This Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe makes delicious homemade meatballs, cooked in marinara sauce and served over a bed of spaghetti.
This delicious Italian classic will satisfy everyone at your dinner table and once you try it, it will likely make it into your regular rotation.
How To Make Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Mix the ground beef with breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, herbs, and seasoning.
- Roll into meatballs.
- Pan fry the meatballs.
- Add to tomato sauce.
- Serve on a bed of spaghetti.
For The Spaghetti Sauce
To keep things simple, this recipe calls for about 2 quarts of tomato sauce. You can use three 24oz/680g jars of store-bought or If you want to make homemade, you can use the sauce from my Spaghetti and Italian Sausage recipe (which is what I use), my Simple Marinara Sauce, or Easy Homemade Tomato Sauce.
Why This Recipe Works
- Adding baking soda to the beef keeps it moist by enhancing its PH levels and stopping the proteins from binding too quickly (which dries out the meat).
- Using fresh herbs and freshly grated cheese adds extra flavor to the meatballs.
- Moistened breadcrumbs, as well as eggs, keep the meatballs moist and tender
- A healthy dose of fresh garlic gives a kick of flavor you just don’t get with powder.
- Giving the option of homemade or store-bought sauce keeps things simple as you need.
Step by Step Instructions
See the recipe card for slow cooker instructions.
In a small mixing bowl, stir together bread crumbs and milk until they are fully moistened. Set aside.
In a small mixing bowl, mix ½ teaspoon baking soda with a tablespoon of water to form a slurry. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add the beef, slurry, garlic, parsley, and Parmesan cheese and season with about a teaspoon of salt and freshly grated pepper
Add the breadcrumb mixture and mix well with your hands, squeezing the mixture through your fingers
Mix until fully combined.
Shape mixture with greased hands into even size meatballs, about 1 ½-inches-inches each.
Heat olive oil into a large skillet. Add the meatballs about 2 inches apart and brown them until crisp. Do this in batches rather than crowding the pan. For more detailed information on pan-frying meatballs, see my Italian Meatballs post.
Once browned, transfer to paper towels to blot.
Stir the cooked meatballs into the warmed tomato sauce. Simmer on low heat for at least 5 minutes. The longer they cook the more tender they become and the richer the sauce (on a Sundays mine simmer all day).
Serve over freshly cooked Spaghetti.
This recipe calls for baking the meatballs. For pan-frying meatballs, see my post for Italian Meatballs.
For Perfect Meatballs
- Avoid low-fat meats Fat helps make the meatballs tender. I recommend 80 or 85% lean beef.
- Don’t skip the baking soda or moistening the breadcrumbs, these steps ensure the meatballs tender and moist.
- Be sure to use the egg. If you skip the eggs the meatballs will fall apart in the sauce.
- After mixing your meatball mixture, it’s worth taking the extra time to taste test it by making a mini hamburger patty and pan-frying it in some olive oil until fully cooked. Then give it a taste. It should taste delicious! If it doesn’t, it probably needs salt. Season the raw mixture and repeat if you want to be 100% sure.
- Stir often when Simmering the meatballs in the sauce. Tomato sauce sticks easily to the bottom of the pan which can ruin your sauce if burned.
Perfect Spaghetti Sauce Pairings
- For Sunday Dinner, I use the sauce for my Spaghetti and Italian Sausage
- For a quick weeknight dinner, I use my Easy Homemade Tomato Sauce or Marinara Sauce.
Other Great Spaghetti Recipes
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Let’s Make Spaghetti and Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 cup bread crumbs about 3.5 oz
- ¼ cup milk or water – plus more if needed
- teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 lb ground beef 80-85% lean
- 2 large eggs
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- fresh parsley a good handful, finely chopped
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese fresh grated
- Salt to taste (I ise at least a tablespoon of salt)
- olive oil if frying
- freshly ground black pepper about 15 turns of the grinder
- 24 oz Tomato Sauce homemade or a 24oz/680g jar of store-bought.
- 1 lb Spaghetti
Instructions
Stovetop
- In a small bowl mix the baking soda with the water until well combined. Set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, Add the milk and stir together while adding more milk 1 tablespoon at a time to moisten the breadcrumbs fully. Let rest while you prep the rest of the ingredients (or at least 5 minutes).
- In a large mixing bowl add the beef, garlic, parsley, and parmesan cheese and season with about a teaspoon of salt and freshly grated pepper (if using jarred sauce, it may be salty so season to taste).
- Add the baking soda and breadcrumb mixtures and mix well with your hands, squeezing the mixture through your fingers until combined.
- Shape mixture with greased hands into even size meatballs, about 1 ½-inches each (making about 16 meatballs).
- Heat about ½ cup of vegetable oil into a large skillet. You’ll want about ½-inch of oil in the pan.Add the meatballs to the heated oil about 2 inches apart and brown them until crisp, turning with a pair of tongs so that they are evenly browned. Do this in batches rather than crowding the pan.Once browned, transfer to paper towels to blot.
- Stir the cooked meatballs into warmed tomato sauce. Simmer on low heat if desired for even more tender meatballs (on a Sunday mine simmers all day) stirring often to keep the sauce from sticking to the pan.
- Taste for seasoning, season with salt as needed, and serve over freshly cooked Spaghetti.
Slow Cooker
- Follow the stovetop instructions through step 6. Then transfer to a slow cooker, stir the cooked meatballs. cover, and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Taste for seasoning, season with salt as needed, and serve over freshly cooked Spaghetti.
Tips + Notes
- Use fresh ingredients whenever possible. Fresh meat, herbs, and aromatic have the best flavor.
- Avoid low-fat meats Fat helps make the meatballs tender. I recommend 80 or 85% lean beef.
- Don’t skip the baking soda or moistening the breadcrumbs, these steps help keep the meatballs tender and moist.
- Be sure to use the egg. If you skip the eggs the meatballs will fall apart in the sauce.
- After mixing your meatball mixture, it’s worth taking the extra time to taste test it by making a mini hamburger patty and pan-frying it in some olive oil until fully cooked. Then give it a taste. It should taste delicious! If it doesn’t, it probably needs salt. Season the raw mixture and repeat if you want to be 100% sure.
- Stir often when Simmering the meatballs in the sauce. Tomato sauce sticks easily to the bottom of the pan which can ruin your sauce if burned.
Glenn says
I like the recipe; however, I was led to this recipe because it was indicated the meatballs would be baked, but I could only see the pan frying method from the recipe that had pan frying. Thus “no” baking instructions. Just thought you might want to know.
Erren's Kitchen says
Hi Glenn! Here is my baked meatball recipe. Hope you like it! https://www.errenskitchen.com/oven-baked-meatballs/
Mary Ann Wilcox says
Just making these now, so will leave full review after they are cooked, but I notice that for 2lbs of meat you only say 1 egg. But it says 1 eggs (plural) and that amount of meat should have 2, so I just assumed you meant 2?
Erren Hart says
Hi Mary Ann, Thank you so much for catching that! I just updated the recipe yesterday to add nutritional information and must have missed that. I’ve looked over the recipe and everything else is just fine. Again, thanks for catching it so quickly! I hope you enjoyed your meal!
Casey says
This recipe is just like what my Italian grandmother used to cook when she came to visit during my childhood. Thank you for bringing back a part of my family history! 🙂
Erren Hart says
I’m so glad to hear that this recipe could bring back those wonderful memories for you! Cooking often holds the power to connect us to our past, and I’m delighted that this recipe could do that for you. 🙂
Melinda says
Can we bake meatballs instead of frying? If so, what temp and how long? Can’t wait to try these.
Erren Hart says
Hi Melinda, You can bake them. See the instructions on my recipe for oven-baked meatballs – https://www.errenskitchen.com/oven-baked-meatballs/
Wolfie says
These were quite good. Tender, juicy.
But at what point do you put them in the 400F oven…??
Twenty minutes worked for me.
Erren's Kitchen says
Hi, well spotted, this was originally part of a different recipe and this incorrect step must have snuck in! All fixed now, I’m glad you liked the meatballs though 🙂