Meatballs and Gravy Recipe (Quebec Meatball Stew)
with l'épicier
- Preparation 30 min
- Cooking 1 h 20 min
- Servings 4 to 6
- Freezing Absolutely
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🎄 THE Christmas Eve meatball stew!
Well-spiced meatballs simmering in a thick brown gravy that coats the spoon and makes the whole house smell like the holidays. At my grandparents’ place, we had it on Christmas Eve. And I’ll tell you a secret: theirs was never as good as this one! Serve it with a big bowl of mashed potatoes, fruit ketchup and pickled beets, and nobody’s leaving the table before their plate is clean.
⏱️ The traditional stew, made easier
I wanted a version that’s easier to make, and faster too. Meatballs, a homemade brown gravy, one hour of simmering, and you’re done. It tastes like the real old-fashioned Quebec ragoût, without spending your whole day on it.
🌰 Toasted flour is the star
It’s what gives the gravy its brown color and its deep, almost nutty taste. You toast it dry in a skillet until it turns caramel. It takes five minutes, but don’t take your eyes off it! For the meatballs, I use a pork, veal and beef mix for the blend of flavors. All beef or all pork is just as good.
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🌰 Keep stirring the flour
The flour on the bottom turns caramel long before the flour on top. If you don’t stir, you end up with half burnt and half white. As soon as it starts to smell nutty, you’re close. And it goes from caramel to burnt very fast, so stay at the stove.
🧅 Grated onion, juice and all
Grated instead of diced, the onion adds moisture to the meat. Your meatballs stay tender even after an hour in the gravy.
🍖 Three meats or just one
I use the pork, veal and beef mix for the blend of flavors, and that’s what I suggest. But all beef is just as good, and so is all pork. Use what you have.
🔥 Brown the meatballs in two batches
If you crowd them all in the pot, they boil in their juices instead of browning. In two batches, they get a nice crust, and that crust ends up in the gravy.
🧂 Salt at the very end
Beef broth already has plenty of flavor, and the gravy reduces for an hour. Taste it before salting, and go easy.
🥄 A little skin on the gravy is normal
When the gravy is ready, it’s thick, it coats the spoon, and a thin skin forms on top. No big deal: stir and serve.
❄️ Storage
It keeps 3 to 5 days in the fridge in an airtight container, and it’s just as good the next day. It also freezes really well, in portions, for up to 3 months.
📅 Make-ahead prep
The day before, toast and sift your flour, then store it in an airtight jar. Chop your onions and garlic, shape your meatballs and keep them in the fridge on a well-covered baking sheet. On the day, you brown, build your gravy, and the stew simmers while your guests arrive. When the door opens, it smells like the holidays. The parsley gets chopped at the last minute.
✅ What to serve with my meatballs and gravy recipe
Mashed potatoes are a must. My Boursin garlic and herb mashed potatoes do the job perfectly. On the side, my homemade fruit ketchup, my homemade pickled beets and some pickles. And if you love this kind of dinner, try my pork hock and meatball stew or my French Canadian tourtière.
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Toasted flour
- ½ cup (125 ml) all-purpose flour
Meatballs
- 2 lb (900 g) ground pork, veal and beef mix
- 1 small onion, finely grated, with its juice
- 1 garlic clove, very finely chopped
- ½ cup (125 ml) plain breadcrumbs
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) milk
- ½ tsp (2 ml) ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp (1 ml) ground allspice
- ¼ tsp (1 ml) ground cloves
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Brown gravy
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) canola oil
- 2 yellow onions, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 6 cups (1.5 L) beef broth
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Serving
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) fresh parsley, chopped
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Preparation
- In a large dry skillet over medium-high heat, cook the flour for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly, until it smells nutty and turns a caramel color. Keep stirring so the flour on top toasts as much as the flour on the bottom. Sift and set aside.
- In a large bowl, gently mix all the meatball ingredients with your hands, without packing the meat too much. Shape 40 to 45 meatballs, 1 to 1 ½ inches (2.5 to 4 cm) in diameter.
- In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs in two batches, about 2 minutes per side. They don’t need to be cooked through. Set aside on a plate.
- In the same Dutch oven, cook the onions and garlic for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring.
- In a large bowl, whisk the toasted flour into the beef broth until there are no lumps. Pour into the Dutch oven, scraping the bottom well to loosen the browned bits. Add the bay leaf and bring to a boil, whisking.
- Return the meatballs and their juices to the gravy. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 1 hour, stirring from time to time, until the gravy is thick and coats the spoon. Skim off the fat that rises to the surface. Season with salt and pepper and remove the bay leaf.
- Serve with mashed potatoes or boiled potatoes, and sprinkle with parsley.
Cinnamon, allspice and cloves. It’s the classic trio, and those spices really matter: without them, it’s not a Quebec meatball stew. And no, it doesn’t taste sweet.
A thin gravy means there wasn’t enough flour or it didn’t reduce enough. Let it simmer uncovered longer. If that’s not enough, mix a little toasted flour into a ladle of hot broth and whisk it into the pot. With the amounts in this recipe, mine was perfect.
Yes. Toast the flour, brown the meatballs and build the gravy in the Dutch oven like in the recipe, then transfer everything to the slow cooker, 6 hours on low. A slow cooker doesn’t reduce the gravy, so take the lid off for the last hour.
Absolutely. Let it cool, divide it into airtight containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge, then reheat it gently in a saucepan.
It’s plain all-purpose flour cooked dry in a skillet until it turns caramel and smells nutty. It thickens the gravy and gives it its brown color and deep flavor.
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