Homemade Italian Meatballs

Spaghetti and meatballs are a classic Italian-American dish, beloved by so many. I love making it for dinner because not only is it delicious and filling, the kids love it.

If you have young kids, you know alllll too well how picky they can be about dinner. So when I find a meal they will eat every time, with no complaining, it immediately goes in our dinner rotation!

A lot of meatball recipes call for them to be pan-seared, then finish cooking in the sauce. That is definitely a delicious way to go, so if you’d like to do that, by all means, please do.

However, I like to bake them, and for several reasons.

• You can cook more at once. I have a lot of large skillets, but none large enough to cook an entire batch of these meatballs at once.
• It’s less messy. Let’s face it, pan-searing anything involves a bit of oil spatter.
• It also cuts down on the fat. Granted, there is nothing healthy about spaghetti and meatballs, but if I can get the same amazing flavor, without having to cook in oil, I’m in.

I’ve been making this recipe for years (even before I had this website), and over the years I’ve tweaked it a bit here and there, and the final result is pretty amazing.

Perfectly moist, tender and juicy, and the flavor is just out of this world.

Obviously meatballs are great with spaghetti, but we also love using them for meatball subs as well!

What do I need to make this recipe?

• Bread – this is part of what makes the meatballs so moist. Any bread will work, but we normally use sandwich bread.
• Milk – this soaks into the bread and creates the most juicy and tender meatballs.
• Garlic – flavor! The amount may seem like a lot, but trust me, you want that much.
• Cheeses – I love to use Parmesan and Asiago, but Romano would be another great option.
• Parsley – a bit of freshness, as well as color. You can omit if you’d like though.
• Italian seasoning/salt/pepper/basil – more flavor.
• Eggs – these help the meatballs hold their shape as they cook.
• Beef/Pork/Veal – this combination of meats helps keep the meatballs super tender, while also offering great flavor. You can use any combination of these meats, you just want 1.5 lbs total.

How to make homemade Italian meatballs?

This is just an overview; the full ingredients and directions are in the recipe card toward the bottom of this post.

1. Add torn bread to food processor.
2. Add other panade mixture ingredients. Pulse until a loose paste consistency forms.
3. No food processor? I’ve also included a way to do it by hand down in the full recipe.

1. Add meats to a bowl. Make sure it’s a large bowl, so you have plenty of room to mix.
2. Add panade mixture.
3. Mix. I find your hands are the best tool for this, and mix until just combined.
4. Scoop and roll. Add to a baking sheet, leaving an inch or so in between each meatball.
5. Bake. These meatballs are done in about 20 minutes.

Variations of this recipe

• No veal – I know veal can be a controversial ingredient, so if you’d rather not use it, feel free to substitute it for an extra 1/4 lb of ground beef and an extra 1/4 lb ground pork.
• Other dairy – I’ve also used half and half, lower fat milk, and even heavy cream in place of the whole milk. I haven’t tested non-dairy milks, but I suspect it would work well (just make sure you use a non-flavored type).
• Onion – instead of using milk to soak the bread, try grating a medium yellow onion, and using the juice from that to soak the bread pieces. You may need to still add a bit of milk, depending on how juicy the onion is. This adds the moisture, as well as amazing flavor.
• Breadcrumbs – if you’d prefer to use breadcrumbs, use 2/3 – 3/4 cup of dried plain breadcrumbs, and start with 1/2 cup of milk. Increase the milk as needed, until the mixture becomes pasty in consistency.
• Other cooking methods – these meatballs can also be cooked in a skillet (see the “chef tips” section below the recipe for the full details. I haven’t tested these in an air fryer, but I’m sure they would work well that way, you’ll just have to experiment a bit with the temperature and time.

Making Italian meatballs ahead of time

I love recipes that can be made ahead of time, and this is definitely one of those!

You can assemble the meatballs, but don’t bake them, add them to a large airtight container and keep them refrigerated for a day or so. Then just bake as directed.

They can also be baked, cooled, stored in the refrigerator for several days, and reheated (but they’ll be slightly less moist this way).

Freezing

These homemade meatballs can be frozen two ways. Uncooked, and cooked.

Uncooked

To freeze the uncooked meatballs, add them to a wax or parchment paper lined baking sheet and add the whole baking sheet to your freezer for about an hour or so (until the meatballs are hard).

Then transfer the flash-frozen meatballs to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3-6 months.

Thaw in the refrigerator, then cook as directed.

Cooked

Cooked meatballs can be frozen by letting them cool completely, then following the same process as above.

Storage

Leftover meatballs should be refrigerated in an airtight container and enjoyed within 5 days.

Reheat in the microwave, stovetop, in sauce, or in the oven.