Meatball Madness!

March 17^th kicks off round 1 of the NCAA tournament, also known as March Madness (crowd roars)! As I’m gearing up to watch my favorite college teams face-off, I can’t forget about the game time appetizers. This year, I’m thinking meatballs. That’s right ladies and gentlemen, get ready for Meatball Madness!

Why meatballs? Meatballs are a great game day snack because they’re easy finger foods and they’re full of protein, which will help keep you full throughout the game. Plus, if you’ve got a lot of guests coming over, you can make big batches at one time! They kind of remind me of little basketballs, too.

Being in the tournament spirit, I figure the only logical way to pick my meatball recipe is through a bracket. The best meatball recipes are going head-to-head right here, so be sure to read through, and fill in your own bracket! 

Let’s get ready to rumble…

I started out with 16 recipes, but only 8 made the tournament cut.

Recipe names in clockwise order: Southern Meatballs, Chicken Parmesan Meatballs, Glazed Meatballs, Enchilada Meatballs, Swedish Meatballs, My Own Italian Meatballs, Asian Meatballs, Hawaiian Meatballs

Tournament “Recipe Highlights”

• Enchilada Meatballs in the Crock Pot (PepperScraps)
  • Slow Cooker
  • Taco Seasoning
  • Enchilada Sauce
• Swedish Meatballs (Mr. Food Test Kitchen)
  • Classic Recipe
  • Brown Gravy
  • Peppery
• Asian Meatballs (Mr. Food Test Kitchen)
  • Ground Turkey
  • Green Peppers
  • Plum Sauce
• Southern Meatballs (Cooking in Stilettos)
  • Grape Jelly (like Momma use to make)
  • Dijon Mustard
  • Slow Cooker
• Hawaiian Meatballs (FamilyGoneHeathly)
  • Ground beef and pork
  • Fresh Pineapple
  • Homemade Hawaiian Glaze
• Glazed Meatballs (Mr. Food Test Kitchen)
  • Horseradish
  • Maple Syrup
  • Soy Sauce
• Chicken Parmesan Meatballs (MyFridgeFood)
  • Shredded Chicken
  • Lemon Zest
  • Chili Flakes
• My Own Italian Meatballs (Mr. Food Test Kitchen)
  • Classic Italian Seasoning
  • Parmesan Cheese
  • Baked in Oven

Even though these recipes are facing off, they’re all great! You can make meatballs from scratch, buy frozen, or purchase pre-made meatballs from the grocery’s meat department. Also, feel free to add or subtract anything you’d like. For example, if you don’t like ground turkey but love all the other ingredients in Asian Meatballs, just sub-in ground beef (no pun intended). The whole point is to have fun and make the best recipe you can.

Meatball Madness Bracket

My final two prediction is Southern Meatballs vs. Asian Meatballs. I have a sweet spot for meatballs made with grape jelly, my mom always made them in the slow cooker for game day. It’s a simple recipe, but it packs a punch that I’m not sure the others can beat. The Asian Meatballs are a bit of an underdog, because they’re made with ground turkey. But hey, I like to eat healthy and the recipe sounds amazing. So I think they have a fighting chance, and who doesn’t love an underdog? However, both of these recipes better watch out for those Enchilada Meatballs, they’re feisty! And I heard the Chicken Parmesan Meatballs have a few tricks up their sleeves. This should be an interesting tournament! 

Now, as a Carolina girl I can’t finish a post about March Madness without saying, “GO HEELS! U-N-C! U-N-C!”

Which meatball recipe are you pulling for?

(Fill in your bracket and leave a comment with your final two.)

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