Spaghetti and Meatballs

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Quick Summary

Spaghetti and Meatballs is a classic, family favorite meal! Serve the tender, juicy meatballs over a bed of spaghetti with hearty marinara sauce and you have the ultimate comfort food!

Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe

Our boys love pasta nights and their absolute favorite meal is Spaghetti and Meatballs. Juicy, tender meatballs covered in rich marinara sauce and served over a big plate of spaghetti. What’s not to love? This classic Italian dish is always a favorite.

This spaghetti and meatballs recipe is easy to make at home and is definitely restaurant quality, maybe even better! Serve with fresh garlic bread and you have the ultimate Italian feast!

Hearty Bowl of Spaghetti and Meatballs

Homemade Marinara Sauce

We like to make our Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce to go with the spaghetti and meatballs. It is so EASY! You put all of the ingredients in the slow cooker and let it simmer away.

If you don’t have time to make our slow cooker sauce, our Easy Marinara Sauce is really good too. And of course, you can always use your favorite jarred sauce. Rao’s is our favorite store-bought sauce.

Italian meatballs on plate

How to Make Meatballs

Josh is the meatball master. He makes meatballs with ground beef and Italian sausage. The combo is perfection! He also adds in garlic, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. If you want to spice things up, you can also add in some crushed red pepper.

  • In a large bowl, add beef, sausage, bread crumbs, cheese, garlic, herbs, eggs, salt, and pepper. Stir together until combined. Roll meat mixture into 2-inch sized meatballs.
  • In a large, heavy pot heat olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, add meatballs in batches. Do not crowd. Brown well on bottoms before turning or meatballs will break apart. Continue cooking until browned all over.
  • Remove meatballs to a plate that has been lined with paper towels, as each batch is finished.
  • Place meatballs on a large baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until meatballs are cooked all the way through. Remove from oven.
Skillet of Meatballs in Marinara Sauce

Spaghetti and Meatballs

When the meatballs come out of the oven, they go for a swim in my hearty marinara sauce. While the meatballs are simmering in the sauce, make a big pot of spaghetti. Make sure you salt the water generously and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta and return to the pot.

To serve, top a big pile of spaghetti with marinara sauce and meatballs. Finish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh basil or parsley.

You can also combine the spaghetti, sauce, and meatballs in one big pot and serve family style. This is a great meal for feeding a crowd.

Serving Suggestions

Here are a few side dishes that go great with spaghetti and meatballs.

How to Freeze

You can freeze the marinara sauce and the meatballs (separately) for an easy weeknight meal. I love having both in our freezer at all times.

To freeze the sauce, let it cool completely. Pour into freezer-safe containers or jars, leaving an inch of space at the top. Freeze for up to 3 months.

To freeze the meatballs, let them cool and then place in a freezer container or bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight. Place the meatballs and sauce in a large pot and reheat over medium heat on the stovetop.

Make fresh spaghetti and serve!

More Pasta Recipes

Spaghetti and Meatballs
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Spaghetti and Meatballs

Easy homemade meatballs served over a bed of spaghetti with hearty marinara sauce. This recipe is a family favorite!
4.54 from 30 votes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 pound ground Italian sausage
  • 1 cup seasoned Italian bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 cloves  garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Marinara sauce, for serving
  • 1 pound spaghetti
  • Parmesan cheese and fresh basil, for garnish, if desired

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  • In a large bowl, add beef, sausage, bread crumbs, cheese, garlic, herbs, eggs, salt, and pepper. Stir together until combined. Roll meat mixture into 2-inch sized meatballs.
  • In a large, heavy pot heat olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, add meatballs in batches. Do not crowd. Brown well on bottoms before turning or meatballs will break apart. Continue cooking until browned all over. Remove meatballs to a plate that has been lined with paper towels, as each batch is finished.
  • Place meatballs on a large baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until meatballs are cooked all the way through. Remove from oven.
  • Place a large pot of water on to boil for spaghetti. When it boils, add salt and pasta and cook to al dente.
  • While the spaghetti is cooking, put meatballs in a large pot and cover with your favorite marinara sauce. Heat over medium-low heat.
  • When the spaghetti is done cooking, drain and place in a large serving bowl. Top with meatballs and marinara sauce. Garnish with Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh basil, if desired. Serve immediately.

Notes

Note-we like to use our slow cooker marinara sauce for this recipe, but you can use our Easy Marinara Sauce or store-bought sauce too. 

Nutrition

Calories: 635kcal, Carbohydrates: 53g, Protein: 33g, Fat: 30g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 124mg, Sodium: 927mg, Potassium: 531mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 2g, Vitamin A: 140IU, Vitamin C: 1.6mg, Calcium: 137mg, Iron: 3.9mg
Keywords spaghetti and meatballs

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Easy homemade meatballs served over a bed of spaghetti with hearty marinara sauce. This recipe is a family favorite! Visit twopeasandtheirpod.com for more simple, fresh, and family friendly meals. #spaghetti #pasta #easyrecipe #homemade
Make Spaghetti and Meatballs for dinner! Meatballs are made with ground beef, Italian sausage, garlic, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. It is a fun meal from start to finish and a great meal to involve the kiddos! Visit twopeasandtheirpod.com for more simple, fresh, and family friendly meals. #spaghetti #pasta #easyrecipe #homemade
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Maria

I'm Maria and my husband is Josh. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. We love sitting around the table with good food, good conversation, and good friends and family! Our kitchen is always open!
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  1. Beautiful photos & delicious food. I let mine begin early also …they all worked a stint when old enough at some top restaurants as waiters and waitress where we lived at the time…one is even a professional chef.

    BTW I truly enjoy your blog, your love of cooking and your hard work shine through beautifully.
    Margo

  2. I just made meatballs last night too!! Although, Italian (born and raised) husband refuses to eat them with pasta! Where he’s from (Sardinia), meatballs are meant to be eaten alone…it’s actually so strange for them that we eat them with pasta!!!! I make meatballs for him and the kids http://www.bitesforfoodies.com/recipes/polpette-with-marinara-sauce/ and a meatless version for ME! http://www.bitesforfoodies.com/recipes/eggplant-meatballs/

  3. Made this the other night with Italian seasoned turkey instead of sausage, and it turned out tasty! The whole family loved them!

  4. This was delicious! I love a good homemade sauce, and my 5 yr old declared the meatballs to be the best he’s ever had! We all agreed. I only had plain breadcrumbs and plain ground pork, so I googled how to turn them into italian style breadcrumbs and italian style sausage. It was easy to do with ingredients I already had. Fyi for anyone else who finds themselves in the same boat.

  5. 5 stars
    It was the best Saturday that you never going to forget. You can make anything for sure with the help of your boys.

  6. These were incredible and for so many reasons – fresh herbs, combo of Italian sausage and ground beef, and freshly grated Parmesan. Yum  

  7. 5 stars
    I made this for dinner tonight. My husband absolutely loved them!! i didn’t know how easy they are to make. I ended up using dried herbs because that’s all i had, but i can imagine with fresh they would be so much better!

    I also made extra and put them in the freezer so i can just thaw them and throw them in the sauce next time 🙂

  8. 5 stars
    This is hands down the best meatballs recipe , I made it once and it was amazing and then accidentally pulled up a different recipe the next and was so sad once I realized it wasn’t this one . New family favorite in our house for sure!

  9. Made these meatballs, didn’t follow recipe to a t, but they were fantastic. I had half pound leftover if Italian sausage from chicago deep dish pizza, so I used lbs and half sausage and just a bit over lbs of burger, upped the bread crumbs half cup. Followed recipe, except I packed the spices and did about half teaspoon of salt. Restricted salt intake for medical reasons. But the recipe kept me from going too much on some spices and kept this home cook from making it another home cook flop. Paying it along to a kid I work with who is just learning to cook. The directions are great and easy to follow and the final product delicious.

  10. 5 stars
    Just wanted to say that I was not a big fan of meatballs before finding this recipe! Now I wish I could eat this every night. I use my family’s spicy breakfast sausage along with the ground beef and love it! Thank you Maria! Tree Removal Greeley Co