Air Fryer Weeknight Meatballs–use your air fryer or Instant Pot air fryer lid to make these super fast and easy meatballs!
Air Fryer Weeknight Meatballs
Air Fryer Meatballs are crisp and browned on the outside and juicy on the inside! I was super pleased with how they turned out! This is one of my favorite things I’ve made to date in my air fryer!
Ingredients for air fryer meatballs
- 85/15 ground beef–or half ground beef and half ground pork or ground turkey
- Panko breadcrumbs—or regular breadcrumbs or crushed saltines
- Egg
- Milk–or cream
- Parsley
- Parmesan cheese–shredded or grated
- Italian seasoning–or make your own
- Onion powder
- Salt–sea salt or kosher
- Pepper
Steps
- Mix meatball ingredients: In a bowl stir together all the ingredients except the beef. Mix in a quarter of the beef. Add the remaining beef and mix well to combine. This helps the meat tender because it doesn’t get overworked.
- Form into meatballs. Each meatball should have about a quarter cup of the meat mixture. This will make 10 meatballs.
- Air fry: Preheat air fryer to 400°F. Place meatballs in a single layer in the air fryer. Turn air fryer down to 380°F. Cook meatballs for 12-14 minutes or until browned and the center of the meatball reaches 165°F. Rest 3 minutes before serving.
- Serve: I served my meatballs with spaghetti and marinara sauce. You can also serve them with barbecue sauce or any other way you like.
Notes/Tips
- I used my Instant brand air fryer* for this recipe. However, if you have an air fryer lid for your Instant Pot* you can cook the meatballs in the bottom of your Instant Pot. Follow the cooking temperatures and times and noted in the recipe card.
- Try using a cookie scoop* to form meatballs.
- How to serve air fryer meatballs: with pasta, in a meatball sub, with bbq sauce, in Italian wedding soup, etc.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Rewarm leftovers on a baking sheet in the oven at 350 degrees F or in the microwave.
- Make an extra batch and freeze for meatball subs, spaghetti or ziti another night! Prepare the meatballs as directed through step 3 in recipe card below. Place a baking sheet of meatballs in the freezer until solid. Transfer the uncooked frozen meatballs to an airtight freezer-safe storage container or ziplok bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Cook directly from frozen in your air fryer, adding a few extra minutes to the cook time.
- To make this recipe low carb try using crushed pork rinds in the place of bread crumbs. Serve over spaghetti squash or riced cauliflower with keto Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.
More Air Fryer Recipes…
- Keep a Man Chicken (Air Fryer or Oven)
- Air Fryer Heavenly Chicken
- Air Fryer Poor Man’s Steak
- Air Fryer Sunday Dinner Chicken
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
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Air Fryer Weeknight Meatballs
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 10 meatballs 1x
Description
Use your air fryer or Instant Pot air fryer lid to make these super fast and easy meatballs!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound 85/15 ground beef (or half ground beef and half ground pork)
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 Tbsp parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- In a bowl stir together all the ingredients except the beef.
- Mix in a quarter of the beef. Add the remaining beef and mix well to combine.
- Form into meatballs. Each meatball should have about a quarter cup of the meat mixture. This will make 1o meatballs.
- Preheat air fryer to 400°F.
- Place meatballs in a single layer in the air fryer (you may have to work it batches depending on the size of your air fryer). Turn air fryer down to 380°F.
- Cook meatballs for 12-14 minutes or until browned and the center of the meatball reaches 165°F. Rest 3 minutes before serving.
- Category: Beef
- Method: Air Fryer
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Thanks for branching out to air fryer recipes! I love my instant pot and my air fryer, so if your AF recipes are as good as your IP recipes we’ll all be better for it. I tried the air fryer lid, but returned it because I needed to cook in too many batches to do things effectively. My air fryer oven is much better, and as a bacon lover I use it pretty much every day. I do your French Toast Casserole in the IP, put it into a couple of ramekins and finish it the AF. Having both can make an average cook unstoppable. Thanks again for all you do.
So cool about your oven!! I’m glad you are here…thanks Nick!
Hi Karen….I love your recipes…on this meatball recipe can they be made and then put in the freezer? I was thinking of making a double or triple batch and freeze then use them when I make spagetti. Would I put in instant pot and cook like I have done with frozen meatballs I buy at the grocery store?
Thanks for your help…
Yes! Make an extra batch and freeze for meatball subs, spaghetti or ziti another night! Prepare the meatballs as directed through step 3 in recipe card below. Place a baking sheet of meatballs in the freezer until solid. Transfer the uncooked frozen meatballs to an airtight freezer-safe storage container or ziplok bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Cook directly from frozen in your air fryer, adding a few extra minutes to the cook time.
You can also make them and cook them and freeze and then, yes, you’d use just like frozen meatballs from the grocery store.