These are my daughter Rowena’s choice for her birthday dinner. In our house everyone gets to choose what they want for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on their birthday. She always chooses Porcupine Meatballs.
These yummy meatballs get their funny name from their appearance – not any strange ingredient. So rest assured, they’re not made from any cute woodland creatures. Just your standard cow. Or turkey. We made these out of antelope one time after we were blessed with meat from a hunter friend, and they were quite tasty.
Porcupine Meatballs
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 pound ground beef (or turkey – or a half and half mixture of both)
- 2/3 cup long-grain rice, uncooked
- 1 package onion soup mix
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 large can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup Worcestershire sauce (divided into half cups)
Preparation:
Mix ground beef with rice, 1/2 cup of Worcestershire sauce, onion soup mix, garlic powder, and salt and pepper according to your family’s taste preferences. Shape ground beef mixture by into golf ball sized balls.
Place the porcupine meatballs in an ungreased 2-quart shallow baking dish. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over the porcupine meatballs.
Cover and bake at 350° F. oven for about 45 minutes to one hour. Uncover and bake porcupine meatballs 15 to 20 minutes longer. The rice cooks in the meatballs and sticks out, giving this dish its porcupine appearance. My children love these fun meatballs.
These meatballs are great served with a salad and mashed potatoes.
Our twins definitely recommend lots and lots of mashed potatoes.
And a lot of napkins on hand.
Coers Family 
Mmmm! Sounds and looks yummy! We’ll have o give these a try!
This looks super yummy!
Can you make the meatballs and freeze them to finish them later or will they taste funny?
I’ve never tried freezing these. I’m thinking you could. After finishing making the meatballs, lay them out on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for at least 2 hours until frozen, then keep in a freezer bag until needed. When ready to bake, mix up tomato sauce, and proceed with the rest of the recipe steps. I’m thinking they’ll need to bake an additional 30 minutes to an hour, covered. I’d love to know how they turn out if you try it! 🙂