The Best Italian Meatballs
The Best Italian Meatballs are seriously The Best Meatballs ever. They’re made with two types of meat, ground beef and Italian sausage, plus tons of fresh Italian parsley, garlic, and parmesan cheese. Once you try them, you’ll never make another meatball again!
I can’t think of anything more comforting than a big bowl of pasta. It’s my favorite food.
Throw in some meatballs, not just any meatballs, but The Best Italian Meatballs, and I’m one happy camper!
What makes these the best in my opinion, is the fresh, herbaceous flavor from the Italian parsley, the pop of flavor from the garlic, and the slight saltiness from the parmesan cheese.
I also think the combination of ground beef and Italian sausage helps elevate these. When I used to make them with just ground beef, they were good, but the addition of Italian sausage makes them perfect!
There’s minimal mess with this recipe as we’re not frying the meatballs in a pan. They get baked in the oven!
They come out perfectly browned and have an excellent texture, all while not creating a big mess on the stove.
Ingredients needed to make this recipe (scroll down to recipe card for complete recipe):
- Ground beef
- Italian sausage
- Garlic
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh Italian parsley
- Breadcrumbs
- Eggs
- Milk
- Salt & pepper
A couple weeks ago I posted the recipe for Amatriciana Pasta Sauce (shown below) – a delicious red pasta sauce made with tomatoes, bacon, onions, and garlic.
Top your pasta with Amatriciana Sauce and these amazing meatballs, and all you’ll need is a little bit of parmesan cheese and a loaf of French bread!
Another one of my favorite uses for The Best Italian Meatballs is Italian Meatball and Gnocchi Soup. (shown below)
Seriously, it’s my favorite soup ever! It has fresh vegetables, pillowy gnocchi, and these homemade meatballs.
How long are homemade meatballs good for?
Leftover cooked meatballs can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
They can also be frozen in freezer-safe containers for up to 2 months.
Looking for more Italian recipes? Here are some favorites:
- Baked Italian Chicken Meatballs (pictured below)
- Calabrian Chili Garlic Bread
- Amatriciana Pasta Sauce
- Italian Pickled Vegetables (Giardiniera)
- Cheesy Baked Spicy Italian Dip
Make sure to save a couple meatballs for the next day…they make awesome meatball subs!
To do this, cut a couple meatballs in half and place them on one half of a nice crusty roll with some marinara, provolone or mozzarella cheese, and put them under the broiler until the cheese is bubbly and the rolls start to get golden.
The best leftovers!
NOTES:
- I typically use lean ground beef (90-93% lean) when I make these meatballs, but feel free to use what you like.
The Best Italian Meatballs
Equipment
- baking sheet
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 lb. Italian sausage
- 3/4 cup Italian Style breadcrumbs
- 3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 3/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 eggs
- splash of milk
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, Italian sausage, breadcrumbs, parmesan, parsley, garlic, eggs, milk, and plenty of salt & pepper. Roll into 1 1/2-2 inch balls and place on greased baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until done in the middle.
- Makes approximately 20-30 meatballs, depending on size. Enjoy!
Notes
- Recipe adapted from Beau MacMillan
Did you make this recipe? Rate it and let me know in the comments below! ♥
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They turned out great!
Thank you for this great simple recipe. This is like my 8th time making these delicious meatballs. Only thing I change is we love garlic so put extra garlic . These meatballs are a hot everytime:)
Thank you so much for the feedback! I hear ya with the garlic! So good!
They were great!!
The meatballs were great. To save on carbs, I used fewer breadcrumbs.
I tried it. It came out great!
Really tasty! Made it this week. Had to substitute Italian sausage with ground beef and spices since we don’t have it here. Husband loved it. Thank you!
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for the feedback!
Truly good and easy to throw together for a quick weeknight mea!l
Thank you for the feedback, LaVerne! So glad you enjoyed them!
Delicious, my go to recipe! Makes a fantastic sub sandwich as well.
So glad you are enjoying the meatballs! We also use leftovers for meatball parmesan subs! One of our favorites!
Truly the best ever! Can’t beat the meatball sandwich afterward. I put them on garlic bread and almost died! It was amazeballs!!
I purchased the ingredients & my husband followed the recipe to make these meatballs. They were absolutely delicious! We chose a mixture of spicy & sweet Italian Sausage & the heat was just right! I also love to use fresh herbs in my cooking. It was just the right amount of Garlic & Parmesan as well. None of the ingredients competed or overwhelmed the other. We both agreed that these were Definitely the BEST MEATBALLS!
Thank you, Becky! So glad you enjoyed these meatballs! Thanks for the feedback!