"There's an art to making a good meatball. You need to have quality meat as well as flavorful seasonings. To ensure your meatballs stay moist and don't shrivel up and dry out, you also need a good panade. Whether or not you know the name, a panade is a staple of meatball making - usually a mixture of breadcrumbs and milk or stock, sometimes with eggs as well."
"Breadcrumbs aren't just filler in meatballs. They help retain the moisture that could be lost as the proteins tighten during cooking. You need that bread for a delicious, moist, flavorful bite. But it doesn't just have to be bread. Why not try stuffing? Obviously, you want to have a juicy meatball that holds together when it's cooked, and a panade accomplishes that even with plain breadcrumbs. We recommended this stuffing hack for better homemade meatballs once before and it's worth a closer look."
"There's more than one way to add stuffing to your meatballs. If you're going to use a box of dry stuffing, just add warm water first to rehydrate it. Mix it until it reaches a consistency similar to what you would make with breadcrumbs. You don't want to add the stuffing completely dry, but you don't need to mix it into a fully prepared stuffing either."
A panade—commonly breadcrumbs mixed with milk, stock, and sometimes eggs—keeps meatballs moist and prevents them from shriveling during cooking. Breadcrumbs absorb juices released as proteins tighten, retaining moisture and adding a tender texture. Pre-seasoned stuffing mixes function as an effective panade because they are dried bread with concentrated seasonings that absorb meat juices while imparting flavor. To use a dry stuffing mix, rehydrate with warm water until it reaches a breadcrumb-like consistency; avoid adding it completely dry or fully preparing it as a side dish. Using stuffing saves time and can introduce new flavor profiles while preserving the meat's natural taste.
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