Country Pork Meatballs with Onion Gravy

Posted by admin

July 21, 2026

On July 21, 2026

These Country Pork Meatballs are flavoured with the classic combination of onion, sage and thyme, and they taste like the country sausages at my local butcher. Smothered with a rich onion gravy, it’s just cosy, downright tasty, homemade comfort food!

Country Pork Meatballs with Onion Gravy

In the interest of full disclosure, there’s nothing officially “country” about these meatballs. I’ve just christened them as such because I think the combination of flavours has a wholesome, country-style comfort food vibe. 😊 The meatballs are flavoured with sage and thyme (don’t skip the sage!) and actually, they do remind me of the country pork sausages from my local butcher.

The onion gravy is made using the drippings from browning the meatballs, with a lovely hint of garlic. To me, it tastes like the sort of hearty, homestyle meal you’d expect at a country pub or farmhouse table.

So, let me have the name! Serve it over mash with a side of peas and tell everyone dinner tonight is Country pork meatballs with a rich onion gravy, farmhouse mash and garden peas. 😇

Ingredients in Country Pork Meatballs

Here’s what you need to make these cosy meatballs.

1. For the meatballs

Just in case you missed it above – don’t skip the sage! You can skip the thyme, you can even skip the onion or paprika. But not the sage – it adds a warm, earthy flavour that’s the signature taste of these meatballs and gives it the unmistakable country pork sausage flavour.

Pork makes such soft meatballs, softer than beef and juicier than chicken. I use regular pork mince – not lean, not extra fatty, though you could if you want. The meatballs will also work great with beef, chicken or turkey, though if course the flavour of the meat is different. Also note that chicken and turkey are much leaner so the meatballs will not be quite as succulent inside.
Panko breadcrumbs – Breadcrumbs make meatballs softer and lighter than using just meat alone. I prefer panko because the larger flakes create a softer, more tender texture inside the meatballs, but regular breadcrumbs work too if that’s all you’ve got.
Country spices – Sage is the secret ingredient here that makes these pork meatballs taste like country sausages! You can find ground sage at regular grocery stores. Paprika adds a little warm colour (I use regular/sweet though smoked would also work, onion powder adds savoury flavour, and thyme brings a lovely earthy, herby note.
Garlic – For flavour!
Green onion – This brings a little freshness into the meatballs as well as some little green flecks, which I like!
Egg – This is what binds the meatballs and keeps them together.

2. for the onion gravy

And here’s what you need for the onion gravy.

Butter (oops! missing from photo 🙂 ) – Used to cook the onions and adds richness and flavour to the gravy. It also combines with the flour to form the thickening base that gives the gravy its lovely silky texture.
Beef stock / broth – You need stock rather than water to get sufficient body in gravy. I prefer to use low sodium so I can control the amount of salt.
Flour – This is what thickens the gravy.
Onion and garlic – This adds more flavour to the gravy which is particularly helpful with cook-cook gravies like this made with store-bought stock.
Worcestershire sauce – A little slosh of this adds extra flavour into the sauce. If, by chance, you are using a homemade beef stock, a) I want to be you; and b) you can skip this! 🙂
Dark soy or gravy browner (OPTIONAL!) – Dark soy sauce is a cheeky trick I’ve been using for years to deepen the colour of gravies that end up a little paler than I’d like. In the UK you can buy gravy browner, a product made specifically for this job, but it’s not nearly as common in Australia. Dark soy does the trick beautifully.
It won’t make the gravy taste Asian-y – you can’t taste it at all. It’s only there to give the gravy a richer, deeper brown colour.

How to make Country Pork Meatballs with Gravy

Confession: I detest rolling meatballs. You’ll never catch me visiting RTM on a meatball day – imagine making meatballs for 600 people!! 😩 (Yet, the amazing team at RTM do!!)

But I love eating them. So I roll, because it’s worth it, then conveniently forget all about it when dinner’s on the table!

Meatball mixture – Put all ingredients in a bowl and use your hands to mix them together thoroughly. You really want to make sure the spices are mixed through well – nobody wants to be the one to hit an unseasoned patch!
Roll the mixture into 20 meatballs (2 tablespoons each). I use an ice cream scoop with a lever to portion and shape 70% of the way, then finish rolling with my hands. The size #30 is 2 tablespoons which I don’t have, so I just use my #24 and fill it slightly under.

Brown the meatballs in a pan. I usually rotate them to cook 3 or 4 sides, using 2 tablespoons to roll them without de-forming (too much). The inside doesn’t need to be cooked through – in fact, we want to keep the inside raw so it finishes cooking in the gravy.
Once the meatballs are browned, removed them back onto the tray (or whatever you had the raw meatballs on) using a slotted spoon, leaving the fat behind.
Cook onion and garlic – Add the butter and let it melt, then cook the onion until softened, adding garlic towards the end (that way, the garlic won’t burn).

Add flour and stir until you can no longer see any white flour.
Adding stock slowly – Then, as you are stirring, slowly pour in half the stock and mix until it turns into a paste / quite a thick sauce that sticks to the onion. Then add the rest of the stock and mix until the paste dissolves into the stock – lump free!
I find this method to be an effective way of making gravy without ending up with little flour lumps, and no need to use a whisk (bit tricky to whisk with all that onion).

Meatballs back in – Bring the mixture up to a simmer then add the meatballs into the sauce, along with any juices that have accumulated on the tray.
Simmer the meatballs for 4 to 5 minutes until the sauce thickens into a gravy consistency and the meatballs are cooked through, then you’re done!
Don’t let the gravy get too thick as it thickens quite fast as it cools, by the time it goes from the pan into your bowl, to the table and into your mouth! You will be surprised how fast gravy thickens.