Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs

Last updated on March 29th, 2018 at 10:55 am

Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs – a classic comfort food and pretty much everyone’s favorite. This dish with delicious and hearty meatballs in a simple flavorful and tasty tomato sauce served over spaghetti. 

It’s time for Monday Meatball Mania again! Welcome! If you’re new to Jo Cooks, I started this Meatball-a-thon in January with my friend Nagi from RecipeTin Eats. The rules are simple, one meatball recipe every last Monday of every month, and that’s it as far as rules go. Whatever crazy and tasty meatball concoctions we come up with, we’ll share with you. Anything goes.

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Why meatballs? Because meatballs are great, they’re versatile, and they’re great in and on everything. You can bake them, you can fry them, you can slow cook them, you can stuff them with cheese and make them all gooey and delicious, they’re great in sandwiches, spaghetti and meatballs, meatball casseroles, meatballs in soups, meatballs on pizza, I’d even put them on a salad,  the sky is the limit.

In the 6 1/2 years that I’ve been working on this blog, I just now realized that I don’t have a classic spaghetti and meatballs recipe, so here I am after all this time with probably the easiest and most popular meatball dish out there. A classic but super comforting spaghetti and meatballs dish, and not with frozen meatballs, with homemade meatballs! Because this post is about meatballs, after all.

The meatball recipe is a pretty basic Italian meatball recipe loaded with herbs such as basil, oregano and parsley. They’re really easy to make too, you can use any ground meat your prefer. Traditionally they’re made with beef, veal or pork, but it’s up to you what you use, really anything goes.

The sauce couldn’t get any simpler, we’re talking crushed tomatoes, some onion, garlic, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes and basil. Let it simmer and that’s all that’s really required. Another way I like to make this sauce is to roast my own tomatoes and then run them through the food processor, you could do that too if you wanted to and you’d have that nice flavor of roasted tomatoes.

Serve these meatballs over spaghetti, drenched in this yummy sauce, and load on the Parmesan cheese. So good, and such a comforting dinner. It truly is everyone’s favorite.

If you ant to try a healthier version of this recipe, try my Slimmed Down Spaghetti & Chicken Meatballs.

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If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!

5 from 2 votes

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Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 20 mins

 

Spaghetti and Meatballs is a classic comfort food and pretty much everyone's favorite. A classic dish with delicious and hearty meatballs in a simple flavorful and tasty tomato sauce served over spaghetti. 

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

Servings: 8

Calories: 643 kcal

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Ingredients

For Meatballs

• 3 slices white bread
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb ground pork
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh basil chopped
• 1 tbsp oregano dried or fresh
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

For Sauce and Everything else

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 cup chicken broth low sodium
• 56 oz crushed tomatoes (2 28 oz cans)
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
• 2 large basil sprigs
• 1 lb spaghetti uncooked
• Parmesan cheese

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. Break the bread slices into pieces and place in a large bowl. Pour the milk over them and let the bread soak for about 10 minutes.

2. To the same bowl add the remaining meatball ingredients. Mix well using your clean hands. Shape the meatball mixture into balls around the size of a golf ball. 

3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the meatballs and saute until brown and cooked through. Turn them often so they hold their shape. You might also need to do this in a couple batches, depends on how big or small your meatballs are and the size of your skillet. It should take about 10 to 15 minutes per batch.

4. Transfer the meatballs to a plate and set aside. If there's too much oil in your skillet, drain some of it out. You need about 1 tbsp of fat remaining in skillet. 

5. Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes until onion is soft and becomes translucent. Deglaze the pan with the chicken broth and scrape all the brown bits from the meatballs, this will add flavor to the sauce. Add the crushed tomatoes, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and basil springs. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the skillet with a lid and simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce should reduce a bit.

6. While the sauce is simmering cook the spaghetti according to package instructions. Reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water. 

7. If your sauce is too thick, add some of the pasta water to thin it out a bit until desired consistency is achieved.

8. Place pasta in a large bowl and add about 1 to 2 cups of the sauce to the pasta and toss well. Add the meatballs to the remaining sauce in the skillet and toss. Serve the meatballs over spaghetti, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and garnished with parsley or basil.

Recipe Notes

Before making your meatballs, you can place the meatball mixture in the fridge for 1 hour to up to a day. This will help the meatballs hold their shape while cooking. Since I baked these, I wasn't afraid of them losing shape, but if you choose to fry them instead, you might want to refrigerate the meat first for about an hour.

 

Alternatively you can bake the meatballs at 400 F degrees for about 30 minutes until golden brown.

 

If you feel like the amount this recipe yields is too much, you can hover your cursor over the number of servings in the recipe card. A slider will appear, and you can change the number of servings. The recipe will change accordingly.

 

Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

 

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