To stop meatballs from falling apart soak the breadcrumbs in milk to make a panade and only cook the meatballs in the sauce just long enough for them to cook.
Also ensure that you have proper binding with eggs and breadcrumbs for the meatballs and handle the meatball mixture gently.
You can also chill or bake the meatballs for better structure.
Adding an egg to the meatball mixture acts as a binder and the breadcrumbs help to absorb any excess moisture.
And avoid overworking of the meat and add a bit more egg than you think you may need.
To make meatballs juicy and not dry you can soak the breadcrumbs in milk which is also known as panade.
Soaking the breadcrumbs first also makes the breadcrumbs pliable and soggy.
You can also soak the meatballs in some milk which also adds flavor and keeps the meatballs juicy and not dry.
You can also pour some milk over the breadcrumbs or meatballs and allow them to soak for awhile.
Meatballs that are fully cooked should not be a little pink as that means they are not fully cooked.
Meatballs are ground meat rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning.
Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce.
There are many types of meatballs using different types of meats and spices.
A really good meatball is about 50 percent meat and 50 percent breadcrumbs.
The true secret to good meatballs is day-old bread, soaked in milk or water, to bring lightness to the mixture.
When you cook beef, pork or veal for too long, it starts to get tougher.
But the bread in meatballs never gets tough.
Baking the meatballs gives the meatballs a little more flavor without additional oil since you are searing the outside under the broiler in your oven.
Raw meatballs can be cooked in with the tomato sauce without cooking them first.
I prefer to brown the meatballs first a little and then add the browned meatballs to the tomato sauce for additional cooking.
The browning of the meatballs makes the meatballs in the tomato sauce taste better and they cook faster in the tomato sauce as well.
But you can always just add the raw meatballs in with the tomato sauce and cook them that way.
Just make sure to cook the meatballs in the tomato sauce until the meatballs are fully cooked and are no longer pink.
If the meatballs have some pink to them then they need cooked longer.
It takes around 25 to 30 minutes to cook meatballs in sauce.
Or you can add tomato sauce to a slow cooker and then add meatballs to the tomato sauce and cook them overnight slowly.