Here’s a quick and easy meatball recipe for dinner any night of the week. It is loaded with rich flavors and combined with a zesty tomato sauce. Serve over your favorite Pasta. Enjoy!
I really enjoy making these meatballs because they are super quick to make, and are really yummy! Meatballs are really versatile. They can be eaten alone, in a sandwich, with rice or with pasta, and with or without sauce, any kind of sauce!
This meatball recipe is full of flavor, delicious, juicy and tender. Plus these meatballs are made without breadcrumbs!
DELICIOUS HOMEMADE MEATBALLS
Nothing beats a bowl of meatballs, sauce and spaghetti and a healthy sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese. The different levels of flavors makes me want to curl up in my favorite chair and enjoy a bowl – everyday. This is one of those meals that I can eat on repeat.
This is a super easy recipe that you can put together with my Quick and Easy Marinara sauce or with one you grabbed from the store. Combining that sauce with this meatball recipe and you will be hooked.
PASTA AND SAUCE
What kind of pasta should I use? You can use spaghetti, which is the most traditional way to make this recipe, but as always, you can use macaroni, bow ties or linguini. In other words, use the pasta you like and what you have on hand. You’ll need about one box of pasta, maybe 2 if you have big eaters. Follow instructions on the box, al dente is best.
GLUTEN FREE
Yes! This recipe is gluten free! No breadcrumbs. I know! So cool, so use your favorite gluten free pasta, shirataki noodles or just eat it without noodles. It’s all up to you!
MARINARA SAUCE FROM THE STORE
What kind of Marinara sauce? You can use your favorite go to sauce for this recipe. For a more flavorful sauce, simply add half a tablespoon of dried basil and half tablespoon of dried Italian seasonings to 1 ½ – 2 24 oz. jars of your favorite sauce. Let the sauce simmer in a large pot for about 5 minutes before adding the meatballs and the juices from the pan or baking sheet.
COOKING IN THE MARINARA
Now that your sauce is done all you will need to do is transfer your meatballs into your sauce. Let it simmer in the sauce on the stovetop for about 15-20 minutes. From time to time you will need to carefully toss the meatballs around. The internal temperature of the meatballs should read 165 degrees in the center.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 1 large egg
- ½ onion , chopped
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- ⅛ tsp red crushed pepper
- 1½ tbsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp Italian seasonings
- salt , to taste
- black pepper , to taste
Ingredients for the jar sauce
- 2 jars 24 oz. Marinara sauce
- ½ tbsp basil
- ½ tbsp Italian seasonings
Instructions
- In a large frying pan, add extra virgin olive oil and sauté onions, garlic and red crushed pepper and a pinch of salt. Sauté for 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. Then set to the side to cool.
- In a large bowl, add the ground beef, Italian seasonings, basil, cumin and salt and pepper. Next, add the cooled sautéed mixture in with the ground beef and gently combine all meatball ingredients. Be sure not to overwork the meat, so that the meatballs will be tender.
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
- Give each meatball a final roll and add them to the pot.
- Brown each of them in batches, for 3-4 minutes on each side. They won't be cooked all the way through.
- Remove and set aside. In a large pot add marinara sauce and meatballs as well as the juices from the frying pan. Until the sauce is prepared, then simmer them in the sauce for 25 minutes.
Baking Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 and place meatballs on parchment paper or spray with non-stick cooking spray or use a paper towel with olive oil to grease your baking sheet.
- Evenly place meatballs on a baking sheet. Should yield 20 meatballs. Bake for 8-12 minutes then add to marinara sauce and let simmer for 10-20 minutes on low.
Notes
- You can use equal ground meat of your choosing
- To serve with pasta, combine with 1 lb. of spaghetti. This is also great with a side of garlic bread.
- Serve meatballs in BBQ sauce or any sauce of your choice.
