Meatball Toad-in-the-Hole
- Total Time
- About 2 hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- 4large eggs
- 1cup/240 milliliters whole milk
- ⅔cup/160 milliliters India pale ale or another pale ale
- 2tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1¾cups/225 grams all-purpose flour (plain flour), sifted
- 1teaspoon kosher salt
- 2tablespoons sunflower oil
- 1tablespoon/15 grams unsalted butter
- 2small onions (about 12 ounces/350 grams total), halved and thinly sliced
- 2rosemary sprigs
- 3tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1½tablespoons all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 2cups/480 milliliters chicken stock
- ⅓cup plus 1 tablespoon/100 milliliters India pale ale
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 7ounces/200 grams sourdough bread, crusts discarded and bread cut into ¼-inch (½-centimeter) cubes
- ¾cup/180 milliliters whole milk
- 1½pounds/700 grams ground pork (pork mince)
- 4ounces/115 grams pancetta, very finely chopped
- 1very small onion (about 3 ounces/80 grams), grated
- ⅓packed cup/20 grams roughly chopped parsley
- 4garlic cloves, crushed
- 1½teaspoons lemon zest
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 6tablespoons/90 milliliters sunflower oil
- 2rosemary sprigs
For the Batter
For the Gravy
For the Meatballs
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
1064 calories; 61 grams fat; 18 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 26 grams monounsaturated fat; 12 grams polyunsaturated fat; 80 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 12 grams sugars; 43 grams protein; 1315 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit/240 degrees Celsius.
- Step 2
Prepare the batter: Add the eggs, milk, beer and mustard to a large bowl, and whisk vigorously until foamy, about 1 minute. Add the flour and salt to a separate large bowl, making a well in the center, and pour the egg mixture into the well, in about four increments, whisking lightly each time until the flour is just incorporated. Whisk until there are no lumps and the ingredients are just combined, taking care not to overwork the batter. Set aside for at least 30 minutes, or while you continue with the next step.
- Step 3
Prepare the gravy: Add the oil, butter, onions, rosemary and vinegar to a 9-by-13-inch (23-by-33-centimeter) baking dish (tin). Bake, stirring a couple of times during cooking, until the onions are thoroughly collapsed and browned, about 20 minutes. Whisk together the flour, stock and beer in a bowl until smooth. Add ½ teaspoon salt and a good grind of pepper, then pour flour mixture into the baking dish. Return to the oven and bake, stirring twice throughout, until the gravy is thick and rich, 20 to 25 minutes. Discard the rosemary sprigs and keep warm.
- Step 4
While the gravy is cooking, prepare the meatballs: Soak the bread in the milk in a small bowl and set aside until the liquid is absorbed, 10 minutes. Use your hands or a fork to break apart the bread into a lumpy mash. In a large bowl, mix together the ground pork (pork mince), pancetta, onion, parsley, garlic and lemon zest with 1 teaspoon salt and a generous amount of pepper. Add the bread and use your hands to knead the mixture until it is very well mixed. Shape into 12 large meatballs.
- Step 5
Spread 2 tablespoons sunflower oil across the bottom of a large roasting pan (tin), about 9-by-13-inches (23-by-33-centimeters) in size. Add the meatballs and bake for 10 minutes, or until some of their liquid has been released. Transfer the meatballs to a baking sheet (tray) lined with paper towels to absorb any excess moisture. Pour the liquid released from the meatballs in the roasting pan directly into the gravy, and then wipe the roasting pan dry.
- Step 6
Add the remaining 4 tablespoons sunflower oil to the meatball roasting pan and return to the oven until very hot and beginning to smoke, about 10 minutes. Working as quickly as possible, pour the batter into the pan (it should bubble around the edges) and then add the meatballs and 2 rosemary sprigs. Return to the oven immediately and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit/210 degrees Celsius (don’t open the oven!) and bake for 30 minutes more, or until golden and well risen. (If you want, you can sneak the gravy into the oven to rewarm during the last 5 minutes of baking.) Serve immediately, with the gravy alongside.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Eric Phillips
Terrific! Be sure to get everyone around the table so you get the wow-factor of the steaming, puffed-up pudding right out of the oven. It was a bit of a project so I broke it into pieces. Made the batter in the morning. It did not suffer being made ahead, then stored covered in the fridge. Maybe even got some fermentation from the beer. At lunch: make meatballs, cover, store in fridge. Make gravy and finish at dinner. Lots of opening and closing oven, so add time if you need to; I did.
Charles Michener
To make mincing the pancetta easier, put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes before chopping.
Carrie
If you open the oven door too soon, the pudding will cool slightly due to the heat loss and deflate because it's still so soft. If you open the door at the very end of cooking (aka last five minutes), the pudding structure will have set / hardened up from the baking, and so it won't be as able to deflate. Think about pushing down on well-risen bread dough vs. a baked loaf. Both have lots of air holes but in bread the matrix has solidified, while in dough it's much more fluid / deflate-able.
Tom
Must really have to be super sneaky to get the gravy into the oven if you're not allowed to open the oven.
Michael Hofstetter
Grew up with as a mid week quick supper. With sausages and not meatballs. This is just another version of Yorkshire puddings which I make with beef. Easy easy. Just sounds complicated. But really easy.
Kelly
Do not use Pyrex!!! Broke as I added gravy, huge mess lost time, ingredients and money
NYC
Could this be made with a non-dairy milk and vegan butter, or would that ruin the dish? What variety of non-dairy milk?
JG
When I make meatballs (like a bunch of Melissa Clark's recipes for lamb/chicken/pork meatballs) usually I mix them ahead and form them and put the uncooked balls in the fridge until the next day. Makes weeknights much easier.
james
Oh I did this too, right before I poured in the stock I thought, "is this a good idea?", BAM! 30 minute clean-up of exploded pyrex. Stupid, I've read about that.
Neal
Prep seems a little complicated and frantic. Anyway to make components ahead and then complete for company?
Cindy
weigh it! scale is a GREAT investment
Janine
The gravy is excellent, the pudding puffy and wonderful. The meatballs are fine,but I will use my own recipe for those next time. Family was not fond of the lemon zest in the meatballs, and there was a lot of bread in them. As written, this is not a week night dish! Perhaps if one made the batter ahead of time, or maybe even the meatballs. Otherwise, expect to spend a full two hours in the kitchen.
Virginia
Has anyone tried making this with gluten free breads and flours and ale? It would take a lot of substitutions and the GF flours don't perform the same as wheat-based, but it sounds like a great dish. Celiac brings out the cook in you and the experimentation is great, but some things just don't bend well to the necessary substitutions. I don't even know what you could switch for the ale... .
Grandmadoc
A somewhat similar recipe was a winner in the Pillsbury BakeOff sometime in the 60s. I’ve searched for that recipe for years! That had mushroom gravey. Happy!
Kelly
Do not use Pyrex,mine just broke adding gravy,lost all those ingredients and time plus I have a huge mess and little time to rebound
Name Beth Bochnak
Even breaking into pieces was a hard job. It was very delicious. The gravy is amazing. But i probably won’t make anything but the gravy again
mitch
1 making the gravy on the stovetop, definitely speeds it up!
Zing's Mom
Update: I made this for the second time today, using Russell Brown's pork meatballs (found on the Great British Chefs website). Brown's recipe calls for bacon; I used leftover pancetta, but kept all other meatball ingredients the same. Pudding and gravy were made the same way as last time. The meatballs were delicious and worked well with the gravy and pudding. I'll be making this again soon!
Zing's Mom
Made the gravy and the pudding the night before, storing both in the fridge. I left the pudding in the glass bowl and covered it with a plate; some concoctions don't taste as well if put into plastic or metallic containers. The flavors came together in both, the pudding looked similar to the NYT cooking photo above, so I don't think it was too flat. Both pudding and gravy tasted wonderful. The meatballs turned out well, although the taste was a bit bland.
JRR
The gravy and the batter are exceptional, but I went with sausages instead of meatballs. Definitely prefer to make it with sausage as is traditional, but finding right sausages is tricky, Used small American breakfast links, but not quite right. Just found a place to order proper UK Cumberland sausages online, so hope these will hit the spot. Overall, the recipe is definitely a keeper!
emmy
Delicious and fun oven-to-table meal in the cast iron skillet. Notes: 1. Do not overmix the batter as I did, as it will get rubbery and won’t puff up. 2. Agree w spacing out the prep, because once the oven turns on you’re on the clock. 3. Meatball and gravy adjust easily to substitutions - such as bacon if you don’t have pancetta, or lager instead of ale, but the batter is more delicate.
vasukiv
This was just OK compared to the effort required to make it. The meatballs were bland—they need more oomph. And the pudding was OK tasting. I may have made a mistake as it was very cakey in the middle—but flaky at the edges. Anyway, I’ll chalk this one as an experience, but I doubt I’ll make this again.
emmy
Does this taste alright w bacon instead of pancetta?
Annie
I made this tonight largely because my kids liked the title. Some comments: First, I used bangers, mild English sausages, instead of making the meatballs. This saved a lot of time. Second, we found the batter too salty, so I would cut it down by a quarter or maybe even a half. Finally, the gravy was a bit thin, so I would reduce it on the stove top a bit next time. If you’re lucky enough to be making us in NYC, the Chipolata sausages at Myers of Keswick on Hudson Street would be great in this!
Tiffany
I followed Eric Phillips suggestion to make the batter in the morning, meatballs at lunch and put all together at dinner. It made for a less frantic kitchen. I browned the pancetta, onion & garlic before putting in the meatballs. I browned the meatballs in a skillet for ~15 to remove additional fat before putting in the batter. I made the grave in a skillet while the main dish was in the oven.
Gravy On Stovetop
Make gravy stovetop
Stacey
If made this again (unlikely, it was just OK) I would swap the gravy recipe for a standard mushroom gravy. The balsamic vinegar gives it an odd flavor. And it seemed like way too much bread in the meatballs.
Naseem Amarasingham
Careful! I used a glass pan for the gravy and it (literally) exploded when I added the chicken stock mixture. Oops. After we cleaned up all the glass and onions we tried again and it was yummy. All the more tasty for the danger we endured in making it lol. USE A METAL PAN.
Weslie
How would this work using a vegetarian meat ball? Morningstar or??
Peg Doyle
Recommend a BIG WARNING be attached to this recipe. I learned the VERY expensive, messy, dangerous and hard way. I didn't have a 9x13 tin pan and so I used glass. As I made the gravy portion, leaning into the oven and adding the flour, broth, beer mixture slowly to the hot onions (in a glass pan...duh) resulted in an EXPLOSION OF GLASS of both the pan AND MY OVEN DOOR. Had I removed the pan from the oven and done it on the counter, I probably would have major injuries from glass shrapnel.
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