A fan favorite at our family’s Italian restaurant, this meatball recipe is crafted with a savory blend of ground beef, mild Italian sausage, fresh herbs, and real garlic bread instead of breadcrumbs.
Italian Meatballs
This meatball recipe was inspired from my time working in my uncle and aunts’ Italian food restaurant. I worked as a waitress during the summers and I served thousands of these customer-favorite meatballs on top of homemade marinara sauce.
These are moist and tender homemade meatballs, made with ground beef and mild Italian sausage, a blend of herbs, and real garlic bread (instead of canned breadcrumbs). You can really taste the difference in the ingredients used!
Spaghetti and meatballs was one of Granny’s favorite entrees to order when she went to eat there, along with fresh garlic toast and a salad. My mouth waters just thinking about those amazing meals we served there!
This recipe makes 30 big meatballs. (That might seem like a lot but the original recipe made over a hundred!) I recommend making the full recipe and then freeze the extra ones to have on hand for a quick meal on a busy night.
My favorite way to eat these meatballs is the classic way, with a fresh marinara sauce and spaghetti. That being said, they’d also be great on a sandwich with sauce and some melted mozzarella.
I made this recipe two ways. The first is as written. I made a second batch using gluten-free crackers and my favorite premade Italian herb mix from Penzey’s Spices. Both turned out great. So you can customize this recipe to accommodate what you have on hand. — Sara
Meatball Ingredients
- Ground beef
- Mild Italian sausage
- Garlic bread – this is what is used for the bread crumbs, you can simply tear the garlic bread apart by hand (more on this in the prep tips section)
- Large eggs
- Milk
- Chopped onion
- Chopped celery
- Chopped bell pepper
- Sweet basil
- Parsley flakes
- Dried oregano
- Garlic powder
- Salt & black pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Grated parmesan cheese
Marinara Sauce Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Finely chopped onions
- Chopped garlic
- Whole tomatoes
- Fresh basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Sugar if needed
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Helpful Kitchen Tools
Meatball Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, break apart the ground meat with your hands or a fork.
- In a separate mixing bowl whisk together the egg and milk. Take the garlic bread and tear into smaller pieces, adding those to the egg mixture, and allow to soak until you need to use them in the recipe.
- Chop the onion, celery, and green pepper, then sauté in olive oil.
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with aluminum foil.
- Add seasonings and parmesan cheese to the ground meat and gently toss. Combine the ground meat, bread mixture, and vegetables with your hands until everything is incorporated.
- Use a scoop to measure out meatballs and form into balls with your hands.
- Bake meatballs for about 20 minutes in 350 degree oven until internal temperature is 160°F.
To Make The Marinara Sauce
- Sauté the onion in olive oil until tender. Add the chopped garlic for the last 30 seconds of sautéing the onion.
- Crush tomatoes by hand and add to the pot.
- Add basil, salt, and pepper and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Taste and adjust with more salt and pepper if needed. If the sauce tastes too acidic or not quite sweet enough, add 1-2 teaspoons of sugar.
Prep Tips
- Breadcrumbs – This recipe calls for stale garlic toast to be used for the bread crumbs. We made fresh garlic toast for each meal at the restaurant. We minced fresh garlic and heated it gently with butter. Then we brushed the garlic butter onto thick slices of French bread and toasted the buttered bread in a toaster oven. If you don’t have stale garlic bread, use the bread or crackers you have on hand and add a teaspoon or so of minced garlic to the sautéed vegetables to cook for about 30 seconds or so.
- Meatball Size – I used an ice cream scoop to make the meatballs a uniform size and then shaped them by hand. They are about the size of a golf ball. You could also use a medium cookie scoop.
- Cook Time – Ground beef should be cooked to 160 degrees inside. This took 20 minutes in my oven. Use a meat thermometer if needed to ensure that the cooked meatballs are actually done.
- Spacing – Don’t overcrowd the meatballs on the pan or in the oven. You want them to bake and brown, not steam. This means you will need to use two pans or bake in batches.
- Storage – After baking, you can store leftover meatballs in some of the marinara sauce to add even more flavor. Keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. I like to make these a day or two before I need them to allow the flavor to develop. You can also keep any extras in the freezer for another meal. You’ll be so happy you did when you can pull together an amazing meal, last minute.
- Serve With – Of course, these meatballs taste amazing with pasta and noodles, but they are also delicious over rice! Add fresh herbs for a dash of flavor and brightness to the dish. You can also use them to make meatball subs with tomato sauce and Mozzarella cheese.
More Italian Recipes To Try:
- Porcupine Meatballs
- Homemade Lasagna
- Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches
- Homemade Stromboli
- Linguine with White Clam Sauce
- Bolognese Meat Sauce
Italian Meatball Recipe (Printable Recipe Card)
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Baked Italian Meatballs with Marinara Sauce
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 Small mixing bowl
- 2 baking pans
Ingredients
- 4 pounds ground beef
- ¼ pound mild Italian sausage
- 2 slices garlic bread crumbled
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup milk
- ¼ cup onion chopped
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- ¼ cup bell pepper chopped
- 1 TB sweet basil
- 1 TB parsley flakes
- 1 TB oregano
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
To Make the Meatballs
- In a large bowl, break apart the ground meats with your hands or a fork.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Soak the breadcrumbs in this mixture until needed.
- Chop the onion, celery and green pepper and sauté in the olive oil.
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with foil.
- Add seasonings and parmesan to the ground meat mixture and gently toss.
- Combine the ground meats, bread mixture, and vegetables with your hands until everything is incorporated.
- Use a scoop to portion out meatballs and form into balls with your hands.
- Bake meatballs for about 20 minutes in 350 degree oven until internal temperature is 160
To Make the Marinara Sauce
- Sauté the onion in olive oil until tender. Add the chopped garlic for the last 30 seconds of sautéing the onion.
- Crush tomatoes by hand and add to the pot.
- Add basil, salt, and pepper and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Taste and adjust with more salt and pepper if needed. If the sauce tastes too acidic or not quite sweet enough, add 1-2 teaspoons of sugar.
Notes
- Nutrition information is an estimate only.
- This recipe calls for stale garlic toast. We made fresh garlic toast for each meal at the restaurant. We minced fresh garlic and heated it gently with butter. Then we brushed the garlic butter onto thick slices of French bread and toasted the buttered bread in a toaster oven.
- If you don’t have stale garlic bread, use the bread or crackers you have on hand and add a teaspoon or so of minced garlic to the sauteed vegetables to cook for about 30 seconds or so.
- I used an ice cream scoop to make the meatballs a uniform size and then shaped them by hand.
- Ground beef should be cooked to 160 degrees inside. This took 20 minutes in my oven.
- Don’t overcrowd the meatballs on the pan or in the oven. You want them to bake and brown, not steam.
- After baking, you can store them in some marinara sauce to add even more flavor.
- I like to make these a day or two before I need them to allow the flavor to develop.
- Freeze any extras for another meal. You’ll be so happy you did when you can pull together an amazing meal, last minute.
Nutrition
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