Grandma's Italian Meatballs
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.
Servings: 8
Calories: 475kcal
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, ½ pound ground pork, and ½ 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
Serving: 1 | Calories: 475kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 16g | Cholesterol: 159mg | Sodium: 1011mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g