Trying to replicate my grandma's meatballs... how do I make them softer?

More fat.

Do not over-mix or it will make the meatballs tough. More fat may help. The egg will make it like a rock if you add too much. More bread crumbs and some ground Parmesan cheese, they hold the fat in the meatballs.
Grandma probably use ground chuck with 80%-20% meat to fat.

What @Tropical_Willie said to a T! If there is none, try adding some minced onion in the recipe.

I have a terribly sick mind, sigh.

To make meat softer you usually cook it at a lower temperature for longer.

Try adding a little milk. It adds moisture without a lot of fat.

Add a little oatmeal.

Breadcrumbs will amke them softer.

Softly mix them together with your hands. It sounds to me like over mixing and over handling.

It may have been over mixing, because I couldn’t seem to get everything mixed in, so I kept mashing it all together.

I used a little over 2lbs of not 80% but I think it was 87% maybe… 3 eggs, breadcrumbs, and a packet of dry onion soup mix. I know I browned them too much. She used to just brown them slightly but I put a crust on them, and I knew instantly that was wrong when I tasted them.

Sigh. So many questions you don’t think to ask until someone passes away. As silly as “How do you make your meatballs” even.

Look at meatball recipes on the internet or in cookbooks. Use your grandmother’s ingredients, but their cooking method. If necessary, adjust the amount of the ingredients to that in the recipe.

Use a panade, a mixture of milk and bread. Tear apart a slice of white bread, put it in a bowl, sprinkle it with a few tablespoons of milk, and mash it until it forms a paste. Then add it to the rest of your meatball ingredients.

A panade also works to make well-done hamburgers taste edible.

Milk in ground meat makes the texture finer. I think 3 eggs is too much. Try only 2 and if that doesn’t work, try only 1.

The milk thing is only effective if you mix it with bread! Otherwise you’re just adding more liquid.

I find milk soaked panko bread crumbs make a wonderful meatball, along with the typical egg/s

If you’re using dry breadcrumbs, soak them in milk first like others suggested. Also, go down to two eggs and consider ditching the onion soup mix. It’s adding a lot of stuff you don’t need plus a buttload of sodium and preservatives.

My meatball recipe: One pound ground beef or meatloaf mix, one cup fresh breadcrumbs (or dry soaked in a bit of milk), one egg, one clove of garlic (minced), one tablespoon minced fresh parsley, one tablespoon grated parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Mix gently, form into balls, put them into a pot of simmering marinara sauce, cover, and simmer for at least 30 minutes or until cooked through. They will melt in your mouth. My husband’s family is Italian and they rave over these meatballs. Also, the sauce will take on a wonderful flavor from the meatballs.

This may be the best use of buttload and sodium in one sentence.

@Qingu I just cooked some ground beef with onions this evening. I added a little milk and the crumble of meat was much finer than before I added the milk. I agree meatballs made with crumbs of some bread product soaked in milk make better meatballs, but I was just adding the meat and onions to spaghetti sauce.

This question almost seems like it should include a NSFW tag.

@AstroChuck That would only be if this was abt grandpa’s meatballs