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Grandma’s Italian meatballs are my favorite traditional Italian meatballs in tomato sauce. They’re baked in the oven and then simmered in sauce and ready to top your spaghetti or serve with crusty bread. Easy and make-ahead friendly.
Why this recipe works
Grandma’s Italian meatballs are the perfected modern version of my Italian-American family’s classic dish. They’re tender, satisfying, and packed with flavor. Here’s what makes them great:
- Using a combination of lean ground beef and ground pork creates a flavorful meatball that’s tender but not greasy
- The perfect ratio of meat to breadcrumbs to milk yields a substantial but tender texture
- A generous combination of fresh and dried seasonings makes every bite sing
- Our gentle but thorough mixing technique incorporates all the ingredients without compressing them
- Baking in the oven and finishing in tomato sauce is quick, easy, and fry-free
They work beautifully on their own, in a sub roll with melted mozzarella on top, with spaghetti, sliced onto pizza, or anywhere else you can think to use classic Italian meatballs.
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe.
- Use 90% lean ground beef — I like to use grass-fed ground sirloin. It has terrific, full-bodied flavor without an excess of fat.
- Most ground pork sold in the U.S. has about 15% fat, which is perfect for this recipe. You can refer to the section below for my favorite source of beautifully flavorful ground pork from heritage-breed pigs.
- Good old seasoned Italian breadcrumbs help to bind the meatballs together while providing a layer of flavor.
- Whole milk combines with the breadcrumbs to make a panade, which helps keep the meat tender and prevent shrinking. (See the FAQ section below to learn more if you like.)
- For the grated cheese, you can use good-quality parmesan or pecorino, or a combination.
My favorite sources for meat & pantry staples
For years, I’ve been sourcing our meat from ButcherBox. We love this curated meat delivery service, which provides grass-finished beef, heritage breed pork, organic chicken, and more from small farms direct to the customer. You can learn more in my extensive Butcher Box review and unboxing.
I love Thrive Market for a wide variety of products. Often described as one part Whole Foods, one part Costco, they’re a membership-based online market for healthier products at discounted prices. Plus, they’re mission-driven, engaged in the community, and not currently owned by a giant corporation. You can learn more in my Thrive Market review and unboxing.
How to make them
Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make a great batch of traditional Italian meatballs in tomato sauce. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- Start by placing the beef and pork into a large mixing bowl and gently breaking them up with a fork or your hands, combining them without compressing them. Whether you use a fork or your hands, it’s all about lifting up rather than pressing down.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and continue mixing with the same technique until the mixture is homogenous but still very light.
- Use a 3-tablespoon ice cream scoop to divide the mixture into 22 balls. Place 11 onto each of two rimmed baking sheets. (I like to line with parchment for easy cleanup.) Roll gently with your hands to perfect the ball shape. Brush with olive oil and bake for 25 minutes in the center of a 400°F oven, swapping the positions of the sheets halfway through cooking.
- Simmer in tomato sauce to finish, and serve!
How to mix meatballs
Here’s a detailed video on how to mix meatballs so they’re fully combined yet still beautifully tender.
Expert tips and FAQs
A panade is a mixture of bread and liquid, in this case dry breadcrumbs and milk. It helps to keep the meat tender and prevents the meatballs from shrinking too much.
Traditionally a panade is mixed in advance and then added to the meat mixture, and you are welcome to do that here if it helps you combine the meatballs throughly without overmixing. If you’re confident in your gentle but thorough mixing technique, it’s not necessary to prepare the panade in advance.
(Alternatively, you may be thinking of the rustic French casserole called panade that also mixes stale bread and liquid.)
Sometimes there is, yes. I don’t like cooking with veal and don’t miss the flavor in this version of the recipe. If you would like to use veal, use 1 pound ground beef, 1/2 pound ground pork, and 1/2 pound ground veal. There’s no need to make further changes.
Yes, this is a great dish to make in advance or for meal prep. You’ve got so many options. You can simply make the meatballs a few hours in advance and simmer them in the tomato sauce to reheat right before serving. You can make them up to a week in advance and store in an airtight container or meal prep containers in the fridge.
Or you can freeze them, either before or after baking. To freeze before baking, just pop the prepared baking sheets into the freezer instead of the oven. Freeze until solid and then transfer to an airtight container for up to a year. You can defrost before baking or bake directly from frozen, adding extra cooking time.
To freeze after baking, cool completely and then transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to a year. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight and then simmer in tomato sauce to reheat, or simmer directly from frozen.
More favorite Italian-American classics
- Stracciatella alla Romana
- Pasta alla Puttanesca
- Spaghetti al Pomodoro
- New York-style pizza
- Spaghetti alla Carbonara
More favorite meatball and meatloaf recipes
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Grandma’s Italian Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 pound (450 grams) 90% lean ground beef
- 1 pound (450 grams) ground pork
- ½ cup (40 grams) grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup (112 grams) seasoned Italian bread crumbs
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil for brushing
- 25 ounces (710 grams) tomato sauce, jarred or homemade
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F with two racks close to the center. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment.
- Place the beef and pork into a large mixing bowl.
- Using a fork or your hands, gently but thoroughly break up the meat and stir to combine. The key with mixing is to avoid compressing the meat and think instead of lifting as much as possible.
- Add the grated cheese, salt, pepper, bread crumbs, eggs, milk, garlic, parsley, basil, red pepper flakes, and nutmeg.
- Use a fork or your hands to mix gently but thoroughly until the mixture is homogenous but still light.
- Use a 3-tablespoon ice cream scoop to divide the mixture into 22 meatballs. Place half on each of the baking sheets, with plenty of room in between for the air to circulate in the oven.
- Use your hands to finish shaping the scoops into balls, again without compressing too much.
- Bake for 25 minutes, swapping the position of the trays halfway through cooking.
- In a large frying pan, heat the tomato sauce until it simmer. Add the meatballs and simmer for a minute or two to meld the flavors. Meatballs are ready to serve.
Notes
- Use 90% lean ground beef — I like to use grass-fed ground sirloin. It has terrific, full-bodied flavor without an excess of fat.
- Most ground pork sold in the U.S. has about 15% fat, which is perfect for this recipe.
- If you would like to incorporate veal into this recipe, use 1 pound ground beef, 1/2 pound ground pork, and 1/2 pound ground veal. There’s no need to make further changes
- For the grated cheese, you can use good-quality parmesan or pecorino, or a combination.
- This is a great dish to make in advance or for meal prep. You’ve got so many options. You can simply make the meatballs a few hours in advance and simmer them in the tomato sauce to reheat right before serving. You can make them up to a week in advance and store in an airtight container or meal prep containers in the fridge.
- Or you can freeze them, either before or after baking. To freeze before baking, just pop the prepared baking sheets into the freezer instead of the oven. Freeze until solid and then transfer to an airtight container for up to a year. You can defrost before baking or bake directly from frozen, adding extra cooking time.
- To freeze after baking, cool completely and then transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to a year. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight and then simmer in tomato sauce to reheat, or simmer directly from frozen.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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