Baked Italian-Style Meatballs

Meatballs for the Entire Family

Over the holidays I made these oven baked meatballs for my family one night and they were a huge hit. My brother specifically asked for me to publish this recipe so that he could make them again himself, so Matthew, this is for you!

I absolutely love making meatballs in the oven this way. It’s significantly cleaner than browning them on the stovetop, but you still get the browning on the outside from the oven. Then it’s finished cooking in the sauce, which soaks the deliciousness of the marinara directly into each meatball. They’re great eaten on their own with some crusty bread and a side salad or as a topping for spaghetti. It’s a classic for a reason and will for sure become a regular in your household after the first time you make them.

Tips for Making Baked Italian-style Meatballs

When you make these oven-baked meatballs, here are a few tips to help make your cooking adventures successful:

• When forming the meatballs, you can opt to use a kitchen scale to weigh the total amount of the mixture and then dividing it by 16. This will give the exact weight needed for each individual meatball. Alternatively, you can eyeball the size by dividing the mixture in half, over and over, until 16 approximately equal pieces are created.
• One easy to make mistake when assembling meatballs is over mixing the meat before actually forming the meatballs. As soon as you see that your ingredients are relatively melded together, stop mixing. Otherwise, you can overwork the meat, making it tough and less pleasant to eat.

Recipe Details

Get Started on the Meatballs

Meatballs are a frequently made dish in our house. I love the simplicity of putting everything into a bowl, mixing it quickly, and then throwing it into the oven. You can add so many flavors to up-level any dish and once it’s in the oven it’s very hands off. These ones in particular I make often, especially when feeding a group as it’s a true crowd pleaser.

To begin, you’ll mix a base for the meatballs before you add any meat at all. For these meatballs, the base includes a bit of chopped onion for moisture, a smidge of garlic and parsley for flavor, and egg and breadcrumb to bind everything together. A bit of salt and pepper is added to the bowl and then you roughly mix everything together. This will help get your ingredients melded before the meat gets added, to help avoid an over mixing issue. Once it’s mixed, add in the ground beef and ground pork. I like to use the combination of these two meats as they give tons of flavor. I do a slightly higher percentage of beef than pork, as I think the balance is perfect!

Oven Bake the Meatballs

Once the meatball mixture is complete, let it rest for a few minutes. This helps the base mixture sink into the meat and makes it so much easier to form each meatball. Divide the mixture into 16 equal sized balls and then roast in the oven for twenty minutes. This will get the beef and pork meatballs cooked most of the way through and browns the edges slightly. In the meantime, get some marinara sauce on the stovetop and let it start heating gently.

Finish the Meatballs and Serve

After the baked meatballs are out of the oven, slide them into the marinara to continue cooking and absorb the deliciousness of your tomato sauce. They should finish cooking in about ten minutes. Check a meatball after a while to ensure they’re cooked through and then transfer to a serving bowl. I love to serve these Italian meatballs family style with lots of fresh basil and grated parmesan cheese on top, either with pasta or crusty bread and a big salad. You can’t beat it!

I hope you love these as much as I do!

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Baked Italian-Style Meatballs

Author: Laura Wilkins Cooking Method: Baked, Simmered Cuisine: Italian Courses: Main Course

Difficulty: Intermediate Prep Time 15 mins Total Time 15 mins

Cooking Temp: 400  °F Servings: 16

Best Season: Suitable throughout the year

Dietary:

N Nut Free

Description

A simple recipe for homemade meatballs that are roasted in the oven and then finished on the stovetop in your favorite marinara sauce. They have a classic flavor and make for a perfectly comforting dish.

To make 16 meatballs:

Scale

1/2x 1x 2x 3x

• ¹⁄₄ yellow onion, finely chopped 
• ¹⁄₄ cup unseasoned bread crumbs
• 1 large egg
• ¹⁄₃ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 ¹⁄₂ lb ground beef
• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 3-4 cup marinara sauce
• Fresh basil and shredded parmesan cheese for serving

Instructions

Make the Meatball Mixture

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F and set out a pan with sides at least 1-inch high. Line the inside of the pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, add the chopped yellow onion, bread crumbs, egg, fresh parsley, and minced garlic. Use a spoon or your hands to roughly mix the ingredients together, breaking the yolk of the egg to mix it into the base as well.

3. Add the ground beef and ground pork to the bowl.  Use your hands to mix the meatball base, the pork, and the beef together just until all of the ingredients are evenly distributed, being careful to not over mix as it can create a tough meatball. 

4. Set the bowl aside to rest for 5 minutes.

Form and Bake the Meatballs

1. Form the mixture into 16 equal-sized meatballs and arrange on to the baking pan. 

2. Bake the meatballs for 20 minutes, until browned on top and cooked most of the way through.

Finish Cooking and Serve

1. While the meatballs are baking in the oven, add the marinara sauce to a large pan on the stove top. Gently heat the marinara over medium-low to low heat.

2. Once the meatballs are out of the oven, transfer them to the pan on the stove top and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Toss the meatballs in the sauce and simmer for 10 minutes, until they’re cooked all the way through.

3. Transfer to a large bowl to serve the meatballs family style. Top with fresh basil and parmesan cheese to enjoy!