Apricot Stuffing Pork Dinner Meatballs

    This meatball was inspired by my Thanksgiving Dinner Meatballs. It’s a little different since it’s made with pork and apricots instead of turkey and cranberries but it’s a nice twist on the same type of comfort food.

    Apricot Stuffing Pork Dinner Meatballs

    Prep Time: 45 minutes
    Cook Time: 22 minutes
    Servings: 23 Meatballs
    When I started making meatballs and playing around with different combinations and ones that were a little more creative than your traditional meatball – these came up in the experimental mix. I had some success with the Thanksgiving Dinner meatballs that are supposed to remind you in one bite how wonderful Thanksgiving dinner is. These are very similar but instead of dried cranberries I used dried apricots. Pork and apricots are such a classic combination I thought it was a nice play on the same idea behind the Thanksgiving meatballs. 
    I use a nice pork gravy to finish off the meatballs and they are amazing when served over mashed potatoes. You can either make your own pork gravy from homemade pork broth or purchase your favorite brand for serving. You can also throw these in your pork gravy and a fancy crockpot to share with friends and family for potlucks, appetizers or shareable meals.
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    Ingredients

    • 1 lb ground pork
    • 1 cup Italian style breadcrumbs
    • 2 eggs
    • 1/4 cup dried diced apricots
    • salt & pepper to taste
    • 2 cups prepared stuffing
    • salt & pepper to taste

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit
    • Prepare the stuffing as instructed on your favorite store bought brand. You can always use leftover stuffing that you have from a weekend meal as well for this recipe – or you can use my recipe here.
    • In a bowl combine ground meat, breadcrumbs, eggs, diced dried apricots. Season to taste salt and pepper.
    • Take the meat mixture and and a little of the stuffing mixture – about 2 parts meat and 1 part stuffing and gently roll the meat and stuffing together – making sure to keep the meat and stuffing separate.
    • Place your meatballs on a greased baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 22 mins.
    Mixing bowl filled with the ingredients for Apricot Stuffing Pork Dinner Meatballs
    The addition of dried apricots to the meat mixture makes mixing all the ingredients for the meatball base a little interesting. When you mince or dice the dried apricots the insides are so sticky and gooey and they can stick to your hands as you mix the meat and other ingredients together. The ground pork has a little more body to it than ground turkey in my similar recipe for Thanksgiving Dinner Meatballs, which makes incorporating the dried fruit a little more difficult than in the turkey meatballs. If you gently mix the ingredients together and take a little time with this you should be just fine. The apricots are such a nice compliment to the pork and it’s worth the effort.

    This recipe is a little different than the traditional meatballs that I like to make. The difference is that we are adding stuffing to the meatballs but not incorporating it into the meat itself. This recipe is best when you have little lumps of stuffing to compliment the meat, just like you have a little side of stuffing with your meat when you make a pork roast. The challenge is making sure the meatball and the stuffing keep their individual integrity and also making them into one ball.

    One trick that I have is to have some cooking spray handy to spray on your hands to coat them before you start rolling out your meatballs. This prevents the meatball and stuffing mixture from sticking to your hands, which I will tell you after making many, many meatballs, can slow you down and just be annoying. For particular recipes like this one I always have cooking spray around to coat my hands during the meatball rolling process and it helps the speed of making the meatballs and the ease of it as well. You can grab a small dollop of the stuffing mixture and gently add it to the meat mixture and roll them gently together in your hand. The goal for this meatball is to have some meat on one side and the stuffing on the other.

    You also need to make sure that you add cooking spray to the baking sheet. This is important for meatballs that aren’t made from beef or fattier meats. It’s super helpful to prevent the meatballs from sticking to the foil or the pan that you choose to cook the meatballs on. This one benefits from this process since it’s not just meat in a ball – you also have the drier stuffing to work with.

    Picture of the meatballs rolled out raw on a baking sheet
    This meatball was inspired by the traditional Sunday Dinners we’ve had growing up where you have a meat and a side. The last thing you want to do is to combine the meat and the stuffing completely where it’s hard to differentiate between the two flavors and textures. The point of this meatball is to remind you of all of the great flavors and textures of a holiday meal. This requires a delicate touch when rolling out the meatballs so the stuffing and meat stay separate but still come together to form a bite-sized ball.

    The other thing that really makes this meatball pop is adding a little gravy on top once the meatballs are out of the oven and ready to be served – you can buy store brought gravy and add it to a crockpot to keep these meatballs warm for your guests or loved ones or if you’re bringing these bad boys to a potluck. You can always substitute any store-bought gravy with your favorite gravy recipe.

    Bowl of stuffing used in this meatball recipe
    Another variation for this recipe is for the stuffing, you can always make your favorite stuffing recipe from a family classic or you can take the quick way out and use your favorite store-bought stuffing. For those nights that you are short on time but want a comforting dinner that might be the best option. This is a great meatball to have around the holidays too when you have some leftover stuffing laying around and you want to do something creative and surprising with it. These meatballs have all the components of a nice family meal in a one or two bite-sized ball.
    Apricot Stuffing Pork Dinner Meatballs in a bowl of mashed potatoes next to wine and gravy
    One serving idea for these meatballs is to pile them on top of mashed potatoes and slather them in gravy. Talk about the ultimate comfort food! Let’s just admit that one of the best side dishes out there is a good batch of mashed potatoes. It’s like having a holiday dinner bowl and it always reminds me of the day after leftovers from an amazing pork dinner where you either throw everything in a bowl or make that amazing pork stuffing mashed potato leftover sandwich. You can even turn these meatballs into a comforting meatball slider with mashed potatoes.

    Another serving suggestion is to omit the dried apricots if you’re not into mixing your meat with fruit, I know I get it. There are times where I’m good with it but don’t give me a strawberry chicken salad, I’m not sure what the difference is but there is a line. You can always add some fancy fresh herbs instead or if you’re an onion fan you can add either cooked onions or raw onions for an extra little crunch and flavor.

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