Spaghetti and meatballs is an easy and delicious Italian dish! Incredibly juicy and tender meatballs swimming in a flavorful homemade marinara sauce! Serve over spaghetti for an Italian dinner!
Spaghetti and Meatballs
Spaghetti and meatballs, just like nonna used to make! Back in Italy, they didn’t eat meatballs with spaghetti until very recently. In fact, serving meatballs with spaghetti was an invention of Italian migrants in the US, and only really became popular in Italy in the 20th century. But boy, did it take off! Italian-style meatballs - or polpette - have been common all over Italy for centuries. Typically, they were served as an appetizer, with some cheese, herbs and a rich tomato sauce. However, we all know the best way to eat meatballs is with a hearty bowl of spaghetti!
Meatballs
The meatballs we’ll be making with this recipe are tender, juicy, and absolutely packed with flavor. You might be wondering why the meatballs at your favorite Italian trattoria or restaurant are so perfectly tender while retaining their structural integrity. The secret ingredient is using a combo of meats and some bread, or breadcrumbs. We’ve found that a combo of lean beef and sweet Italian sausage has the perfect flavor and texture for great meatballs. Besides, if you think about it, the original polpette was simply the ground-up combination of whatever other meats were available, so this is really true to tradition!
What You 'll Need
To make the perfect meatballs, we’ll be using Italian breadcrumbs. Lean ground beef with no more than 10% (and as low as 7%) and Italian sausage is the best combo. Freshly grated parmesan - or, better yet, parmigiano-reggiano - is ideal, but store-bought will be OK too because we’re cooking the cheese.
Finally, be generous with your garlic! Add a healthy amount of garlic to your meatballs as well as to your sauce.
How to Make Italian Meatballs
- Chop onion, garlic and parsley, using a food processor.
- Get yourself a nice big mixing bowl and throw in your lean ground beef, your sausage, parmesan cheese, the chopped veggies with parsley, salt & pepper, egg, tomato sauce (marinara), Dijon mustard, Italian seasoning and bread crumbs. Mix these all together until you have an evenly combined mix of all ingredients. Don’t OVERMIX or the meatballs will be dense.
- Form your meatballs by taking about 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture and rolling it between your hands into a ball shape. About 2 inches to 2 inches should be a great size for your meatballs. The important thing is to ensure that they’re all about the same size so the meatballs all cook evenly. You can use an ice cream scoop to take the mixture. Roll your meatballs in flour, then saute them in a heavy pan with plenty of oil to get a nice brown sear on all sides. You can do this in batches to avoid crowding the pan and undercooking the balls. Once browned, set your meatballs aside and get ready to make the mother of all marinara sauces.
Marinara Sauce
This marinara sauce is rich, red, and robust. Did you know that the term “marinara sauce” comes from the Italian word for sailor, “marinaio”? The red sauce was either invented aboard ships returning from the Americas with newly discovered tomatoes, or by their wives upon their return. The sauce was named for the sailors who loved eating it on bread, or freshly prepared pizza, and entered the Italian-American lexicon as shorthand for the rich, red sauce we all know and love.
To make the best marinara sauce, we use crushed tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves. Sometimes, tinned tomatoes have added ingredients such as the basil, in which case you can leave out the fresh herb. We generally advise you to take advantage of fresh herbs where you can.
How to Make Marinara Sauce
- Make your marinara sauce in the same heavy pan so the sauce absorbs all the meaty goodness that might have leaked out of the meatballs during cooking. Saute a cup of chopped onions, bay leaves and about four (or more) cloves of minced garlic, stirring as you go. You want the onions to turn transparent, which is when you throw in your tinned tomatoes. Remember, a longer simmer means a deeper flavor. Stir your mix as you’re going.
- Next, add the meatballs to the sauce, stirring as you go, and let them immerse in the sauce. Cover the pan, let the mix simmer gently for about half an hour, and then check it out.
- You want the meatballs tender and the sauce thick. You can keep this sauce on a low heat for longer if you want softer meatballs and thicker sauce, but if you do this for too long the meatballs will break apart in the sauce. The resulting pasta dish will be similarly delicious as a ragu, but it won’t be the meatball and spaghetti dinner you set out to make.
- Five minutes before serving, throw in your freshly chopped basil, add some salt and pepper according to taste, and get ready to eat some delicious meatballs.
Tips
You’ll want to cook your pasta until it is al dente, or “to the tooth”. Pasta should provide a little resistance when you bite into it, but not much. The trick with spaghetti is to bite through a strand, and look at the center of the spaghetti. If you can see a little white dot in the middle of the spaghetti strand, you’ve successfully prepared pasta al dente.
However, if your family prefers soft pasta, feel free to overcook it. It’s totally up to you!
To serve, pour your sauce and meatballs over the pasta in the pot and stir gently to combine. You want your marinara sauce to coat each strand of spaghetti so it absorbs all the flavor.
Other Spaghetti Recipes You May Like
How to thicken spaghetti sauce
If you make this recipe be sure to leave a comment or give this recipe a rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐! I will be happy to hear from you!
Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients
The Italian Meatballs ( 23-24 meatballs)
- ½ onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1/ 4 cup fresh parsley or basil
- 1 lb 500 grams lean ground beef ( 7%-10 % fat)
- 1 lb 500 grams hot or sweet ground Italian sausage, casings removed
- ½ cup marinara sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt or as needed
- ¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese plus more for serving
- ¾ cup Italian or regular bread crumbs
- ½ cup all-purpose flour to dredge meatballs
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
Spaghetti and Sauce
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes or marinara sauce
- 1 lb 500 grams spaghetti
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves finely chopped
Serving
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- The meatballs. Add the onion, garlic and parsley to your food processor. Pulse until everything is finely minced, scraping down the sides if needed.
- Add the mixture to a large bowl along with ground beef, Italian sausage, egg, Parmesan, Dijon mustard, bread crumbs, marinara sauce, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Mix JUST until combined. Don't overmix otherwise the meatballs will be dense.
- Roll into 1 ½-2-inch meatballs ( about 2 tablespoons). Dredge meatballs in flour, shaking off excess.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the meatballs and saute until browned on all sides, about 5-6 minutes. You will need to saute them in batches not to overcrowd the pan. Transfer them to a plate. Set aside.
- The sauce. In the same skillet over medium heat, add the chopped onion and bay leaves and cook until the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook further until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in the crushed tomatoes and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Add the meatballs, partially cover with the lid and allow to simmer for 25-30 minutes. The sauce will thicken slightly. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. Garnish with the chopped basil leaves.
- Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to the package instructions. Drain.
- Ladle the sauce with meatballs over the spaghetti and toss gently using kitchen tongs.
- Garnish with fresh basil leaves and grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Nutrition
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