No, these meatballs don’t actually contain any porcupine. They’re called Porcupine Meatballs because of their signature spiky look, and that’s thanks to their budget-friendly binder — white rice! Because they use only a few economic staple ingredients, Porcupine Meatballs gained popularity during the tough times of the Great Depression but retained that popularity right up through World War II and on up into the 1970s. You might not see them on the dinner table as much these days, but that’s a shame — they’re a little quirky to look at, but they’re totally delicious.

What Ingredients Do You Need for Porcupine Meatballs?

It’s a very simple list. You’ll need:

• Lean ground beef.
• Two cans of tomato sauce.
• Some long-grain white rice. (Don’t cook it!)
• An onion. (But you could sub onion powder.)
• One egg.
• Italian seasoning.
• And a dash of Worcestershire sauce.

How do You Make Porcupine Meatballs?

It’s about as easy as that ingredient list. First things first, you’re going to want to chop up that onion nice and fine so you don’t bite into any big chunks.

Then, take about a quarter cup of that onion and get it into a bowl with the ground beef, the uncooked rice, a quarter cup of the tomato sauce, a beaten egg, and some Italian seasoning. Your hands work best here — mix it all together and then form it into balls about a half-inch in size.

Place those meatballs into a cold skillet. Odd, I know. But we don’t want to sear them off and prevent the rice from doing its porcupine thing… we’re just going to braise these meatballs. So get them all into the skillet and then whisk together the tomato sauce with a bit of water and a dash of Worcestershire sauce and then pour that mixture over and around the meatballs.

Then you can turn on the heat. Bring it to a boil, then cover the pan and reduce it to a nice simmer. Give it about twenty minutes, then flip those meatballs over gently, recover, and give it about twenty minutes more.

When you come back, the meatballs should be cooked through and the rice will be poking out every which way like the quills of a porcupine. Never fear, they don’t taste spiky. They just taste like a moist and delicious meatball… with a little extra chew thanks to that rice!