Sheet pan meatballs and potatoes with zucchini without onion without garlic

Sheet pan meatballs and potatoes with zucchini without onion without garlic is a perfect lunch whenever you are in a rush and you don’t have time for cooking.

Inspiration for sheet pan meatballs and roasted potatoes with zucchini came to me one warm, but very eventful summer day. I was still studying at university, and there were many tasks to do related to my master’s thesis. From last-minute changes in the text to checking did I quote everything correctly. It was a huge chaos, and all I wanted was to eat something delicious and sunbathe.

With my belly started rumbling, I got reminded that it is time for lunch. But how to eat lunch when there is no time for cooking? Also, I got crawling for meatballs, roasted potatoes, and baked zucchini. All the food which I love, and inspired me for my food comfort lunch.

My lunch turned out delicious, and it became a meal that I make regularly. The best part of this meal is that you have free time while the oven is doing all the work.

How to make sheet pan meatballs and potatoes with zucchini

How to prepare sheet pan meatballs?

Place ground beef in a bowl. Then add egg, salt, pepper, ground rosemary, and parsley flakes. Mix it with hands or spoon until ground meat is combined with egg, salt, pepper, ground rosemary, and parsley flakes.

After you combine the ground meat with egg and spices, add seltzer water or any other carbonated water. It will make meatballs airy, and soft. Carbonated water really makes meatballs even tastier!

When you finish mixing ground meat with seltzer water, add breadcrumbs. Mix it until it all combines together. Set it aside while you are preparing the vegetables.

Firstly, wash potatoes and zucchini. Potato skin is nutritious and very healthy. It also gives more flavor to the meal. Zucchini shouldn’t be peeled (unless it was sitting in your refrigerator for a long time like 2 weeks). Zucchini which is sitting for a longer time in the refrigerator can have a bitter taste. To remove that taste, just peel the zucchini. If you bought zucchini fresh, then do not peel it.

After you wash the potatoes and zucchini, dry them with a kitchen towel.

How to prepare sheet pan potatoes?

First start with cutting potatoes. Wash it and dry it with a kitchen towel. Do not peel potatoes!

Place potatoes on the cutting board and with the chef’s knife cut potatoes into ½ inch slices.
In case you have a very thick potato, you can first cut the potato vertically, and then cut it into ½-inch slices.

After you cut all the potatoes, it is time to cut zucchini.
Place zucchini on the cutting board, and with the chef’s knife, cut zucchini into 1/2-inch slices. Transfer it to the bowl where is the cut potato.

How to make the seasoning?

In a small bowl, mix: salt, ground rosemary, parsley flakes, and then pour it over potato and zucchini. Dry rub the mixture on the potato and zucchini slices. After you rub the spice evenly drizzle oil on the potato and zucchini. Mix it evenly.

Why do you need oil?

Oil is important for roasting potatoes because it will make roasted potatoes juicy and crunchy. In a case that you don’t add oil or some other grease (like butter) to a potato that is roasted in the oven, it will have a rubbery texture, will be dry, and will not be tasty.

On the baking tray place parchment paper, and on the parchment paper place potato slices and zucchini slices. Take the meatball mixture, shape the meatballs (they should be big like your palm), and put the meatballs on the top of the potato. Bake it in the oven until the meatballs get a nice golden brown color, and the potato has a pale brown color.