Family Favorites - June 2020: Gluten-Free Porcupines (Fish, Egg, Wheat, Soy and Nut-Free, Can Milk-Free)

I decided to keep posting a family favorite recipe from the blog (with any adaptions that we use regularly, if applicable) on the fourth Friday or Saturday of every month this year.  {Sorry for the late post! Last week was another crazy week!}  This recipe will be one that we make quite often and that we all enjoy greatly.  This post is the sixth Family Favorites recipe of 2020.

If you have a recipe on your blog that you consider a family favorite that you'd like to share, please comment below with a link to the recipe, and I'll make sure to pop on over and visit your site to check it out (and leave a comment), and hopefully some of my other readers will, too.

This month's Family Favorite recipe is Gluten-Free Porcupines.  This is essentially my original recipe made gluten-free with a few tips and tricks added in.  This recipe is also fish, egg, soy, wheat and nut-free (if all your ingredients are), and can be milk-free (see variations). 

Porcupines are a family favorite because it's a fun food to eat (I mean, they are called porcupines - what kid doesn't love that?), easy to make, and you get a lot of bang for your buck.  If you're looking for a relatively inexpensive meal to please the whole family, give this one a try!

Gluten-Free Porcupines

1/2 Cup milk

(We always use whole milk.)

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon soy-free onion salt

(We normally use and recommend McCormick's.)

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 lbs. ground soy-free hamburger

(We normally use ground chuck.)

1/3 Cup rice (not Minute Rice)

(We normally use white rice, but you can use brown or wild rice with success.)

1 can (14.5oz) gluten-free, soy-free tomato soup

(We normally use Amy's Organic Chunky Tomato Bisque)

1. Preheat oven to 350^oF.

2. Mix milk, cream of tartar, onion salt and pepper together well in a large bowl.

3. Add hamburger and rice; mix well by hand. 

4. Form hamburger mixture in small meatballs (about Tablespoon or so sized; should make 30 to 40) and place into a large, ungreased roasting pan.

5. Pour soup over meatballs.

6. Bake covered for 1 hour, remove cover and bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Makes 30 to 40 meatballs, depending on size.

Variations (Please keep your individual dietary needs in mind when using variations): 

• Milk-Free: To make this recipe milk-free, substitute tomato juice (I recommend Campbell's) for the soup (around 2 2/3 to 3 Cups total) and a dairy-free "milk" of  choice for the milk.  The recipe will not taste exactly the same, and it will be a little more acidic from using the tomato juice vs. the soup, but it is still good.  If you find it too acidic, you can always add a little sugar to cut the acid.

I hope you will give this recipe a try soon and that it becomes a family favorite for you, too!