Spaghetti with Italian Spice Meatballs …

Spaghetti with Italian Spice Meatballs – A delicious blend of herbs, spices, ground beef, and Italian sausage creates the most amazing melt-in-your-mouth meatballs. Baked in the oven initially, then simmered in our savory homemade marinara sauce, these flavorful, juicy, and tender meatballs will have you begging for more.

Be sure to reserve several of these homemade meatballs and sauce (or make an extra batch!) for the following day to make hot Italian meatball sub sandwiches! Every single time we make this dish, we always wish we would have made more meatballs!

This is truly an easy recipe with a huge impact! And no need to worry about undercooking the meatballs. We brush them with olive oil and then allow them to bake for a while to create a nice texture and crunch. Then, we simmer the meatballs in our special homemade tomato-based sauce to give them a slow and gentle cook while they soak up some of the additional flavors – creating the most divine and best meatballs ever! Is there even such a thing?? Our family and friends would say Y E S !!

What do you need to make these flavorful meatballs?

In the Coogan household, we LOVE Italian recipes! This one, however, is certainly a family favorite!

Here’s your ingredient checklist for the grocery store:

Italian Spice Meatballs

• Ground Italian sausage, 1 pound
• Ground beef, 1 pound * (or substitute ground turkey, ground pork, or lean ground beef)
• White onion, 1/2 medium – cut in wedges and pureed into a liquid
• Garlic powder, 1/2 heaping teaspoon
• Egg, 1 large
• Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup – fresh and grated cheese
• Parsley, 1 tablespoon – dried
• Oregano, 1 tablespoon – dried
• Red pepper flakes, 1/4 teaspoon
• Black pepper, 1 teaspoon pepper
• Kosher salt, 1 teaspoon salt
• Panko bread crumbs, 1 cup *(or use 1 cup plain bread crumbs mixed with 1 tablespoon of Italian Seasoning)
• Sugar, 1 tablespoon
• Olive oil

Spaghetti Sauce ingredients:

• Spaghetti pasta, 2 pounds – cook according to the package directions
• Garlic, 14 small cloves – fresh and whole
• Extra-virgin olive oil, just enough to cover the garlic
• Peeled tomatoes, 2 35-oz cans *( crushed tomatoes or whole tomatoes can be substituted)
• Beef broth, 1 cup
• Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup – fresh and grated cheese
• Black pepper, 2 tablespoons
• Kosher salt, 1 tablespoon
• Dried oregano, 1 tablespoon
• Red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon
• Bay leaves – 3 leaves

Topping

• Fresh basil leaves, 6 leaves – tear gently into large pieces
• Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup fresh and grated cheese
• Fresh parsley

How to make the perfect meatball (Italian Spice Meatballs)?

This Italian meatballs recipe is so quick and easy to prepare. The recipe is great for family dinner night and if you have kids, get them involved in the squishy part needed to combine and shape the ground beef and sausage together!

Preheat your oven to 350° F.

In a large bowl, combine beef and sausage with all of the ingredients EXCEPT for the pureed onions (use a food processor to puree the onions). Mix the ground meat together with clean hands until well combined.

Add onion puree to the meatball mixture and combine well.

Prepare a large sheet pan (or rimmed baking sheet) with a layer of extra-virgin olive oil for the juicy meatballs to sit in.

Use a small scoop (about 1 inch in size – imagine golf ball size) to create approximately 42 meatballs. Place each meatball on the prepared baking sheet, packing them close to each other.

Bake the meatballs for approximately 6 minutes. Then remove them from the oven and drizzle or brush the tops of the meatballs with olive oil.

Return to the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes. Remove and set aside.

RECIPE NOTE: It is OK if the meatballs are not fully cooked after 20 minutes as they will finish the cooking process within the sauce.

How do you make the best homemade spaghetti sauce?

Cook spaghetti in a large pot of water and cook al dente according to the package instructions. Drain spaghetti by pouring the pasta water through a strainer. Then set the noodles to the side.

While the pasta is cooking, use a small skillet and add the whole garlic cloves to the pan. Cover the garlic with olive oil and heat oil over low heat for about 10 minutes. Remove the cooked garlic from the olive oil and set it aside.

Using a large Dutch oven (or a large saucepan), add the beef broth, garlic, and canned peeled tomatoes. Cook over medium-high heat until it reaches a gentle boil. Then reduce the heat to medium heat to maintain a gentle simmer.

Use a hand immersion blender to chop up and blend together the tomatoes and garlic. Stir in the remaining ingredients and bring back to a gentle boil then reduce the temperature to medium-low heat to a simmer again.

Simmer for about 15 minutes. Taste test the tomato sauce and add additional seasonings, if needed.

Carefully drop the oven browned meatballs in the sauce to avoid burning yourself and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes.

RECIPE NOTE: Reserve some of the homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs to make meatball sub sandwiches the following day. YUM!!! See the photo below of the delicious meatball sandwich we made on our homemade bread, covered in sauce, layered with provolone, and sprinkled with parmesan cheese! Now, this was a fantastic lunch!

To serve family-style … Add the sauce, meatballs, and cooked pasta to a large bowl and toss together. Transfer to a large platter, sprinkle with additional parmesan cheese and chopped basil leaves. Set the platter in the middle of the table and allow your guests to help themselves.

What do I serve with Spaghetti and Italian Spice Meatballs?

It’s always a good idea to serve a nice loaf of hot bread or yummy breadsticks with any spaghetti dinner to sop up any extra sauce! Here are a few of our best bread recipes if you’d like to try a few:

• Rosemary French Bread
• Garlic Rosemary Breadsticks
• Delicious Roadhouse Dinner Rolls

And … you can never go wrong with a veggie-filled dinner salad or Ceasar salad!

Looking for more tasty and easy recipes? Try a few here:

• Italian Chicken and Acorn Squash Couscous
• Chicken & Pork Crostina Pasta
• Creamy Beef and Potatoes
• Wild Rice Chicken Casserole – (Easy Recipe)
• Meat and Potato Timballo Pie

© Coogan’s Kitchen. All content and images are copyright protected. Sharing the link for this recipe is encouraged and greatly appreciated, however copying and/or posting full recipes to any social media/blog/website without full credit and the appropriate link is prohibited. Thank you so much for understanding!