Cheeseburger Meatballs

So, for the rest of the week, we have Memorial Day recipes.   

Or beginning-of-summer recipes.  

Or recipes for when you want to pretend it's a cookout on a weekend but really it's Tuesday and UGH Tuesday.  Where is Friday? 

But, you know, recipes that are kind of fun and casual and DELICIOUS.  

Interestingly, both of the other recipes that I have for you this week feature ground beef because....I stink at planning?  Oh, AND.  Remember how Jay is a vegetarian?   Was a vegetarian?  Emphasis on was.  He's been adding meat a little at a time back to his diet, and now it's just kind of present for a lot of meals.  This wasn't my doing, mind you, and we still eat meat-free a lot of meals, but he's down with the ground beef every now and again too, thank goodness for the food blogger who makes 27 servings of everything no matter how few people are going to be eating it.  

You know how it goes.  

So these meatballs!  They taste like a cheeseburger sans bun, but with all the flavors you love, and with cheese inside of them, and they are SERIOUSLY delicious.  Seriously.  Also, because the toppings have such great flavor, the meatballs themselves are SUPER simple.  No egg, no breadcrumbs, no fuss.  They're adorbs for an appetizer or even a lunch since they're served over lettuce which basically makes this a salad.  You're welcome!  Health food.  

For these balls, you need ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic powder, seasoned salt, and cubed cheddar.  And mayo!  That's weird, but it takes the place of egg in the meatballs so you really need it.  Promise.  

First, preheat the oven to 450F and combine all the meatball ingredients in a bowl.  

Mix the meatball mixture together evenly with your fingers.  

Then, make balls!  I cook meatballs in the oven on a baking rack over parchment paper set in a baking sheet.  It makes the meatballs brown on all sides and the parchment helps everything not make a massive mess, so there you go.  

While the meatballs are roasting, prep any other ingredients you'd like - basically burger toppings that you enjoy.  Crumbled bacon would NOT be the worst thing in the world here.  

After about 15 minutes, check the meatballs.  When they're golden on top, they're done!

Now we just serve.  I do a bed of lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onions, then nestle the meatballs in the "toppings," and give each ball a little squirt of ketchup and mayo.  You could arrange this however you'd like, or keep everything separate so that folks can build their own plate of meatballs with whatever toppings they like.  

Observe:  gooey cheese.  The way a cheeseburger should be.  

These are SO much fun, guys, and perfect for a holiday weekend to kick off the summer.  Try them!