The effect of the water-soluble polysaccharides from Nicandra physalodes (Linn.) Gaertn. seeds (NPGP), prepared by hot water extraction-alcohol precipitation method, on the processing quality of beef was investigated. Chemical and instrumental methods were used to determine the effects of adding different levels of NPGP on the cooking loss, thawing loss, water-holding capacity (WHC), color, hardness, chewiness and gel strength of beef meatballs. The results showed that increasing addition of NPGP (0.00%-0.15%) reduced the cooking loss (from 27.42% to 22.11%) and thawing loss (from 2.45% to 1.36%) and enhanced the WHC (from 8.68% to 11.50%) of beef meatballs. Moreover, it increased the brightness value (from 62.10 to 64.60) and whiteness value (from 57.97 to 60.57), reduced the redness value (from 4.37 to 3.87), decreased the hardness (from 1 046.61 to 802.53 g), chewiness (from 687.79 to 523.57 g) and gel strength (from 5 608.30 to 3 683.36 g·mm) of beef meatballs, enabling beef balls to show good quality during processing. The above results showed that NPGP could improve the processing quality of beef meatballs.