Italian Baked Meatballs (With Pasta)

Italian baked meatballs with pasta is a great dinner idea that will surely please everyone. Baking the Italian meatballs in the oven makes this recipe easy and the sauce is amazing. These oven-baked Italian meatballs have the flavor of an all-day sauce but are ready in under an hour.

If there is ever a dish that can conjure up good memories or make you feel so happy after eating it, it is homemade baked meatballs with pasta. Maybe it is all of the movies that show off this Italian dish or knowing it is a dish that is the essence of homemade goodness.

Perhaps homemade Italian meatballs are a dish that you grew up with where the amazing smells of it cooking all day long emanated from the kitchen. Whatever the reason, this Italian-baked meatball recipe will bring smiles!

I love making these Italian baked meatballs when the weather is cooler for a really cozy meal!

Let me show you how to make the most delicious Italian meatballs in the oven and get that all-day taste without cooking all day!

Cooking Meatballs In The Oven

You don't have to cook your sauce and meatballs all day long to have an amazing pasta with meatballs meal. It is all about maximizing flavor where it is important and cooking meatballs in the oven is the best way to get the most flavor.

How you cook your meatballs and the ingredients you use will be what makes this meatball and pasta recipe so amazing.

I have tried many different recipes for meatballs over the years. From cooking the meatballs in the sauce to browning them in a pan first and then adding them to the sauce, to cooking meatballs in the slow cooker with no browning whatsoever. There has been lots of practice here.

These methods have all been very good but I wanted something that was still easy, wasn't pan-fried, where I didn't get grease splatter on me, and still tasted amazing, like an all-day Italian sauce.

I also wanted delicious crisp and moist meatballs so I learned that using cast iron to bake the meatballs was the way to get this. The sauce is poured over the meatballs at the end to pick up the flavors from the pan and get that all-day sauce flavor.

How to make Italian Baked Meatballs

Meatballs (full recipe below)

• Ground beef (or a mixture of beef and pork). I like a 90/10 or 80/20 mix. This is ricotta in this meatball recipe so you can get away with a leaner mix if you prefer that.
• Panko bread crumbs. This really makes a difference so try to use this if you can.
• Eggs: Large eggs work best here.
• Parmesan: Look for the real deal!
• Garlic: Fresh garlic
• Olive oil
• Ricotta (or milk): This adds moisture to the meatballs.
• Basil: Fresh basil.
• Oregano and Italian parsley

• Mix dry ingredients: This is the bread crumbs and spices.
• Mix wet ingredients: The meat, ricotta, and egg.
• Combine: combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix together.
• Roll: Scoop a small ice cream scoop of meat into your hand and roll into a ball.
• Bake: Bake in the oven until brown and cooked all the way through. I like to use cast iron to get a nice golden crust on the meatballs.

Pro-tip for making the best Italian meatballs:

When you are rolling your meatballs, gently rolling them is key to having tender meatballs. I like to say that if a meatball looks really smooth then it is over rolled. I have written up steps on how to cook frozen meatballs to help make another night's dinner effortless when you do this.

Making the marinara sauce

Here is what the steps look like making the sauce for the meatballs. Full recipe below:

When the sauce is made and the meatballs are cooked, just add the meatballs to the sauce.

This Italian-baked meatball recipe is sort of a hybrid of all the ways I have learned to make meatballs and sauce. The flavor of the meatballs cooked in the oven and then added to the sauce later, is amazing and very simple.

The meatballs are wonderfully crisp on the outside and moist on the inside just as they should be.

Tips To Make The Best Meatballs

• Making Italian meatballs that are tender on the inside: If you are wondering how to make tender Italian meatballs, read this section carefully. When making your meatballs you want to avoid over-rolling them and applying too much pressure. This is the best way to ensure that you will not have tough meatballs. Italian meatballs are meant to have some rustic texture on the outside and not be completely smooth.
• Add Moisture to the recipe! Another important point about making tender meatballs is you need to have some moisture in your recipe. Even if you are working with a fattier ground beef, you still need to add some moisture. I do this with my ricotta and spinach meatballs too.
• Getting that all-day Italian sauce flavor without cooking all day: When making these meatballs and pasta, I cook my meatballs in the oven first then meatballs later on. I also add olive oil to the meatballs before they cook to help them get that nice crust. This will help give that delicious all-day sauce taste to your dish.

Freezing

This recipe makes a lot of large meatballs so you will probably have leftovers. These meatballs and sauce freeze beautifully. Full directions on how to freeze them are below.

More Italian Recipes

If you love these Italian baked meatballs, you may also like these:

I hope you give these a try and see for yourself why I love them so much!

Print Recipe

5 from 7 votes

Italian Baked Meatballs with Pasta

These oven-baked Italian meatballs have the flavor of an all-day sauce but are ready in under an hour.

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr

Servings: 14 Large Meatballs

½1x2x3x

Author: Melissa Oleary

Ingredients

Meatballs

• 2 lbs of 85/15 ground beef This ratio of fat keeps the meatballs tender. If you use lean ground beef the meatballs will not be as moist.
• ½ cup of whole milk ricotta if you do not have ricotta you can use ⅛ cup of whole milk instead.
• 1 ½ cups of dried bread crumbs preferably panko
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• ½ cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus more for the table later
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 4 tablespoon milk
• 2 tablespoon of finely chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• ½ tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

Sauce

• 2 28 oz cans of whole San Marzano tomatoes
• 1 small yellow onion spanish finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil best quality you can find
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper plus more to taste
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ¼ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes

Pasta

• 1 box of spaghetti you can use a whole box of ziti, penne or rigatoni as a substitute
• large pinch of salt for the pasta water

Instructions

Meatballs

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
• In a large bowl combine your dried breadcrumbs and milk. Mix and let sit for a couple minutes to let the bread crumbs absorb the milk
  1 ½ cups of dried bread crumbs, 4 tablespoon milk
• Next add garlic, basil, parsley andParmesan and mix well.
  ½ cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, 3 cloves minced garlic, 2 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh basil, 2 tablespoon of finely chopped parsley
• Now, take in the amazing scent!
• Next add your ground beef, ricotta and beaten eggs along with salt and pepper
  2 lbs of 85/15 ground beef, ½ cup of whole milk ricotta, 2 eggs lightly beaten, 1 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper
• With your hands gently work all of the ingredients together.
• Grab your cast iron pan (or a large sheet pan or other oven proof heavy bottom pan) and place next to your bowl.
• With an ice cream scoop, scoop out heaping scoops of your meatball mixture and gently roll the meatballs into round balls and place in your cast iron pan. If using a sheet pan: If you are using a sheet pan, just place the meatballs on to your sheet pan.
• Repeat this until all the meatballs are made.
• Once all the meatballs are in the pan, drizzle them all with a little olive oil which will help them get that nice outer crust when cooking.
• Bake for about 35 minutes or until the meatballs are nicely browned and crisp.
• While the meatballs are cooking, start the sauce.

Sauce Instructions

• In a large saute pan over medium heat, add your olive oil, red pepper flakes, oregano, onions and garlic and cook for about 4-5 minutes or until the onions begin to soften.
  1 small yellow onion, 2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, ¼ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, 2 cloves of garlic minced
• Now add your canned whole tomatoes and with a potato masher or with a large spoon, begin gently pressing down on the whole tomatoes so they begin to break apart. Be careful because the juices will shoot out of the tomatoes when you do this so proceed slowly!
  2 28 oz cans of whole San Marzano tomatoes
• Next, add fresh basil, kosher salt and pepper and and stir well.
  1 tablespoon kosher salt, 1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil, ½ tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• Cover with a tight fitting lid and turn down heat down to low and allow to gently simmer for 15 minutes.
• Once your meatballs are fully cooked, remove from the oven and place them in the sauce over low heat.
• Cook for another 5 minutes. Make sure you coat all the meatballs with the sauce and gently stir the sauce and meatballs well.
• Now go ahead and add your tablespoon of butter and gently mix that into the sauce.
  1 tablespoon of butter
• Taste for seasoning and see if it needs any salt.

Spaghetti

• Bring a large pot of water to boil on the stove.
• When the water is boiling salt it well and follow the instructions on the box of pasta for cooking to al dente.
  1 box of spaghetti, large pinch of salt for the pasta water
• Once the pasta if cooked drain the pasta and place it back into the pot.
• Add 1 ladle of the red sauce to the pasta and mix well to prevent it from sticking to itself.

Serve

• You can plate this family style by placing your pasta in a large platter style bowl and scooping out the meatballs over top and then pour your sauce right over that.
• Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Notes

To freeze the meatballs just let the meatballs and sauce come to almost room temperature and place them in a freezer-proof container and in the freezer.

You can freeze these meatballs for up to two months.

To thaw, just remove your meatballs and sauce from the freezer and place them in the fridge overnight.

Nutrition

Calories: 207kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 75mg | Sodium: 1122mg | Potassium: 220mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 147IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 77mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition Values are estimates only.

See full nutrition disclaimer here

Tried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!

Course :Main Course