Place meat, crumbs, milk or water, parsley, cheese (if using), 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, onion powder, eggs and minced garlic in a large bowl. Mix all of this together with a fork, which does a good job of breaking up the eggs and chunks of meat or use your hands. Form mixture into 1 1/2 to 2-inch meatballs, and arrange on a plate. Set in fridge for 30 minutes, which helps them hold their shape.

To help form meatballs into a smooth ball, lightly oil your hands, adding another drop or two half-way, or rinse them in between a few times with cold water.

If you’re planning to use these in a marinara sauce for spaghetti, or an open meatball sandwich on garlic bread, then there’s no need to bake them – they’ll cook right in the sauce. Go ahead and skip over to this recipe now.

Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.