Baked Italian Meatballs

Sunday Dinner 💫 It makes Sunday my favorite day of the week. Share it with family, or friends that are like family. Make all the comfort foods and always serve with wine. These meatballs are the most basic of Sunday meals, but they will go into your rotation. I make them for friends who just had babies and double the recipe to have keep them in the freezer for easy weeknight meals. The key is using half ground sausage half ground meat. Gives it allll the flavors. We love pork sausage and beef but you can also use ground turkey and turkey sausage as well.

Italian Meatballs
Serves 6 +

1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs

1 cup finely grated Parmesan

2 T dried basil

2 T dried Italian parsley

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 large egg

1 cloves garlic, minced in a garlic press

1 small yellow onion, grated on a box grater

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1 pound Italian sausage

1 pound ground beef

Extra-virgin olive oil

1 jar Rao’s marinara sauce (we think it’s as good or better than homemade )

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan, basil, parsley, salt, black pepper, egg, garlic and onion in a bowl. Whisk all ingredients together until well combined.

 Pinch off the ground meat into small sections as you add it to the bowl. Combine meat with the rest of the ingredients—we find it easiest to do with your hands—until everything is incorporated. Adding a few Tablespoons at a time, incorporate the water and continue to mix together until well combined. 

Using a cookie scoop or small ice cream scoop, make meatballs into approximately 2-inch balls. Using wet hands re-roll each meatball between your palms for perfect round shape. 

Bake meatballs in the oven for 12 minutes. 

Remove from tray with a slotted spatula and pit into a large pot with the jar of marinara sauce. Bring to a simmer. The longer the meatballs simmer in the sauce, the better the flavor. We recommend at least 30 minutes, and up to 2 hours if you have the time.

HH Tip put frozen meatballs and jar of sauce in a slow cooker on low for 4-6 hours