Pork Ricotta and Sage Meatballs
Ground pork, fresh sage, fennel, nutmeg and Parmesan cheese make these Pork, Ricotta and Sage Meatballs taste like good Italian sausage.
Along with the addition of ricotta, they are so moist and make for a comforting dish when served with tomato sauce.
This is an oldie but goodie recipe that have updated pictures. Since I have a few meatballs recipes on this website like easy chicken meatballs, even mini Indian meatballs, I didn’t want them putting these meatballs to shame.
Gluten Free Meatballs
I love pork and sage together and the other day I was watching Cooking Channel and saw someone (I don’t remember who) add ricotta to their meatballs, so I tried it. The result made for a softer creamier texture and acted as a great binder so there was no need for breadcrumbs. The result? Gluten free meatballs.
Meat choices
If you’re not a fan of pork, you can use ground turkey which is also just as delicious.
All meatballs need to be bathed in a delicious sauce, it’s the Italian way. I have the perfect, easy marinara sauce(< click on the link) that you can whip up while the meatballs bake.
Speaking of baking the meatballs, I like to bake them in my cast iron skillet. The cast iron ensures even baking and they develop a nice, brown crust. Don’t forget plenty of grated Parmesan cheese (see pic below).
If you’ve tried these Pork, Ricotta and Sage Meatballs or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how they turned out in the comments below. I love to hear from my readers!
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Pork Ricotta and Sage Meatballs
Video
Ingredients
- ½ cup (125 grams) ricotta
- 1 pound (453 grams) ground pork
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 cup 90 grams Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
- ½ teaspoon ground fennel powder
- ¼ teaspoon fresh nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil
Instructions
- Add the ricotta to a clean towel and squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C.
- Brush the bottom of a large cast iron skillet with olive oil.
- To a mixing bowl add the ricotta, pork, egg, Parmesan, sage, fennel, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
- Use a fork and mix well until all the ingredients are well combined. Don’t over mix.
- Use an ice cream scoop form into 1-ounce balls (1/4 cup) and place them evenly spaced in the skillet. Brush with olive oil and bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.
- Serve with your favorite sauce.
These are so good! Had to sub ground sage for fresh and used half the amount. Was still very strong flavor and delicious! Served them on French bread with marinara. Lovely!
That’s a lovely way to serve them
I used ground turkey and they were fabulous and served with your marinara sauce. I never thought ricotta would work in meatballs but it really does.
I’m so happy you enjoyed them, thank you for sharing.
Delicious! Made a light onion and mushroom cream sauce and heated cooked meatballs into it. Pork, fennel and sage meatballs really won the day! Highly recommend.
I’m so happy you enjoyed the meatballs and the sauce you made sounds delicious.
The best meatballs I’ve had in a while. So moist and lots of flavor. I’ll be saving this recipe for future.
This is wonderful to hear. Thank you so much Heather.
What a beautiful combination of flavours! I love pork and sage together, and I bet the ricotta would mean they have a lovely texture.
Thank you. It’s one of my favorite combinations too.
Love the recipe
Simple and scrumptious!
I’m so glad you liked them. I do love these meatballs.
My roommate is gluten-free so these meatballs are perfect. Really cheesy and delicious!
Thank you Caroline
Love the combination and the flavors. Perfect and yum!
Oh my, these meatballs sound AMAZING!!!! I love the ricotta in them as well!
So true – pork and sage are a match made in heaven! Great idea to use ricotta – works as a binder, adds wonderful flavors, and keeps them moist. Perfect!
Beautiful dish Janette! Love the combination of flavors ! Pinned to try them!
I so need some of this in my life right now. Also, love the GF tip about the binding. Can’t wait to try it!
These meatballs sound really delicious! What a lovely combination!
Mmm – these look fab – Janette – and I love the look and sound of that sauce.
This combination sounds amazing. Beautiful photos too!
I’m not a big pork fan, but these look fantastic. sage is one of my favorite herbs with any and all meat!
Pork isn’t for everyone, but I’m sure these would be just as tasty with ground chicken or turkey. Thank you for stopping by Luci 🙂
These look super good! A great combination of flavors all wrapped up in a nice comforting dish! Lovely!
Thank you so much Debi 🙂
Loving this dish and would like to try it with ground chicken or turkey…yummy!
I think they would be delicious with either of those, thank you for visiting Linda.
These sound so tender delicious. The idea of adding ricotta to lighten the meatballs up and keep them from being dense is outstanding. Gorgeous photos too! …and I think I have that same fork 🙂
Thank you Erica, gotta love those props 🙂
Those colors look so good. Those meatballs look very inviting. I think I have seen Mario Batali on the Cooking channel using ricotta in meatballs. I love the cooking channel. There is so much inspiration on it.
Thank you Rini, I think it might have been Mario that I saw.
Thank you Peter
This looks great. Love the sauce.
Janette, this is such a beautifully done recipe. I do love sage and pork together! It’s a great tell tale sign of your ability to combine flavors! NOM NOM! Pinned!
Thank you Mila, and thank you for stopping by.