Canned Mackerel Recipe – Italian Meatballs (VIDEO)

Try this easy canned mackerel recipe and cook a healthy Italian meatball dish. Mackerel provides tons of nutrition, and is a wild caught fish full of healthy oils. It’ a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids. Canned mackerel is inexpensive, very convenient, and an ideal ingredient to have around the house …and something I always have in the cupboard. Give this meatball recipe a try and let me know what you think.

What You Need for this Canned Mackerel Meatball Recipe:

1 can MACKEREL
1 EGG
1 Lg ONION
4-5 cloves GARLIC
4-5 Tbsp OLIVE OIL
14oz can TOMATO SAUCE
14oz can CRUSHED TOMATO
½ GREEN BELL PEPPER
1 RED or YELLOW BELL PEPPER
½ cup grated ROMANO CHEESE
1 Tbsp ITALIAN SEASONING
2 tsp CHILI POWDER
SALT and PEPPER (to taste)
some fresh parsley…and serve over rice or noodles

How to Make Canned Mackerel Meatballs:

Open the canned mackerel and pour fish into a bowl. Remove some of the juice that was in the can, but leave about a ¼ cup of juices.
Like canned tuna, the mackerel has already been cooked during the canning process.
The skin and bones are edible, in fact they are quite nutritious.
The larger vertebrae, while quite chewable, can be a little distracting in a meatball.
Using your hands, break the fish up, smashing as much of the bone matter as convenient.
Into the bowl add salt, pepper, and chili powder to taste. You’ll also add some of these spices into the marinara sauce as well.
Add the freshly grated Romano cheese, or substitute Parmesan cheese.
Add one egg, and about 1 Tbsp each of finely chopped onion, garlic and green bell pepper.
Thoroughly combine all of the ingredients in the bowl and then form the mixture into meatballs about the size of a ping pong ball. The bowl should yield 12-14 meatballs.
Heat a skillet with oil on medium high heat.
Brown the meatballs on all sides. Be gentle, the mackerel meatballs will be moist and quite soft. The meatballs will likely not keep their round shape, but that’s fine. Use tongs and turn them gently in the hot oil. The browning will help the meatballs to keep their shape later in the marinara sauce.
Brown meatballs for 5-7 minutes and the remove the meatballs from the skillet and set aside on a plate.
Into the skillet add the remaining onion, garlic, and bell peppers. Saute for several minutes until they begin to soften.
Add more salt, pepper, and hot pepper as desired. Use fresh hot peppers if you like!
Add in the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce.
Stir in the dried Italian seasonings.
Bring skillet to a bubble and the reduce to a simmer and cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, add fresh parsley and then return the meatballs to the skillet.
Gently mix the meatballs with the sauce and let cook another 5 minutes.
And that’s it!
Serve the sauce and mackerel meatballs over pasta or rice.