Beef Bola Bola Recipe (Filipino Meatball)

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Beef Bola Bola is a Filipino meatball that is mixed with ground beef, grated onion, chopped carrot, and seasoning sauces. It is a simple yet delicious meatball that is served with a sweet-spicy sauce or soy sauce.

Beef Bola Bola meatball served with soy vinegar sauce in a plate

Last year in the Philippines, I attended a fiesta in my mother’s hometown in Cebu where I stayed in my Aunt's house. Fiesta is a Filipino festival where they celebrate their town’s religious history.

During that day, it is traditional that families cooked and served many delicious local foods, which they invite families and friends in their house. And in that house, this is the first time I tried their Filipino meatball called bola bola which is similar to an Italian meatball.

It is one of my favorite and yet simple Filipino dish which you eat it with white rice and sweet spicy sauce. Since I was inspired by my Aunt's meatball, I will be showing you my version of how to make this delicious Filipino beef meatball recipe

Recipe Ingredient

The recipe ingredient of making Beef Bola Bola is similar to the ingredient of my Beef lumpia recipe except, it has no lumpia or eggroll wrapper.

Below is the ingredient I used for this recipe:

Ground Beef
Grated onion & garlic
Grated carrot
Soy sauce
Oyster sauce
Egg
Vegetable Oil for Frying
Salt & Black Pepper
Flour for dredging

The onion and garlic will give a nice flavor to the ground beef. Also, the soy sauce and the oyster sauce adds the mild saltiness and sweetness of the meatball. You wouldn't need to add salt since the soy sauce has a sodium content.

On the other hand, the egg will help bind the ground meat mixture, which helps prevent your meatball from falling apart. And lastly, for the ground beef, you can either use 80% Meat and 20% Fat or 70 % Meat and 30% Fat. It wouldn’t make any difference.

Cooking Instruction

Unlike lumpia, cooking beef bola bola is easier since you don’t need to use any wrapper for this recipe. Firstly, mix the ground beef, soy sauce & oyster sauce, egg, and the rest of the ingredients. Use your hand to mix all of them.

Next, shape 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons of ground beef mixture into a ball-shaped and dredge it with flour. Once you made all of them into a ball shape, pour a lot of cooking oil in the deep pan. Once the oil is hot, add the Filipino meatball in the oil. Stir it for few minutes or until it turns dark brown.

Transfer the entire meatball into the plate. Make sure you put the paper towel to help absorb the excess oil of the bola bola. Serve it with sweet spicy sauce or soy with vinegar sauce and white rice. Enjoy.

Recipe Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Can you use other meat aside from beef for the Bola Bola Recipe?

Traditionally, pork is common ground meat used for this recipe since this is a popular meat in the Philippines. But, because I don’t eat pork, I use either ground beef or ground chicken for this recipe.

2. Is there another way to cook this meatball without frying in the oil?

If you prefer a healthier approach, you can bake the meatball in the oven instead of deep-frying. Just drizzle with some vegetable oil and bake it in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes at 180 C.

3. What happens if my meatball falls apart?

If this happened, it could be the ground beef mixture is watery or soft, which could cause the meat to breakdown. To prevent this, you can add flour in the ground beef mixture before making it into a ball-shaped. This will help hold the ground mixture while frying in the pan.

4. Can you store the cooked meatball in the refrigerator or freezer for later use?

This Filipino meatball is a freezer-friendly recipe. If you have so many leftovers, you can keep it in the refrigerator or the freezer. The refrigerator can help increase the shelf life by 7 days, while the freezer can help last it for 2 months.