ground beef. A 50/50 mix is fine (here I used a 60/40 as that just happened to be the size of the packaging that the meat came in).
I mix pork and beef because I think it just makes the meatball taste a lot better. Another great thing about making meatballs is that you can experiment with different ingredients. Try my classic cocktail meatball recipe and compare it to this one. Which one tastes better do you think?
Make sure you cook the meatballs in a single layer in the fryer basket and do not forget to give them a shake!
I have a 3-quart Nuwave air fryer and it took me 3 batches to cook these quantities.
I hope you enjoy the taste of these meatballs as much as we do! Please let me know how you get on in the comments section below.
How to make air fryer meatballs
These air fryer meatballs can be enjoyed however you wish - as a cocktail snack with a dip, in a tomato sauce with some pasta, or even in a meatball sub! Alternatively, if you do not have an air fryer, cook in the oven on parchment at 180C for 30 minutes, or until browned. Turn halfway through to brown all sides. You can serve these meatballs any way you choose. In a bowl with cocktail sticks and some dipping sauce, or perhaps with a simple tomato sauce and some pasta. Maybe they would be great in a sub sandwich with some mustard and mayo? (Yes they are - I tried it!!) As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. This nutrition information was automatically calculated by Nutritionix, but may not be 100% accurate.Air Fryer Meatballs
Ingredients
Instructions
No air fryer?
Notes
Recommended Products
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
34 Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 78Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 90mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 9g
Here are some other meatball recipes that you may enjoy:
And a suitable dipping sauce for this one: