Tonight’s dinner is calling for saucy Oven Baked Meatballs! In less than an hour, you can dive into these juicy, tender meatballs, each generously coated in spicy marinara sauce. They’re easy to whip up, promising a feast that’s as quick as it is delicious!

 

Baked Meatballs Recipe

Meatballs are a joy, aren’t they? The aroma that fills the air as they bake is divine, and the taste is simply incomparable. Now imagine pairing that with the scent of marinara sauce bubbling away with fresh herbs – it turns your kitchen into the heart of a homecoming dinner! With this easy oven-baked meatballs recipe, simplicity is the key. Shape those beauties, pop them in the oven, and let the heat work its magic as you focus on the rest of the meal.

Tradition calls for serving them over a generous serving of spaghetti, but grabbing a loaf of your favorite crusty focaccia bread to soak up that sauce is a no-fuss alternative. Add a crisp, large la scala chopped salad to the mix, and voila – a balanced, fantastic meal awaits!

Why I Love These Oven Baked Meatballs

• Easy. This is a super easy recipe to make, especially when you’re running behind on dinner. From start to finish, you’ll have an enticing batch of flavorful meatballs ready to eat in under an hour.
• Ultra flavorful. You’ll pair fresh herbs – parsley and basil – with Italian seasoning, onion, and garlic for a savory punch.
• Makes great leftovers. This recipe makes a lot of meatballs, and I love a recipe that allows me to save time on future dinner prep. Store leftover meatballs in the freezer to use for another meal or to make my grape jelly meatballs recipe.

What You’ll Need

To make this traditional meatball recipe, you’ll need just a handful of everyday ingredients. From a mix of ground meats to fresh herbs and Italian seasoning, the meatballs turn out delicious, juicy, and tender.

• Stale Bread: To make breadcrumbs. These create the tender, juicy texture in each meatball.
• Milk: It’s the secret to making the bread crumbs mushy and helps bind all the flavors together.
• Ground Beef, Ground Pork, and Ground Veal: A trio of meats for the ultimate flavor combination, ensuring each meatball is succulent and rich in taste. More pork can be substituted if veal is not your thing.
• Onion: Finely minced.
• Garlic: Minced and mixed in for that aromatic kick.
• Eggs: The binding agents that hold all the deliciousness together
• Fresh Parsley and Basil: Chopped and stirred into the mix for a herby, fresh aroma and taste.
• Italian Seasoning: A sprinkle of this brings that classic Italian touch.
• Salt and pepper
• Parmigiano Reggiano: Make sure to use fresh cheese for the best flavor.
• Marinara Sauce: You can use store-bought sauce for this recipe.

How to Make Oven Baked Meatballs

You’ve probably made meatballs before, so you know the drill: combine ground meat with breadcrumbs, herbs, egg, and cheese, shape them into balls, and cook. My method is to bake the meatballs in the oven before simmering them gently in marinara sauce.

1. Prepare pans. Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Grease two baking sheets with cooking spray and set them aside.
2. Make breadcrumbs. Tear slices of stale bread into pieces. Place them in a food processor and pulse to make chunky crumbs. In a large mixing bowl, place the bread crumbs and pour in the milk. Let the bread and milk mixture stand for 5 minutes so the bread absorbs the milk.
3. Make the meatball mix. Add the ground beef, pork, veal, minced onion, garlic, eggs, parsley, basil, Italian Seasoning, salt, pepper, and cheese to the milk and bread mixture. Gently stir and mix everything together until thoroughly combined.
4. Form the meatballs. Lightly grease your hands with cooking spray and scoop out portions of meat. Then shape them into meatballs about 1-inch to 1.5-inches in size each. Place the meatballs to your prepared baking sheets, leaving some space in between.
5. Bake the meatballs. Bake the meatballs for 10 minutes. Then flip over and bake for 8 more minutes, or until they’re cooked through. Meatballs are done when the internal temperature registers 165˚F on a meat thermometer.
6. Warm the sauce. While the meatballs are baking, warm the marinara sauce in a deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
7. Add meatballs to the sauce. When the meatballs are done, remove them from the oven and add them to the warm marinara sauce. Stir to coat and continue to cook over medium-low heat. Remove the pan from the heat. Garnish the meatballs with basil ribbons and Parmesan cheese. Serve hot.

Serving Suggestions

Another reason I love this meatball recipe is that there are so many options for how to serve them. I’m partial to spaghetti, but my garlic butter pasta or red pepper sauce pasta recipes are great with meatballs.

Sometimes, I just want a loaf of fresh-baked crusty bread so keep things simple and serve them with this easy skillet bread or no knead skillet olive bread.

Keep the marinara sauce and serve the oven baked meatballs with mashed potatoes or swap the red sauce for a savory brown gravy instead. Try my mashed potatoes recipe or switch it up with my creamy mashed cauliflower recipe.

Meatballs would be great added to my easy vegetable lasagna recipe to make it a bit heartier, or in my easy eggplant lasagna!

Quarter your meatballs and use them as a pizza topping along with pepperoni and sausage for a meat lovers treat! You can use my grilled pizza recipe as a jumping-off point.

How to Store and Reheat Leftovers

• Fridge: Let the meatballs cool, then transfer them to an airtight container and store them in the fridge for 3 to 5 days.
• Freezer: Cool the meatballs, then place them in a freezer-safe container without the sauce. You can store the meatballs in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost them in the fridge before reheating.
• To Reheat: Place the meatballs in a skillet with your favorite sauce. Heat the meatballs and sauce over low heat until they are hot and warmed through, stirring often.

More Meatballs Recipes

• Baked Chicken Meatballs
• Turkey Swedish Meatballs
• Air Fryer Meatballs
• Pork Meatballs
• Meatball Soup