The Gathered Kind

🍖 Ingredients

For the Ham Balls:

• 2 lbs ground ham (or a mix of 1 lb ham + 1 lb pork or beef if needed)
  
• 1 cup crushed graham crackers
  
• 2 eggs
  
• ¾ cup milk
  

For the Sauce:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cans tomato soup
• ¾ cup water
• ½ cup vinegar (white or apple cider)
• 1 tsp dry mustard

👩‍🍳 Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
   
2. In a large bowl, mix ground ham, graham crackers, eggs, and milk until combined.
   
3. Roll into 1½ inch balls and place in a greased 9×13 baking dish.
   
4. In a saucepan, combine all sauce ingredients and bring to a light boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.
   
5. Pour sauce over the ham balls in the dish.
   
6. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour, uncovering for the last 15 minutes to let the sauce thicken and caramelize.
   

🧡 Why We Love It

• The sauce. Sweet and tangy and sticky in the best way.
  
• Stretchy and budget-friendly. Feeds a crowd with ingredients you usually have on hand.
  
• Great for batch cooking—double it, freeze it, and thank yourself later.
  
• It’s a Midwest classic with big nostalgic vibes and even bigger flavor.

🍽️ Looking for more big-family meal ideas that keep the chaos under control?
Check out the full roundup: Feeding the Chaos: 5 Big Family Recipes That Save My Sanity
Trust me—you’re gonna want to save them all. 💛