African Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
African Meatballs in Tomato Sauce – Soft, tender meatballs cooked in a spicy tomato sauce.
I have to admit that spaghetti and meatballs isn’t one of my favorite foods. In fact, I rarely made them at home until recently. Now, it’s my son’s favorite “real food.” So, now I have to make it often… because of him. I like making a big batch and freezing it in little containers for single servings. It makes weeknight meals less hectic.
How to Make African Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
The Meatballs
- Soak the bread and milk, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine ground beef with the soaked bread mixture.
- Then add parsley, white pepper, grated onions, hot pepper, and minced garlic. Lightly mix the meatball mixture with your hands and shape it into 14-16 balls, being careful not to overmix—store, covered, in the refrigerator until needed. (Photos 1-2)
- In a large saucepan, heat about ¼ cup of oil over medium heat. Add meatballs, and let them sit for 3 minutes or more before moving them around. Lower flame if necessary to prevent them from browning too fast. You may have to do it in two batches (depending on the pan’s size). Brown on both sides, remove them from the pan and set aside. (Photos 3-5)
Tomato Sauce
- Add chopped onion, thyme, and garlic to perfume the oil still in the pan, and stir for about a minute. (Photo 6)
- Next, add tomato sauce, curry powder, white pepper, hot pepper, and paprika. Stir frequently to prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pot. (Photo 7)
- Add salt and bouillon according to preference and about 2 cups of stock. Bring to a boil and simmer to blend all the flavors (30 minutes to an hour), stirring occasionally.
- Add the meatballs 10- 15 minutes before the sauce is ready. Adjust seasonings to your tastes and the consistency with water or stock. (Photo 8)
- Serve hot over spaghetti, and enjoy.
In this recipe, the tomato sauce is slowly simmered for 30 minutes and up to an hour to eliminate or tone down the acidic flavor inherent in tomatoes and for the flavors to come together. That is just the way I saw most people making it. Though, I have to admit I don’t follow these rules most of the time.
In West Africa, we like to infuse our sauce with herbs, spices, and some heat. True to African culture, there is no shortage of spices in these meatballs or the sauce: garlic, parsley, thyme, hot pepper, and white pepper. This is, however, a milder version of the piquant taste present in most sauces. My son likes his with tons of tomato sauce; I don’t.
I make mine with only one can of sauce, and it’s more on the dry side. These meatballs with some crusty bread, and you’re in Heaven.
This sauce always gets rave reviews when I make it completely different from what’s traditionally served here in the United States.
You have to try it to believe me. Enjoy!
NOTES
- You may want to leave the cayenne or scotch bonnet pepper out if cooking for kids.
- I tried it with one and two cans of tomato sauce, and all worked well. Adjust the amount of cooking oil if you are only using one can of tomato sauce.
- Chicken bouillon is optional; feel free to leave it out.
- You can replace bread with French bread or rolls. Make sure they are soft before adding them to the meatballs.
- Use minced pickled garlic instead of regular garlic for extra umami.
African Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 pound (450g) ground beef
- 2 slices bread (about 28g)
- ½ cup (120ml) milk
- ¾ teaspoon (4-5g) salt (adjust to suit tastes)
- 2 tablespoons (8g) chopped parsley
- ¼ small onion, grated (makes about ¼ cup grated onion)
- 1 teaspoon (5g) minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon (1-2g) white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon (1-2g) minced hot pepper or cayenne (optional, adjust to taste)
Tomato Sauce
- ¼ cup (60ml) cooking oil (canola, sunflower, etc.)
- 2 14-ounce cans tomato sauce
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 teaspoons (15g) minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon (2g) thyme (fresh or dried)
- 1 teaspoon (2-3g) white pepper
- 1 teaspoon (2-3g) smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons (8g) chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon (2g) Maggie bouillon powder (optional)
- hot pepper, cayenne, scotch bonnet (optional to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon (1g) curry powder (optional)
- 1-2 cups (235-470ml) broth (beef or chicken)
- salt to taste
Instructions
The Meatballs
- Soak the bread and milk, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine ground beef with the soaked bread mixture.
- Then add parsley, white pepper, grated onions, hot pepper, and minced garlic. Lightly mix the meatball mixture with your hands and shape it into 14-16 balls, being careful not to overmix—store, covered, in the refrigerator until needed.
- In a large saucepan, heat about ¼ cup of oil over medium heat. Add meatballs, and let them sit for 3 minutes or more before moving them around. Lower flame if necessary to prevent them from browning too fast. You may have to do it in two batches (depending on the pan's size). Brown on both sides, remove them from the pan, and set aside.
Tomato Sauce
- Add chopped onion, thyme, and garlic to perfume the oil still in the pan, and stir for about a minute.
- Next, add tomato sauce, curry powder, white pepper, hot pepper, and paprika. Stir frequently to prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Add salt and bouillon according to preference and about 2 cups of stock. Bring to a boil and simmer to blend all the flavors (30 minutes to an hour), stirring occasionally.
- Add the meatballs 10- 15 minutes before the sauce is ready. Adjust seasonings to your tastes and the consistency with water or stock.
- Serve hot over spaghetti, and enjoy.
Tips & Notes:
- If cooking for kids, then you may want to leave the cayenne pepper or scotch bonnet pepper out.
- I have tried it with one and two cans of tomato sauce, and all works out well. Adjust the amount of cooking oil if you are only using one can of tomato sauce.
- Chicken bouillon is optional; feel free to leave it out.
- You can replace bread with French bread or rolls. Make sure they are soft before adding them to the meatballs.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
AMAZING!!! This was so good and even my picky husband had two large helpings! Definitely recommend this dish! We will be eating this regularly !!!
Thank you so much for your feedback. Two large helpings? Wow!
I made this last night and it was very very tasty. My husband called it “one of a kind” lol. Instead of using the tomato sauce fully (I only had half a can lol), I blended 4 tomatoes and 2 garlic instead. After blending, I put the tomato mixture on the stove and steamed it to get rid of the excess water. Finally, I added the tomato sauce in the mix and cooked it like the regime states. I also used ground turkey instead of the ground beef and didn’t have issues with the meatballs falling apart. Everything tasted so flavorful and yummy! Will def add this to my rotation!
Hi Khadijah! SOO glad it worked well for you! And for sure, it tastes great! Hope I have tried it myself.
¼ small onion grated about 1/4 cup grated onion
Does this mean 2/4 of grated onion?
Hi. It’s 1/4 small onion and when grated it will be about 1/4 cup. Hope this answers your question.
Hi Imma,
Love your blog. What kind of curry powder? I have bolst’s. It’s an Indian style one w the following ingredients: coriander, turmeric, chilis, mustard, ginger, cumin seeds, fenugreek. Not sure if this is appropriate for African food.
Thanks,
Michelle
I make my own curry powder using the same ingredients mentioned above. Check it out here.https://www.africanbites.com/jamaican-curry-powder/. So it will do just fine.
The meatballs sort of came apart. Would adding eggs have helped? Otherwise turn out delicious!!
Sorry it didn’t work out well for you Therese . Eggs might help.I make this with or without eggs. You can also make it in the oven . Before adding it on. Hope this helps
It worked well for me, though I had that problem as well – some meatballs falling apart. Next time I will mix some egg in. This was a delicious dish that worked well for such short notice.
hi.the meal looks delicous can you please send me the whole recipe,as in i dont know how to cook stew at all.
my email lyricogoldenchyll@gmail.com
Which recipe are you referring to?
I know oh! No offense here.
Niiice! I love meatballs in tomato sauce, I might try this version.
PS: In Italy nowadays we don’t usually eat spaghetti with meatballs, just the meatballs with the sauce. Spaghetti with meatballs is very Italian American. Your level of tomato sauce is just right for me; I also appreciate that it’s not overflowing with onion and garlic because, even as I love them, I once got a gastritis because of them so I have always been cautious since. And without a doubt they make the meal heavier. Sigh…
Of course, you need some bread to do the scooping up of that delicious sauce! We call it “scarpetta” (little shoe”) and to me it is bread’s real reason d’etre.
Wonderful photos as always!
Thanks for sharing Didina !!! Always learn something new . Totally agree on bread’s reason for being -. I could eat a whole baguette when paired with these meatballs. AH! don’t have any leftovers.
I’m making this tonight
It came out perfect. I always buy spaghetti sauce pre-made, this was so simple to make and delicious.
Now time to try another recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for taking the time to make it. I do appreciate your feedback.
Hi! This meal looks delicious. Just curious I read that you added curry powder and paprika in the instructions but I don’t see it in the sauce recipe list, how much curry did you put in the sauce?
I just updated the recipe. Thanks NeNe.
Hi there, please did you use canned tomato sauce? Or can I make mine at home?
Hi Cisca! I used canned tomato sauce but if you prefer homemade, that is perfectly fine 🙂