If you’ve been looking for the best spaghetti and meatballs recipe with homemade marinara sauce that tastes like your favorite Italian restaurant, then you’ve found it! That is all :). This is a labor of love family friendly recipe! Made from scratch meatballs and marinara sauce paired with perfectly cooked spaghetti.
Ingredients
Spaghetti
Marinara Sauce
canned crushed tomatoes basil, freshthyme, freshoregano, freshflat leaf parsley, freshextra virgin olive oilonion, grated or finely choppedgarlic, grated/mincedbroth of choice (chicken, vegetable, or beef)cooking oilsalt (I do not add black pepper but you are welcome to)
Meatballs
celery leaves, finely choppedsmall onion, grated (white or yellow)garlic, grated/mincedfresh parmigiano reggiano or parmesan, gratedflat leaf parsley, finely choppedeggground beef, 80/20 (see substitutions in recipe card)olive oilbutter (salted or unsalted)white bread, crust removed (see substitutions in recipe card)black peppersaltcooking oil
see recipe card for measurements
Instructions for Meatballs
Combine the grated onion with sliced bread until the bread has completely dissolved with the onion. Set it aside. Chop the fresh herbs very finely and set them aside. Mix together the beef, egg, herbs, loads of cheese, and spices. Can marinate the mixture for about 30 minutes. Make golf size balls with the meatball mix and pan fry them until golden brown on each side. Tip: shake the pan towards the end of the cooking process to help them roll better. Now, make the marinara sauce in a different pan and place the cooked meatballs in the marinara sauce. Let the meatballs cook on low heat with the marinara sauce before serving with spaghetti.
Substitutions
Beef-Can substitute with ground turkey, but additional fats will need to be added such as butter and oilFresh Herbs- Can substitute with dry herbs, but it is not recommended.
Variations
Vegetarian- Use soy grounds instead of beef/turkeySpicy- Add spicy homemade crushed red peppers by grinding spicy dry chillies.Saucy- Double the marinara sauce recipe
Top Tips
Mix the marinara sauce with the meatballs and let them simmer on low together for tender meatballs.Add a little bit of ground pork to make even tastier meatballs!A small pinch of baking soda in the ground meat mixture help tenderize the meatballs.
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📖 Recipe
How this recipe came about
It’s no secret that my husband and I love a classic spaghetti and meatball dish from our favorite Italian restaurants. There is something so comforting about a thick marinara sauce with tender cooked meatballs. We realized, that every time we eat Italian food we always order spaghetti and meatballs and now it’s double the quantity because our daughters love it just as much. I gave my friend from high school a call who has an Italian grandmother. We got into a conversation about spaghetti and meatballs while her grandmother was with her at the given moment. So, I got the rough recipe right from the source. Her secret, use fresh ingredients (including the pasta). I tried to make it just like she said with a few changes and life has never been the same! Let me just say, this dish is a 100 times better when cooked at home and my value for it has increased greatly. We hope you love it just as much as we do!
